April 24, 2012: Cardinal George Alencherry joined politicians and Kerala film fraternity
on Monday to mourn the death of Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, a noted film director
and producer popularly known as Navodaya Appachan.
The producer of dozens of
mega hit movies, including India’s first 3-D film, was admitted to a private hospital
in Kochi on April 17 with old age illness. He was 87.
Hospital sources said
he was also under treatment for cancer for the past 10 years. He is survived by wife,
two sons and two daughters.
Condoling the death, Cardinal Alencherry, major
archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church, said the passing away of Appachan has created
“irreparable gap” in art, particularly in the film industry. The cardinal had visited
Appachan, a Catholic, before his death and prayed over him.
Family sources
said the body would be taken to his studio, Navodaya, in Kochi, and then to Chennai
for the last rites to be performed on Wednesday.
Appachan, a product of Jesuit-managed
St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, made several experiments in Malayalam
cinema as a producer and director. He produced India’s first 3-D cinema and cinemascope
several years ago.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy described Appachan
as a great personality and said his death has made the Malayalam film industry poorer.
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singer K.J. Yesudas, who has worked with Appachan for several decades, said Appachan
was one of the pillars of the Malayalam film industry. “It was his experience that
he gained since his early days that kept him in good stead,” he told reporters.
He
founded the Navodaya Studio and India's first amusement park, “Kishkinta,” in Chennai.
His involvement with the film industry began with his brother Kunchako at Udaya Studio
in Alappuzha, his birth place.
Malayalam film industry’s biggest showman introduced
several actors in Malayalam cinema such as Mohanlal.