<p>Famous Malayalam actor Kalpana (51) died in Hyderabad where she was shooting for a Telugu movie on Monday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Work for “Oopiri”, a movie starring Nagarjuna and Karthi, was going on when Kalpana suffered heart stroke. The hotel staff who found her unconscious in her room rushed her to Apollo hospitals in Jubilee hills where she was declared brought dead. Vamsi Paidipalli, the director of the movie, expressed shock and grief.<br /><br />He said Kalpana’s part was almost done on Sunday with some patch work left to be finished. The crew of the movie, particularly Nagarjuna and Karthi, and several Telugu and Malayalam actors who were in Hyderabad for the India International Film Awards, expressed shock over her sudden death.<br /><br />Kalpana, who had acted in 300-odd films in South Indian languages, is well known to Telugu audience for her comedy roles in “Prema”, “Sati Leevathi” and “Brahmachari” movies. A versatile South Indian actor, Kalpana had won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Malayalam film “Njaan Thanichalla” in 2012.<br /><br />In her acting career spanning over three decades, she was looked at as a worthy successor of late Manorama and Sukumari, two prolific performers. The comparisons were not entirely off the mark. The actor who made an impression in the 1990s as a comedienne later shifted to emotional and dramatic characters; the transition smooth and convincing. Kalpana, daughter of Kollam-based theatre artistes late V P Nair and Vijayalakshmi, was a regular fixture in 1990s’ popular cinema, forming successful teams with actors including Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent and Jagadeesh.<br /><br />She also had good outings with her younger sister and popular actress Urvashi — actress Kalaranjini is Kalpana’s elder sister — in films including “Pidakkozhi Koovunna Noottaandu”. Kalpana had popular comic turns in “CID Unnikrishnan BA B.Ed”, “Gandharvam”, “Dr Pasupathy” and “Poochakkaaru Manikettum”.<br /><br />Her performances in “Bridge”, in the anthology film “Kerala Café”, “Indian Rupee and Spirit”, both directed by Ranjith and Babu Thiruvalla’s Thanichalla Njaan which won her a National Award for best supporting actress, in 2012, made her transition to serious characters worthwhile.</p>
<p>Famous Malayalam actor Kalpana (51) died in Hyderabad where she was shooting for a Telugu movie on Monday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Work for “Oopiri”, a movie starring Nagarjuna and Karthi, was going on when Kalpana suffered heart stroke. The hotel staff who found her unconscious in her room rushed her to Apollo hospitals in Jubilee hills where she was declared brought dead. Vamsi Paidipalli, the director of the movie, expressed shock and grief.<br /><br />He said Kalpana’s part was almost done on Sunday with some patch work left to be finished. The crew of the movie, particularly Nagarjuna and Karthi, and several Telugu and Malayalam actors who were in Hyderabad for the India International Film Awards, expressed shock over her sudden death.<br /><br />Kalpana, who had acted in 300-odd films in South Indian languages, is well known to Telugu audience for her comedy roles in “Prema”, “Sati Leevathi” and “Brahmachari” movies. A versatile South Indian actor, Kalpana had won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Malayalam film “Njaan Thanichalla” in 2012.<br /><br />In her acting career spanning over three decades, she was looked at as a worthy successor of late Manorama and Sukumari, two prolific performers. The comparisons were not entirely off the mark. The actor who made an impression in the 1990s as a comedienne later shifted to emotional and dramatic characters; the transition smooth and convincing. Kalpana, daughter of Kollam-based theatre artistes late V P Nair and Vijayalakshmi, was a regular fixture in 1990s’ popular cinema, forming successful teams with actors including Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent and Jagadeesh.<br /><br />She also had good outings with her younger sister and popular actress Urvashi — actress Kalaranjini is Kalpana’s elder sister — in films including “Pidakkozhi Koovunna Noottaandu”. Kalpana had popular comic turns in “CID Unnikrishnan BA B.Ed”, “Gandharvam”, “Dr Pasupathy” and “Poochakkaaru Manikettum”.<br /><br />Her performances in “Bridge”, in the anthology film “Kerala Café”, “Indian Rupee and Spirit”, both directed by Ranjith and Babu Thiruvalla’s Thanichalla Njaan which won her a National Award for best supporting actress, in 2012, made her transition to serious characters worthwhile.</p>
