MT Vasudevan Nair, the renowned Malayalam writer known for his lyrical nostalgia, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 91 in Kozhikode. He breathed his last at Baby Memorial Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for the past 11 days after suffering a cardiac arrest. While his condition showed signs of improvement on Tuesday as he was removed from ventilator support, it deteriorated rapidly on Wednesday night.Popularly referred to as MT, he left an indelible mark on Malayalam literature and cinema, with contributions spanning novels, short stories, screenplays, children’s literature, travel writing, and essays. He directed six films and a documentary about Mohiniyattam including the iconic Nirmalyam, a classic in Malayalam cinema, along with two documentaries.Who can forget the iconoclastic scene of an oracle spitting on the face of a goddess-idol in Nirmalyam, his directorial debut? In an age of increasing intolerance, such display of creative valour half a century ago provided a telling narrative of what Kerala once was. “Can’t even imagine such a film being made today!” was how noted filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan put it.Such a radical portrayal would have undoubtedly unleashed mayhem in the present times. There are many more such portrayals like that of Chanthu in Oru Vadakkan Veeragaatha, where MT chose to depict folklore through a differing perspective, defying conventional wisdom and populist overtures. Unique in influencing Malayali sensibilitiesAs recounted in a tribute on his 90th birthday, perhaps there was no one else who had influenced a Malayali’s sensibilities like MT.The great man enjoyed a cult status among Keralites through the wide canvas of his writings coupled with a brilliant bouquet of films. Changampuzha Krishna Pillai – celebrated romantic poet of yesteryears – could be the only other writer whose name remains etched deep in the hearts of Malayalis.Most of MT’s protagonists were social outcasts, living on the margins of life, people ignored by mainstream society.”Perched on the margins of society as well as our everyday lives, such people have always been around in my village and elsewhere. I could see them in my neighbourhood, leading isolated and lonely lives,” MT had said. “They do all that has to be done, but never seem to get noticed by anyone”, was how he put it when asked how only the dejected and despairing lot seem to make it to his list of protagonists.Writer who preferred humane charactersHumane was how he preferred his characters to be. He tried to get rid of the divine aura that usually surrounds mythical characters. Perhaps that explained why he chose to portray Bheema in almost simplistic overtones. “It’s a story about an ordinary mortal’s grief, one who has experienced the hurt of being cast away. It seeks to convey the pain of the one ignored. It’s about the common man!” was the short brief that MT shared with his illustrator about Randamoozham. That it was more than adequate for artist Namboothiri to sketch the protagonist with a few deft strokes.Though inspired by literary legends like Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and SK Pottekkad, MT chose to tread his own path. The social milieu of an ancestral joint family set-up, juxtaposed against a well-entrenched patriarchal system, did wield a major influence on him. He however never did root for a romanticization of the same. What he always focused upon was the wreckage wrought by the feudal system and the crumbling edifice of joint families. The writer in him never lingered on to relive the remnants of the past.Cast against the wide and varied canvas of a rural neighbourhood, he chose to portray the simple, rugged lives around him. This well explains the inner struggles of his protagonists in early works like Naalukettu (1958), Kalam (1969) or Asuravithu (1972). Perhaps Manj (1964) was the first exception, a lyrical work woven around a female protagonist, Vimala.Streak of rebellionHaving said that, we cannot ignore the constant and fierce streak of rebellion in his writings that oft triggered a quiet revolution of its own in his characters’ lives. In a screenplay adapted from his own story Pallivalum Kalchilambum, MT went on to portray something that would have proved an unpardonable offence in contemporary society. This was prostitution which was given a central part in Nirmalyam, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and Kerala State Film Award for Best Film in 1974. PJ Antony, the lead actor, won the National Film Award for Best ActorCould he have been even more modernist and famous?Why is it that the legend of Malayalam literature chose to remain deep-rooted in a familiar milieu, rather than move out to explore the urban truths of life, and maybe even indulge in a literary tryst with the ever-changing social realities of an increasingly dysfunctional social set-up?Writer CR Parameswaran’s keen observation in this regard well sums up what MT might have been, had he opted to tread a different literary path. Placing him as one among the last of the neo-realistic writers balanced on the threshold of the modernist movement in the state, CR is of the view that had MT ventured out of Kerala during his younger days like OV Vijayan or Anand, he would have actually ended up even more modernist and famous than the duo!Nevertheless, all said and done, there is probably no other literary editor who nurtured the modernist movement in Malayalam literature the way MT did! A slew of writers, Sethu and Paul Zachariah among others, were handpicked by MT, the editor.Highly decoratedMT’s literary excellence earned him numerous prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 2005, the country’s third-highest civilian honour. He also received the Jnanpith Award, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Vayalar Award, Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Vallathol Puraskaram, and JC Daniel Puraskaram. His screenplays won him the national award four times and the state award 11 times. MT was also honoured as the best film director in Kerala three times.
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