| Shankar Panickar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shankar June 22, 1960 [1] Thrissur, India |
| Years active | 1979 - present |
Shankar Panikkar, popularly known as Shankar (Malayalam: ശങ്കര്) is an Indian film actor and director. He was one of the prominent lead actors of Malayalam cinema during the 1980s.
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Shankar had a dream opening with the Vijaya T. Rajendar's Tamil Mega Hit Oru Thalai Ragam[2] which completed 365 days in theatres. Luck favoured him in Malayalam Films too with Fazil's directorial venture Manjil Virinja Pookkal, where Mohanlal debuted as villain became a Musical Hit.[3] Overnight Shankar became a hot property in both Tamil and Malayalam film Industry and almost all his films doing good business. He was the Second Super Star of Malayalam Films of 80s after Late Action Star "Jayan". He never experimented with his roles, still he had a very large fan base in Kerala. Many of his ordinary films were hits just because of his presence. His teaming with Mohan Lal is very popular with many Hits. Shankar's pairing with actresses Menaka and Ambika were considered as safe bets. During late 80's, he cut down his film assignments and shifted to USA for personal and business reasons. However, most of his come back ventures failed to ignite the Box office.
His first commercial Malayalam directorial venture Keralotsavam 2009[4] starring Kalabhavan Mani and Vinu Mohan has been already released with positive reviews. Shankar's next Malayalam film, would probably star Mohan Lal.[5] Apart from Keralotsavam 2009, Shankar has also directed Virus, a film on AIDS, which was censored in 2007.
Shankar moved to Television Media with a successful Serial Ithu Manju Pole. He continued to perform in Hit Serials like Swararaagam and Parasparam. His last serial Ammakkayi aired in Surya TV was a success mainly due to his teaming with Menaka, his Hit pair of 80's. Director Rosshan Andrrews has signed Shankar to play an important role in the next Mohan Lal starrer Casanowa to be shot in foreign locations. He was in attendance during the Grand launch of Casanowa along with other prominent actors like Tamil actor Arya who was supposed making his debut in Malayalam. Later Arya was replaced by Ganesh Venkatraman. The recent Malayalam films Shankar appeared was Ividam Swargamanu directed by Roshan Andrews, alongside Mohanlal, Rhythm and Koottukar (2010), directed by Prasad Valacheril
Shankar was instrumental in giving break to directors Priyadarshan and Bhadran in two super hit movies Poochakkoru Mookkuthi and Ente Mohangal Poovaninju respectively. Director Sibi Malayil changed to serious family films with Shankar's home production Chekkeranoru Chilla.
Born in 1960 to Thrissur Kacheriyil Thekkeveettil NP Panicker and Sulochana Panicker.[6] Shankar lives in Cochin with his wife Rooparekha and son.
| Year | Date | Film | Language | Starring | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Virus | Malayalam | Abhinay, Sajitha Beti, Shankar | Theatrical release unlikely | |
| 2009 | December 17 | Keralotsavam 2009 | Malayalam | Vinu Mohan, Vishnu Priya, Nedumudi Venu |