Kalasala Babu

Kalasala Babu (1950 – 14 May 2018) was an Indian actor who performed on stage, and in television serials and films.

Babu was born to Kathakali maestro Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Mohiniyattam exponent Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma. He was married to Lalitha and had a son named Viswanathan and a daughter named Sreedevi. On January 18, 2018, he was admitted at Amrita Hospital in Kochi after suffering a heart attack. As per reports, he became critical when he had a stroke during the emergency surgery, followed by the heart attack. Later, he was admitted to Medical Trust Hospital, where he died at 12:35 AM on 14 May 2018.

Babu made his way back into cinema with Kasthooriman in 2003, afterwards acting in character and villain roles in many movies, and achieved recognition for his performances, comfortably filling the acting space left vacant by late character actors such as N. F. Varghese and Narendra Prasad. He became more popular in the film Lion as father of Dileep. Babu acted in the popular Malayalam serial Amma as retired judge Poomankalathe Gopinatha Menon, which is daily telecast on Asianet channel from 2012 to 2015. He was paired with Kanya Bharathi and later replaced by Mammootty's brother. He also did a Malayalam serial named Sooryakaladi, which is telecasting on Amrita.

Towards the end of 1999, Babu was cast in Kala, a 13-episode television serial. His role of the character, Rowdy Dasappan, was well received by viewers. Following this, Babu acted in around 28 mega-serials over the next three years.

After acting in his first film Inayethedi in 1977, Babu started his drama troupe 'Kalasala' in Thripunithura, which had artists such as Thilakan and Surasu, amongst others. The troupe began with the play Thalavattom, scripted by Surasu, which became a big hit. In total, nine plays were conducted and scripted by renowned personalities such as P. J. Antony, Sreemoolanagaram Vijayan, N. N. Pillai and others. The troupe operated until 1980.

Babu got his first opportunity in film in 1977, in Inayethedi, the first venture of John Paul, George Kitho, Kaloor Dennis and Antony Eastman. He was cast alongside Silk Smitha for this film, which became a flop.

Babu had been acting in radio plays while at college. Following his graduation in 1973, Babu acted in Paanchajanyam, yielding a good performance. Babu acted at Kalidasa Kala Kendram for two years, and was offered roles by the late O. Madhavan and K. T. Muhammed.