As Kerala celebrates Onam, actor Thilakan battles for life

Thiruvananthapuram: While Kerala celebrates its harvest festival Onam, veteran actor Thilakan battles for life.

Thilakan has been put on ventilator for the past few days, following multiple organ failure. Thilakan was admitted to the KIMS Hospital late last week. The entire whos`s who of the Malayalam film and political world here has called on the 74-year-old award-winning actor. Thilakan, who has been acting for over three decades, has essayed roles in nearly 300 films. A medical bulletin issued by the private hospital where Thilakan is under treatment said Tuesday that the actor`s condition remains critical. Monday, his kidneys were affected and his blood pressure dropped. Speaking to IANS, Congress politician-turned-actor Raj Mohan Unnithan said, "The doctors told me that the situation continues to remain critical. All we can do is pray. I am sure all film lovers in Kerala would be doing that." Beginning his career in the 1950s through the theatre movement, Thilakan performed in a film for the first time in the 1979 film "Ulkadal". Thilakan`s latest film, "Ustad Hotel", (the second film of superstar Mammootty`s son Dulqar Salman) is currently running in theatres. The actor was in the news for taking on the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes when he was reportedly barred from a role in the film `Dam 999`. IANS