MT Vasudevan Nair, Malayalam literature & film giant, no more

Renowned Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair died on Wednesday at a private hospital in Kozhikode, where he was admitted following heart failure.

- SHAJU PHILIP

RENOWNED MALAYALAM WRITER MT Vasudevan Nair died on Wednesday at a private hospital in Kozhikode, where he was admitted following heart failure. He was 91 years old. The Kerala government has declared two days of state mourning.

One of Kerala's most celebrated writers, Madath Thekkepat Vasudevan Nair or MT, as he is popularly known, leaves behind an indelible mark in the fields of literature and film, with a career spanning more than seven decades.

His works drew inspiration from the agrarian life along the banks of the river Nila (also known as Bharathpuzha), where he spent his childhood in an upper-caste Nair family.

His writings echoed the life, language, diction and tumult of the times that saw a transformation of Hindu matrilineal families in the Valluvanad region, formerly a princely state in North Kerala. His novels Naalukettu, Asuravithu and Kaalam dealt with the woes and tribulations of the matrilineal families in that region.