Shankaradi

Sankaradi
Portrait of Actor Sankaradi
Born	Sankaradi Chandrasekhara Menon 1924 Cherai, Kingdom of Cochin
Died	9 October 2001(2001-10-09) (aged 76–77) Cherai, Kochi, India
Occupation	Actor, politician, journalist
Years active	1963–2001
Spouse(s)	Sharada
Parent(s)	Paravoor Memana Parameswara Pillai, Thoppil Parambil Janaki Amma
Awards	Kerala State Film Awards 1970,1971 - Second Best Actor

Chandrasekhara Menon, better known by his stage (and ancestor house) name Sankaradi (Malayalam: ശങ്കരാടി; 1924–2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artiste, who had over 700 Malayalam films to his credit. He was one of the first realistic actors in South Indian cinema. He dominated the Malayalam film scene in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s as comedian along with Adoor Bhasi and Bahadur. Later, he switched to character roles.

Sankaradi passed intermediate from Maharajas College, Ernakulam. Before entering films, Sankaradi briefly dabbled in politics, journalism and theatre. He had earlier joined the Indian National Congress, but later became a cardholder of the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI). However, he returned his party card after the CPI split in 1964 and turned to theatre.

Sankaradi joined the trade union movement at Baroda Railways while he was studying Marine engineering at Baroda. He abandoned his studies to pursue job as a journalist in The Literary Review a newspaper from Mumbai.

A stint in theatre in the mid-1960s in Kerala prepared Sankaradi for his foray into films. Since his debut in Kunchacko's Kadalamma, he remained an integral part of Malayalam cinema till his death.

In 1968, he acted in Viruthan Shanku, the first full-length comedy in Malayalam cinema directed by P. Venu. Sankaradi won the state's best character artiste award in 1969-71. He also holds the record for featuring in over 300 films with evergreen hero Prem Nazir.