Renowned writer and Jnanpith Award winner M.T. Vasudevan Nair was known for taking Malayalam storytelling to the heights through his works. He died on Wednesday evening.
Vasudevan Nair, popularly known as M.T., is known for his distinctive art of storytelling, highlighting human emotions and the complexities of rural life. Author Nair (91) was admitted to the hospital for treatment due to cardiac problems and breathed his last on Wednesday.
According to sources associated with the literary field, he was facing several health problems including respiratory ailments for some time. Born in 1933 in Cuddalore village in Palakkad district of Kerala, M.T. spent more than seven decades creating a literary world that attracted common citizens and intellectuals alike.
At that time, Cuddalore was part of the Malabar district under the Madras Presidency of British India. He was the youngest of four children of T. Narayanan Nair and Ammalu Amma. His father worked in Ceylon, Sri Lanka. He completed his schooling from Malamakkavu Primary School and Kumaranellur Secondary School and graduated in Chemistry from Victoria College, Palakkad in 1953.
He initially worked as a teacher and gram sevak in a block development office at Taliparamba, Kannur and then joined Mathrubhumi weekly as sub-editor in 1957. In seven decades in the field of literature, he has written nine novels, 19 short story collections, directed six films, about 54 screenplays and several essays and memoir collections.
M. T. won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha’ (1989), ‘Kadavu’ (1991), ‘Sadayam’ (1992), and ‘Parinayam’ (1994). MT married writer and translator Pramila in 1965, but they separated after 11 years of marriage and after that he married famous dancer Kalamandalam Saraswathi in 1977.
