The Indoor Stadium in Kochi witnessed a huge turnout of fans and locals who made a beeline to pay homage to Siddique.
Malayalam director Siddique laid to rest with state honours. (Supplied)
Renowned Malayalam director Siddique was cremated in Ernakulam Central Juma Masjid with state honours at around 6 pm on Wednesday, 9 August. His mortal remains were placed at the Indoor Stadium in Kadavanthra for public homage.
Later his body was taken to his house in Pallikkara.
The 63-year-old director was kept on an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine at Amrita Hospital in Kochi after he suffered a heart attack on Monday, 7 August.
He underwent treatment for pneumonia and liver disease for some time and breathed his last on 8 August.
Siddique died at the age of 63. (Supplied)
Siddique was admitted to Amrita Hospital on 10 July. He was suffering from nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis and his liver condition worsened.
Doctors suggested a liver transplant, but as the process was moving on, he was infected with pneumonia. This worsened his respiratory system and liver.
He was later on life support at ICU. As he got better after the treatment, he was shifted to the recovery ICU.
The doctors planned for liver transplantation surgery a week ago and his daughter was the donor. But he suffered a heart attack which came as a major setback to his health.
He was on a ventilator at the cardiology ICU and was getting treatment since Sunday, 6 August. He was put on ESMO support after his heart and respiratory system stopped functioning.
The Indoor Stadium in Kochi witnessed a huge turnout of fans and locals who made a beeline to pay homage to Siddique.
Actor Mammootty and his son Dulquer Salmaan, director Fazil, actors Fahadh Faasil, Jayaram, Janardhanan, and who’s who from the film fraternity paid their last tributes to Siddique.
Fahadh Faasil consoles Lal. (Supplied)
Actor-director Lal was seen sitting near the body of Siddique at the Indoor Stadium in Kadavanthara. He was flanked by mimicry artist Kalabhavan Prasad.
Director Fazil (Siddique’s mentor) and Lal consoled each other.
Lal stated that his friendship with Siddique started long back during their mimicry days. “We did mimicry together. Then we did films, but our friendship remains the same.”
Several rumours did the rounds after Siddique-Lal parted their ways. Reacting to this, Lal once clarified that they both and his (Lal’s) wife Nancy knew the actual reason and it wasn’t a big problem as to what others believe.
Interestingly, when Siddique directed his first movie Hitler (1996) after parting ways with Lal, the latter produced it.
The title card Siddique-Lal always remains a favourite among Malayali audiences since the duo delivered five super hits: Ramji Rao Speaking (1989), In Harihar Nagar (1990), Vietnam Colony (1992), Godfather (1991), and Kabooliwala (1995).
Godfather ran for 405 days at Sreekumar Theatre in Trivandrum.
After getting separated from Lal, Siddique directed 13 films and a majority of them were superhits. Lal also directed and produced a handful of movies. He shifted to acting later and proved his mettle.
Siddique and Lal in an old photo. (Supplied)
Mukesh was an integral part of the films directed by Siddique-Lal.
When Siddique started doing movies independently, he gave important roles to Mukesh who is known for his impeccable comedy timing.
Recollecting those good-old memories, Mukesh said that Siddique-Lal gave a respite to his career because they were ready to take risks and do films without superstars in the lead.
“I had a fear that I would end up doing side roles in superstar films, but Siddique-Lal gave me a break in their debut movie Ramji Rao Speaking. Thanks to word-of-mouth publicity, it ran for over 150 days in theatres,” he told the media.
Comedian-actor Harishree Ashokan recollected that when he didn’t have films at a certain point in his career, Siddique asked him to act in Mammootty’s Bhaskar The Rascal (2015).
Ashokan also mentioned that Siddique was his close friend and they started their friendship during their mimicry days in the Kalabhavan troupe.
Siddique, Lal and Innocent in an old stage program. (Supplied)
Mohanlal and Mammootty acted in Siddique’s movies.
Mohanlal was the lead in the Vietnam Colony, directed by Siddique-Lal. Later, he acted in Ladies and Gentleman (2013), 21 years after they worked for Vietnam Colony.
Incidentally, Siddique’s last movie was also with Mohanlal —Big Brother (2020).
In his Facebook post, Mohanlal called Siddique his big brother. “Siddique led a normal life without having enemies. People waited for his films as they liked his direction. Siddique had the power to write stories of common people, and his death is a big loss,” Mohanlal wrote.
Mammootty acted in three of Siddique’s films: Hitler (1996), Chronic Bachelor (2003), and Bhaskar the Rascal (2015).
Mammootty wrote on his Facebook page: “The death of loved ones is very painful, and I condole the death of Siddique.”
The actor is feeling low after the passing away of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, actors Innocent and Mamukkoya. He didn’t react to his getting the Kerala State Film Award for the same reason.
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