Kochi: "My boy, it is a young man's liver that has been transplanted into me. It will run smoothly without any trouble, don't worry..." It never took Salim Kumar even a fraction of a second to deliver a witty comeback to a colleague who affectionately advised him to take care of his health. This dialogue, delivered in the signature style of his character Kannan Srank from the movie ‘Mayavi’, came from the exact same man who delivered another profound line in the style of Samuel from ‘Achanurangatha Veedu’.

"Life is like a screenplay written by someone else. No matter what awards you win, life can end in an ICU..."

Having accepted death and departed from this world just as he had predicted, perhaps the very first line Salim Kumar asks upon reaching God's side will be his famous catchphrase: "Eeswara vazhakkillallo!" (God, no fights, right!). Who is to say that even God will not burst into laughter upon hearing it? The sentences written by Salim Kumar in the introduction of his autobiography, titled ‘Eeswara Vazhakkillallo’, were filled with an equal measure of laughter and tears. He wrote, "An excursion I am taking from the starting point of birth to the finishing point of death..." That laughter was the colourful wrapping paper he used to transform a life scorched by sorrows and pain into a pleasure trip.

When he finally drifted into the cold embrace of death from the ICU of Amrita Hospital on Saturday night, those words proved profoundly true: "Life can end in an ICU."

When he entered the world of cinema, Salim Kumar brought a blanket of laughter with him, fully aware of who he was. Believing that creating comedy in cinema was always the responsibility of the underprivileged, he had the blueprint of his own life as a constant reminder. Growing up with nothing but the blankets of poverty and hardship, he had little else to comfort him during his childhood.

"If I look back at my life, I will never feel like laughing. But is there any point in not laughing in a life filled only with sorrow and pain? So, I laugh..." A mind that wept unseen always shone through those words.

Shining in mimicry during his student days at Ernakulam Maharaja's College, Salim Kumar expected nothing but comic roles when he entered the film industry. Stepping onto the Malayalam silver screen with a small role in the movie ‘Ishtamanu Nooruvattam’, the clever actor sought to declare his affinity for comedy. Although he went on to build a home in the hearts of Malayalis through countless comedic characters that triggered non-stop laughter, he was waiting. It was a waiting driven by an inner determination to show the world his depth as an actor. In his own words, it was a wait to declare that he was not just an “Enthino vendi thilakkunna sambar”, a side dish bubbling away aimlessly. 

Films like ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ and ‘Achanurangatha Veedu’ stood as testaments to that depth. Ultimately, in 2010, when the National Film Award for Best Actor came searching for him for his performance in ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’, Salim Kumar, in his characteristically rooted style, would have likely asked himself within, ‘Eeswara vazhakkillallo!’