Malayalees love films headlining elephants. We have always welcomed narratives that witnessed an elephant taking centre stage. So many films that had an elephant playing the hero or standing head and shoulders with the hero have always been money spinners at the box office. One such film that was a winner was ‘Ajagajantharam’ headlining Antony Varghese. The main character of the film was an elephant called Nadakkal Unnikrishnan. The elephant’s on-screen name was Neisheri Parthan. However, the elephant, which was endearing to all, died recently.
‘Ajagajantharam’ director Tinu Pappachan shared a social media post with the caption— “Adieu to Nadakkal Unnikrishnan, while Antony Varghese wrote—“Adieu Unnikrishnan.
Neisheri Parthan had a key role in the film and a lot of action stunts featured him. The film starts with the entry of an elephant and his mahout into a local festival along with a group of young men and the total chaos that erupts in the next 24 hours.
Unnikrishnan is a favourite among film people because of his friendly nature. Along with that, the fact that he was one of the few elephants who had completed the specific ownership registration required for performing animals as per the instructions of the Animal Welfare Board made Unnikrishnan a close friend of the visual media world.
According to the preliminary report, he died due to food poisoning during a film shoot at Coimbatore.
He has also appeared in 'Odiyan', 'Panchavarnathatha', 'Thiruvambadi Thamban', 'Kumki', 'Hathi Mera Sathi' and 'Palthu Janwar'. His owner hails from Mundakayam in Kottayam. It was Palakkad Manihsheeri Hari who brought Unnikrishnan from Karnataka to Kerala. Once he was shifted to Kollam, he was purchased by Mundakkal resident Nadakkal Varkey. Unnikrishnan who had all the finer qualities of an elephant was calm and friendly.
