Krishnan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, was an Indian film actor, naval officer, stunt performer and cultural icon of the 1970s. He starred in over 120 Malayalam films. During his film career, he was primarily an action star and was particularly famous for his macho image and unique style. He was reputed for his chauvinistic appeal and well known for performing stunts of a dangerous nature on his own. By the late 1970s, he became the most popular lead actor and bankable star of Malayalam cinema and has been acclaimed as the first action hero of Malayalam cinema.
Jayan was a Master Chief Petty Officer in the Indian Navy, before he came to films and rose to fame as an actor in a very short time, appearing as an action hero in numerous films during the 1970s. He died at the age of 41, at the peak of his popularity, as a result of an accident while filming a dangerous stunt involving a flying helicopter that crashed while he was hanging on to it. He has since then become a legendary symbol of daredevilry and masculinity with numerous inspirations, imitations, his unfading popularity being widely used to promote new-age movies, actors and brands and an ever-growing fan-base spanning generations.
His superhuman image has also transformed him into an iconic figure of popular culture among Malayalis around the world with widespread impersonation on stage and television programs based on his screen persona. It was accompanied by a cartoon, email and SMS phenomenon in the early 2000s, portraying him as a comic superhero with unique quotes of superhuman strength attributed to the action star becoming widespread. These movements were fuelled by a renewed fascination with his style of dialogue delivery and his machismo image.These were claimed to honour his memories but were also criticised for parodying the legendary actor years after his death.
Life and career
Early life
Jayan was born in Kollam, Travancore as the first child of his father Thevalli, Kottaram Veetil Madhavan Pillai and mother Bharathiyamma. His birthname was Krishnan Nair. He had a younger brother named Soman Nair. Malayalam actor Jayabharathi who was his first cousin introduced him to the film industry. Jayan’s formal education ended at 10th grade at Kollam Govt. Boys High School when he joined the Indian Navy. The first accolades for his acting skills reached him when he was a naval sailor. He used to act in plays at various functions like anniversaries. The encouragement from his friends and colleagues in the Navy gave him the desire to act in films. Jayan served in the Indian Navy for 16 years, culminating in the rank of Master CPO. By the end of his navy days he had begun efforts to start small businesses at Ernakulam and became a regular inhabitant of the Cochin Tourist Home. During his life at Ernakulam he would meet some of his lifelong friends. It was such a chance meeting while on leave, with Rajan Prakash who is the veteran Malayalam actor Jose Prakash’s son, who owned a dry cleaning shop in Cochin, that eventually landed him a role in the movie Shapa Moksham. A year later, he left the Indian Navy and started trying his hand at various civilian jobs, working for companies in Cochin for a few years till his acting career began to yield.
Film career
Random appearances and early career
Jayan did make a few random uncredited appearances in some movies of the early 1970s first of which was in Postmane Kanmanilla.[11][12] These minor appearances were before he attained the screen name Jayan. According to his nephew, he had the role of a vampire like character in an unnamed project costarred by Vidhubala, which was never released. His first appearance with the name Jayan was in the movie Shapa Moksham which is usually credited as his first film.
Rise to fame
The name “Jayan” (English: “The Victor”) was given to him by veteran Malayalam actor Jose Prakash on the sets of Shapa Moksham. Jayan started his career by acting in minor roles starting with Shapa Moksham (1974). Jayan got his first major break appearing as a villain character in Panchami (1976) playing the role of a forest ranger. Jayan’s performance in this film was appreciated in the industry and his physical appearance was also noticed for the first time. His next notable role was in Thacholi Ambu (1978) in which he appeared in a supporting role. In the same year, he acted as a sage in the Sreekumaran Thampi film Etho Oru Swapnam which was well received by critics. But what made Jayan a superstar was his antihero role in Sharapancharam (1979, Bed of Arrows). He catapulted to fame riding on machismo roles that endeared him to the masses, and he established himself as one of the most popular Malayalam film actors of his time.He is generally regarded as the first action hero in Malayalam cinema.
Superstardom
Sharapancharam broke all records set in the Malayalam industry till its time and became the highest grosser of 1979. Its records were broken by another Jayan film Angadi (Market) in the following year which cemented his popularity among the masses.In films like Manushya Mrugam, Aavesham etc. he played double roles. During his career, he received only a few critically appreciated roles perhaps partly due to his commercial hero image and partly due to the lack of films that garnered critical appreciation at the time. The focus was always on his unmatched drawing power as an action star and by 1980, at the peak of his career, he had attained a genuine superhero image. Movies exploited Jayan’s masculine physique and he appeared bare-chested in numerous scenes. His on-screen attire (most famously his Elvis bellbottoms), his masculine image and later the nature of his death transformed him into a legend in Kerala. Jayan was also known for his unique method of dialogue delivery and he has contributed many memorable lines to the Malayalam film history.
Multistar films
Jayan acted in several multistar movies mostly with Prem Nazir. The duo acted in films like Nayattu, Love in Singapore, Chandrahasam, Thacholi Ambu, Kannappanunni, Palattu Kunjikkannan, Mamangam, Prabhu etc. all of which were top grossers at the box office. He also acted with other popular actors of the time like Soman, Sukumaran and Madhu in many films. In early films before 1979 (like Thacholi Ambu and Panchami) he had negative or supporting roles. But later films in the beginning of 1980 relied heavily on Jayan’s drawing power as an action hero and placed him as the central character. In 1980, the duo jayan and Prem Nazir were cast in Ariyapedatha Rahasiyam by P. Venu, that showcased the famous fight scene in Malayalam cinema. Prem Nazir agreed to play a supporting role in “Nayattu” very unlikely for a superstar of those times. He had agreed to do this as a token of friendship with Jayan and the director Sreekumaran Thamby.The duo had many actions films together like ‘irumbazhikal” “love in Singapore” etc. where the box office draw was huge.
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