Njekkad Sasi, prominent kathaprasangam artist, dies at 76

KALLAMBALAM: Veteran kathaprasangam artist Njekkad Sasi, 76, died at Rajagiri Hospital, Aluva, while staying with his son in Ernakulam. His body was brought to his home at Njekkad, Varkala, on Monday evening. The funeral will be held at 10 am on Tuesday at the Alappas residence in Njekkad.

Sasi was a prominent kathaprasangam artist during the heyday of the popular art form in Kerala. He was a recipient of the Sangeetha Gurupooja Award of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi. He had been active in the field for 52 years and had performed 25 stories, including Kadathukarante Puthri, K.A. Abbas's Saat Hindustani, Bimal Mitra's Charithrathil Illathavar and Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo.

Sasi had performed across Kerala and focused particularly on stories related to left-wing movements. He was an active member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

His wife, Kumari Amma, predeceased him. He is survived by his children, Subru (IBM, Kochi) and Karthika Devi, and their spouses, Shalini (TCS, Kochi) and Krishnadev (Dubai).