Padmarajan

Padmarajan Padmanabhan Pillai better known as P.Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 24 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema.

Padmarajan was born on 23 May 1945 in Muthukulam near Haripad in Alappuzha, which was then under the princely state of Travancore.

He was the sixth son of Thundathil Anantha Padmanabha Pillai and Njavarakkal Devaki Amma.

After early schooling at Muthukulam, he studied at Mahatma Gandhi College, Thiruvananthapuram and University College, Thiruvananthapuram, graduating with a B.Sc. in chemistry (1963).

Subsequently, he learned Sanskrit from the scholar Cheppad Achyutha Warrier at Muthukulam.

He then joined All India Radio, Trichur (1965), starting as a programme announcer, and later settled at Poojappura, Trivandrum(1968); he would remain at All India Radio until 1986 when his involvement in films prompted him to retire voluntarily.

Padmarajan's stories mainly deal with deceit, murder, romance, mystery, passion, jealousy, libertinism, anarchism, individualism, social structure, human psychology and life of peripheral elements of society.

Some of them are considered among the best in Malayalam literature.

In his films and stories, Padmarajan created characters that were complex, multidimensional, and deeply human.

Padmarajan's works were often inspired by real-life people and situations he witnessed, such as the tragic tale of a woman who committed suicide after being abandoned by her lover, which served as the basis for his film "Thakara."

He often drew inspiration from the people and situations he encountered in his daily life, such as the struggles of rural farmers or the complexities of urban relationships.

The screenplay for all the movies he directed were written by Padmarajan himself.

His first novel published in 1971 titled Nakshathrangale Kaaval (The Stars Alone Guard Me) won the Kerala Sahithya Academy award (1972).

He won the Kerala Sahithya Academy Award in 1972 for his novel Nakshathrangale Kaval.

He entered the world of Malayalam cinema by writing the screenplay for Prayanam (1975) which was Bharathan's directorial debut and had the cinematography by Balu Mahendra.

Padmarajan had won six Kerala State Film Awards which includes two awards for Best Story in 1978, 1979 and two awards for Best Screenplay in 1984 and 1986.

He has written screenplay for thirty seven movies among which eighteen he directed.

The screenplay for all the movies he directed were written by Padmarajan himself.

Njan Gandharvan was his last movie and within a week of its release, he died at Kozhikode due to sudden cardiac arrest.

Rappadikalude Gatha (1978) was his third movie as a screenwriter which won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Story in 1978.

His next work as a screenwriter was the classic erotic film Rathinirvedam (1978) which is regarded as a landmark in Indian film history.

He made his directorial debut in 1979 with Peruvazhiyambalam which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.

After writing screenplay for three more films, Padmarajan made his directional debut in 1979 with Peruvazhiyambalam (The Halfway House).

It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam and was included in IBN Live's list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.

He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Bharathan and K. G. George, in the 1980s.

Padmarajan was known for his detailed screenwriting and expressive direction style and made some of the landmark motion pictures in Malayalam cinema.

His next directed Oridathoru Phayalvaan (There Lived a Wrestler) in 1981.

Padmarajan also did the editing of this movie.

It won the award for best script at the Kuala Lumpur International Film Festival and a gold medal at the Asian Film Festival.

In 1982 he directed Novemberinte Nashtam which was critically acclaimed.

Padmarajan's Koodevide? (1983) won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value.

In 1984, he wrote the screenplay for I. V. Sasi's Kanamarayathu, which won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay.

He won the second National Award with Thinkalazhcha Nalla Divasam in 1985.

He won his second National Award in 1986 with Thinkalaazhcha Nalla Divasam.

In 1986 he directed Desatanakkili Karayarilla, which is one of the first Indian films that explored womance on screen.

Padmarajan's Kariyilakkattu Pole (1986) is considered one of the classic investigative thrillers in Malayalam.

The same year he directed Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil which was a failure at box office.

The plot of the movie which revolves around a brothel and the sex workers in it eventually developed a cult following.

With Mohanlal and Mammootty in the lead role, Padmarajan directed some of the cult classic movies in Malayalam such as Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (1986), Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil (1986), Kariyilakkattu Pole (1986), Thoovanathumbikal (1987) and Season (1989).

Thoovanathumbikal was ranked eighth by IBN Live in its list of greatest Indian films of all time and is considered one of the best romantic movies ever made in Malayalam.