Jagathy Sreekumar returns before the camera

Thiruvananthapuram: Comedian Jagathy Sreekumar, after surviving a near fatal accident, returned in front of the camera after almost a year on Monday when he met press photographers and cameramen from TV channels.

The meeting was organised by his family for the media, which had been clamouring to interview him.

Sitting in a wheelchair, Sreekumar did not answer any questions from the media persons. Instead, he just smiled. He was wheeled back into his house after 10 minutes.

Later, his son Rajkumar said doctors were amazed at the miraculous recovery of his father. "They said that it will take another two years for him to recover fully. At the moment, he cannot speak properly. At times he says a few words but apart from that his memory has come back to normal and he remembers and identifies all people."

"He sings sometimes and doctors are now trying to make him speak through singing. He enacts some scenes from his popular films when asked to," Rajkumar added.

The comedian was seriously injured in a road accident on March 10 last year near Kozhikode in Kerala in the wee hours while going to a shoot.

On April 12, the actor underwent four major surgeries after being airlifted from Kozhikode to Christian Medical College, Vellore in Tamil Nadu.

In a career starting in the early 1970s, Sreekumar acted in over 1,100 films. In 2011 alone, of the 70 Malayalam films that were screened in theatres, Sreekumar acted in 24.