'My husband never treated me with love', Kaviyoor Ponnamma's old interviews surface, revealing family turmoil

Veteran actress Kaviyoor Ponnamma, known as the "mother" of Malayalam cinema for her iconic portrayals of maternal figures, has passed away recently. The actress, who enjoyed immense popularity and admiration throughout her career, is being remembered by her fans with deep affection. Recently, some of her old interviews have gone viral on social media, sparking renewed conversations about her personal life and revelations about her late husband, Maniswamy.

In one interview, Ponnamma opened up about the difficult relationship she had with her husband, sharing that she endured significant emotional abuse throughout their marriage.

"My husband never treated me with love," she confessed. "However, he was with me at the time of his death. In his final days, he was unable to speak and I hated him more than I felt anger. The doctor who was treating him told me to fulfill any wishes he might have had in his last moments. So, I set aside all the past pain. He was everything a husband shouldn’t be. I never understood why I had to suffer. After he lost his voice, he would hold my hand and cry constantly. He was deeply regretful in his final days."

Ponnamma also revealed that their marriage wasn’t a love match. "It wasn’t a love marriage," she said. "Before I married Maniswamy, I had been in a relationship with someone else and we wanted to marry but he asked me to convert and I refused. That’s how that relationship ended."

Reflecting on her decision to marry Maniswamy, who had been the producer of her film ‘Rosie’, she said, "He expressed his interest in marrying me directly. I thought marrying him would help my family but everything went wrong."

In the same interview, Ponnamma also spoke candidly about her relationship with her daughter, Bindu. "My daughter says that I never loved her. I was busy throughout her childhood. I had to work constantly. Only then could the family survive and move forward.