In 2016, we lost many talented and inspiring people involved with the South Indian film industry.

The most recent loss was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Before getting into politics in 1982, she was an popular actress and the first recipient of the Filmfare Best Actress award in 1972 for the Tamil movie “Pattikada Pattanama.”

Kalpana (13 October 1965 – 25 January 2016)
Renowned actress from Malayalam and Tamil movies. Won national award for Best Supporting Actress for the Malayalam movie “Thanichalla Njan” (2012).

Kalabhavan Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016)
Malayalam actor who mesmerised us with his folk songs. Started career as a mimicry artist and went on to do villain roles. Completed around 200 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

M Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016)
Eminent Carnatic vocalist, honoured with the Padma Shri in 1971, Padma Vibhushan in 1991 and Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France in 2005. Won national awards for Best Male Playback Singer for “Hamsageethe” (1975) and Best Music Direction for “Madhvacharya” (1986).

Na Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016)
Poet, lyricist and author known for his Tamil film songs, he received the most number of Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil; two-time recipient of the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for “Thanga Meenkal” (2013) and “Saivam” (2014).

Panchu Arunachalam (18 June 1941 – 9 August 2016)
Renowned writer; also producer and lyricist in the Tamil film industry. Some of the movies he directed: “Manamagale Vaa” (1988), “Puthu Paatu” (1990), “Kalikalam” (1992).

Onv Kurup (27 May 1931 – 13 Feb 2016)
Renowned Malayalam poet and lyricist. Jnanpith Award winner for 2007. Honoured with the Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011. Left Democratic Front candidate from Thiruvananthapuram in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.

Srinivasa Iyer “Cho” Ramaswamy (5 October 1934 – 7 December 2016)
Comedian / actor, editor, political satirist, playwright / dialogue writer, director and lawyer from Tamil Nadu. Has acted in 180 movies.