“Everyone who was born had to die; those who died would be reborn again. The killer and the slain: these were terms that had no meaning. The soul could never be destroyed. The soul discards a worn-out body for a new one as human beings discard old clothes for new, said Krishna, and there was nothing in this to grieve about.”
These are the words from the book ‘Bhima Lone Warrior’, written by the renowned Malayalam author and screenwriter MT Vasudevan Nair, who passed away on Wednesday in a private hospital in Kozhikode. Nair was admitted there following a heart failure at the age of 91.
MT Vasudevan Nair was one of Kerala’s most celebrated writers. With a career spanning more than seven decades, his work leaves an unforgettable legacy in the field of literature and films. Nair’s work drew inspiration from the lives of farmers along the banks of river Nila, where he spent his childhood in an upper-caste Nair family.
MT and His Writings
MT Vasudevan’s writings document the lives of people who saw the transformation from a princely state in North Kerala to a Hindu matrilineal family in the Valluvanad region.
This is depicted in his novels like Naalukettu, Asuravithu and Kaalam. The novels dealt with tribulations and languages spoken inside matrilinear families of the region.
The characters of his books and scripts were mostly picked up from this cultural setting. Known for his nuanced interpretations, his characters spoke and behaved like reality. “Characters, their predicaments – that’s what inspires me. The crossroads they find themselves in their trouble us.” said MT in a media interview in 2023.
Because of his detailed characters and nuanced stories, MT won many state, national and international laureates like the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 1959, at the age of 23. His novel ‘Kaalam’ bought him much national-level recognition by bagging the Kendra Sahithya Prize in 1969. Three decades on, MT went on to create iconic works like ‘Asuravithu’ in 1962, ‘Majnu’ in 1964 and ‘Randamoozham’ in 1984 which presented the story of ‘Mahabharat’ from the viewpoint of Bhim. He published his last novel, ‘Varanasi’, in 2002.
Other than books, MT had also directed seven films and wrote about 45 scripts. In 1965, he wrote his first film script, ‘Murappennu’. By 1973, MT made his directorial debut in the Malayalam film industry with his film ‘Nirmalyam’. The film went on to win the year’s National Award for best feature film. Other renowned screenplays written By MT include ‘Perumthachan’ and ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’.
MT also wrote three travelogues a play and several essays.
“I am first and foremost a writer, text is my priority. I have been a journalist and, similarly, worked in films. Not that cinema is inferior to literature in any way, but it is books that define me,” MT had said in an old interview.
MT’s Personal Life
Born in Kudallur village of Palakkad district in 1934, MT did his schooling from a local school. While graduating from Victoria College in chemistry, MT won the best short story in Malayalam award in the short story competition conducted by the New York Herald Tribune. This came because MT used to be invested in magazines bought at home by his elder brother since childhood.
Instead of venting out to play, MT would surround himself with letters and periodicals, from the age of 12.
After graduating, MT became a school teacher. But this was short-lived because, by 1956, he moved to Kozhikode. There, he joined as a sub-editor in a literary magazine. After nine years, MT was promoted to an editor, a position he held until 1981. Alongside, he also served as the President of Kerala Sahitya Academy and the chairperson of the Thunchan Memorial Trust and Research Centre.
After being conferred with the Jnanpith in 1995 and Padma Bhushan in 2005, MT became a renowned voice in the Malayalam literature and film industry. In 2022, MT was conferred with the highest civilian award of the state government, the Kerela Jothi Award.
The state government announced a two-day mourning on the demise of the renowned writer. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “We have lost a genius who took Malayalam literature to the top of the world. His death is an inseparable loss. His writings have reflected the complexities and beauties of Kerala’s life.”
