Actor Parvathy TK received the Miss Kumari award at an event held in Kodungallur Town Hall on Sunday evening. The award, constituted by the P Bhaskaran Foundation, was handed over to the 31-year-old actor by veteran artiste Namboothiri.
“Legendary Shri P Bhaskaran sir and the exemplary Miss Kumari are pioneers who carved paths out of steep inclines for artists such as myself. Every time I lose my way, forget my “why” and question my worth, I take a leaf out of the history of our cinema. It is replete with their work and determination that pushed all boundaries…”, wrote Parvathy on social media on the honour.
Miss Kumari, born in 1932 as Thresiamma, entered Malayalam cinema with Vellinakshathram (1949), directed by German cinematographer Felix J. Beyse, where she was cast as a junior artiste. She acted in over 43 films, including big box-office successes such as Neelakuyil (1954) which was c0-directed by P Bhaskaran. Neelakuyil, which narrated the love story of a Dalit girl and an educated upper-caste school teacher (played by Sathyan), is known for launching social realism in Malayalam cinema. Miss Kumari also acted in a few Tamil language films, and received the Madras State award for best actress in 1956. She left the film industry at the peak of her career, after her marriage to an engineer. She died on 9 June, 1969.
The P Bhaskaran Foundation is based out of Kodungallur, where the filmmaker-poet-lyricist was born in 21 April 1924.
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The award ceremony was attended by celebrities such as filmmaker-writer John Paul, director Kamal, danseuse Kalamandalam Kshemavathy and director Anjali Menon. Parvathy, who is known for her performance in films such as Poo, Take Off and Uyare, is a winner of several awards such as Kerala State Award for Best Actress in 2016 and 2018, a Special Mention (Jury) at National Film Awards in 2018 and Best Actress award at the International Film Festival Of India in 2018. Her last release was Virus, directed by Aashiq Abu, where she played the pivotal role of Dr Annu, who sets out to establish the link between those affected by the Nipah Virus and Patient Zero, the first person who succumbed to the infection.