Thilakan

Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012), credited mononymously as Thilakan, was an Indian film and stage actor who has starred in over 200 Malayalam films. He is considered to be one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema, and is popularly mentioned as the Perumthachan (master craftsman) of Malayalam cinema. He has won 3 National Film Awards and 9 Kerala State Film Awards. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri in 2009 for his contributions towards the arts. He died on 24 September 2012, following cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He was 76.