Actress Kanakalatha was able to identify two actresses even after losing memory

Kanakalatha, who was an active presence in Malayalam films for a period through small and big roles, had a miserable end. She had lost her memory. She even forgot to have food. A smile was seen only when she listens to her favorite song. Actress Kanakalatha, who was busy in movies and serials, was suffering from dementia and Parkinson's disease.

She didn’t have much sleep from 2021. In August 2022, dementia was diagnosed. An MRI scan also revealed that the brain was shrinking. Liquid food was given to her through a tube. She started losing weight from her 85 kg.

She recognized some of the co-actors who visited her. She used to respond when watching serials and reacted when seeing Beena Antony and Chippy. She used to cry at times. Kanakalatha, who lived on rent at Valiyavila in Thiruvananthapuram, later owned a house in Malayinkeezhu. She lost her income during the time of lockdown. Loan repayment defaulted. Her sister Vijayamma said that she paid the loan after pledging gold. She has been with her sister Kanakalatha for the past 34 years. Her nephew and his family are with them.

Kanakalatha was last seen in Pookalam. She got insurance from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). Got Rs 5000 monthly as kaineettam. A small amount was received from ATMA, association of television workers. Used this money to meet the daily expenses.

‘Some YouTubers came saying that they want to shoot her present video. They said that she will get financial assistance through it. We were not interested to present her to the society in such a vulnerable state. It will be a harm done to her’, Vijayamma said then. She was completely isolated from the world of glamour and went through the miseries of life.

38 years 360 movies
Kanakalatha has acted in more than 360 films in Malayalam and Tamil in 38 years. She shone on the miniscreen too.

She entered the acting field through amateur dramas. Her first film was ‘Unarthupattu'. It was not released. She saw the silver screen through 'Chillu'. She fell in love at the age of 22 and got married but separated after sixteen years. She has no children.