Ailing actor VD Rajappan retains his humour sense

Kottayam: “Meet to glad you,” says V.D. Rajappan, 64, satirist storyteller-turned film actor, as this correspondent  meets him at his home at Perur near Kottayam, where he is bedridden with a host of  ailments.  Though he smiles and tries to recollect his fading memory, he is frail and can sit  only with the help of his wife.

Though he needs the help of others to move around,  he  is  enjoying his twilight days,  smoking cigarettes incessantly and glancing at  film magazines.

“I have no loss of memory. I am stable and can recollect things. Do you want me to sing a parody song?” he asks and broods over his celebrated  story telling (kathaprasangham) item, ‘Priyey Nintey Kura’ (a story where a female dog listens to the barking of a male dog and the story unfolds).

He tries  to utter the  first lines, but fails as his words  are slipping and he can’t  recollect the lines. His wife Sulochana adds some lines. He has two sons, who are employed, and they supplement  his income.

“He is of the same stuff  as when he was in his prime. Not conforming to any rules, he enjoyed his life with friends, liquor and songs, so that no money is left with us except my pension and  the Rs 5,000 pension of ‘AMMA,’ Sulochana says.

Rajappan acted in 82 films in Malayalam and wrote and performed 25 kathaprasanghams. He parroted the voices of rats in  ‘Pothiley Puthiri’ (the daughter in the cave) and dogs in ‘Priyey Nintey Kura’ (dogs barking). “His voice was manly and he manipulated songs to his story situations,”  Sulochana adds.

None  from the film fraternity, except producer Mani C. Kappan and director Joshy, has visited him,  says his wife.