Celebrated Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan wins 2019 Puthoor Award

The award was constituted in memory of famed short story writer and novelist Unnikrishnan Puthoor.
Celebrated Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan wins 2019 Puthoor Award
Celebrated Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan wins 2019 Puthoor Award
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MT Vasudevan Nair, Kerala’s celebrated novelist, short story and screenplay writer has won the 2019 Puthoor Award. The Puthoor award won by the writer this year includes a cash prize as well as a bronze sculpture by artist JR Prasad. The award ceremony will be held on the day of Puthoor’s 5th death anniversary on April 2, 2019.

The award was constituted in memory of famed short story writer and novelist Unnikrishnan Puthoor who has published atleast 29 collections of short stories, 15 short stories and a collection of poems and autobiographical writing among other works. Puthoor won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1968, for his novel Ballikkallu. He also won the Odakkuzhal award in 2010. The writer passed away in 2014.

MT Vasudevan Nair shot to fame at the young age of 20 when his short story won the best short story award in Malayalam at the World Short Story Competition held by the New York Herald Tribune. The 85-year-old writer won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award at age 23 for his novel Naalukettu.  

MT Vasudevan Nair’s celebrated novel Randamoozham was to be turned into a feature film in Malayalam starring actor Mohanlal and directed by VA Shrikumar Menon. However, the writer, who had written the screenplay for the film, backed out of the project due to extensive delay in starting the shoot. The writer who has decided to withdraw his screenplay also said that the decision was made after the 3-year contract period of the screenplay had expired and the shooting had not begun yet.

Randamoozham is a Malayalam novel penned by MT Vasudevan Nair in 1984. The story is based on the epic Mahabharata and is told from Bheema’s perspective. Appreciated and credited as a masterpiece, it won the Vayalar Award for the best literary work in Malayalam in 1985 and the Muttathu Varkey Award in 1994.

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