Popular Malayalam actor Mohan Raj passes away

Mohan Raj, popularly known as Keerikadan Jose, the Malayalam actor who was best known as a villain passed away here at his house on Thursday.

Raj was a Central government official before being cast as the villain in ‘Kireedam’, his second film in 1989.

In the film, the screen name of his character was Keerikadan Jose which got attached to him and became popular with the name. The film also saw Mohanlal as the hero which turned out to be one of the all-time hits in Malayalam cinema.

After the stupendous success of that film the stock of Raj alias Jose also skyrocketed and he went on to act in more than 300 films.

Raj was a tall and well-built person and his sound combined with his facial expression helped him to take the role of villain to a new level in South Indian films.

A few years back while doing a stunt scene for a Telegu film he suffered a leg injury and from then on he was unable to recover fully.

The last film he acted in was in 2022 in the Mammootty film ‘Rorshach’ after which his health deteriorated and remained at home.

There were instances when people used to crowd around him by calling his screen name, Keerikaden Jose.

The last rites will be held in the state capital on Friday.