For a language that is relatively young, Malayalam has produced some of India’s greatest literature. Some of India’s greatest films too have been made in Malayalam. When we think of those timeless works in literature and cinema, we will find one name associated with many of them. A name that has just two letters – MT.
M.T. Vasudevan Nair, who wrote some of the finest pieces of fiction in Malayalam and who revolutionised the art of screenplay in the language, turns 90 on Saturday.
Nobody has perhaps straddled the twin worlds of literature and cinema the way he has, and for so long. His latest work – an anthology of films adapted from his short stories – is set to be streamed soon.
He has also completed the script of Randamoozham, an adaptation of his novel that brought a fresh perspective to Mahabharata. Its filming did not begin and there were legal tangles, which were eventually resolved. Randamoozham’s screen version should be worth the wait.
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The novel, in which we revisit the epic from Bheema’s point of view, remains a bestseller. MT had once told this correspondent that of all his works, it was Randamoozham that had reached out to most readers outside Malayalam. “Mahabharata is always relevant,” he had said. “The meaninglessness of war has made man think always. What do you gain from a war, besides creating widows?”
Randamoozham is undoubtedly a significant novel, one of the best in Indian literature. MT, however, had already written several great novels, such as Asuravithu, Kalam, Manju and Nalukettu. If Manju bowled the readers over with its sheer lyrical beauty, Asuravithu haunted them with the brilliant portrayal of the protagonist Govindankutty and society he lived in.
It has not just been in novels that MT has created strong characters. He has penned immortal characters for the screen, too. Chanthu (Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha), Unnimaya (Parinayam), Indira (Panchagni), Sathyanathan (Sadayam), Dr. Haridas (Amrutham Gamaya) are just some of them.
Malayalam cinema has been fortunate that MT spent so much of his time to write screenplays. Until he was persuaded to write the script of Murappennu (1965) by producer Shobhana Parameswaran Nair, he had no intention to work in cinema as he was perfectly content being an author.
Fortunately for Malayalam cinema, MT continued to write screenplays even as he pursued his literary career. He has also enacted the role of a literary magazine editor with great skills, though that facet of his life has not been celebrated as much.
Not many writers, in any language, are admired and loved the way MT is. As he reaches another milestone in his life, many across the world would be reading a novel of his or watching a film of his.
