Satheesh Babu Payyannur

He was also in talks with publishers about releasing a complete collection of his short stories to coincide with his 60th birthday.

Additionally, he was planning a film adaptation of his short story "Lift", with actor Mammootty in the lead role.

Satheesh Babu Payyannur (13 August 1963 – 24 November 2022) was a Malayalam–language short story writer and novelist from Kerala, India.

His works include the novels Mannu, Daivappura, Manja Sooryante Naalukal and Kudamanikal Kilungiya Raavil, and the short story collections Peramaram, Vrishchikam Vannu Vilichu and Mazhayilundaya Makal.

His oeuvre consists of 12 novels and around 200 short stories.

Satheesh Babu Payyannur was born on 13 August 1963, in Pathirippala, located in the Palghat district of Kerala.

His mother hailed from Pathirippala and his father from Payyannur, Kannur district, Kerala.

He attended Payyannur Government School, where he began writing stories and features, winning several prizes at school youth festivals.

He completed his pre-degree course (PDC) from Payyannur College and went on to earn a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree from Kanhangad Nehru College.

During this time, he became known as a writer, publishing stories, poetry, and essays in various periodicals.

He also served as editor and publisher of Nehru College's campus newspaper, Campus Times, which was the first campus newspaper from any college in Calicut University.

After completing his education, Satheesh Babu Payyannur took up the role of editor at the Kasaragod-based weekly Ee Aazhcha.

However, renowned editor S. Jayachandran Nair advised him not to pursue a full-time career in journalism if he wished to become a writer.

Payyannur began publishing his works in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and his writing soon garnered the attention and admiration of readers through the publication of numerous stories in various periodicals.

In total, he published around 200 stories, including "Daivam", "Peramaram", "Vrishchikam Vannu Vilichu", "Manalparappu", "Manassu", "Ilayamma", "Scene Over" and "Lift".

His story "Daivam" won the Karoor Award, sponsored by Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society, in 1984.

The story was based on Theyyam, a ritual art form practised in Northern Kerala.

Following this advice, Payyannur left his job at Ee Aazhcha and joined the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) in 1985.

He worked at the Sreekandapuram and Thrikaripur branches of SBT before being transferred to the Trivandrum branch in 1991.

He relocated to Trivandrum with the goal of working as an assistant to writer-director Padmarajan, whom he had befriended during the filming of Innale.

However, Padmarajan had died around this time.

Nonetheless, Payyannur continued to pursue his interest in cinema, writing the screenplay for the 1992 film Nakshthrakoodaram, which was directed by Padmarajan's assistant Joshy Mathew.

Additionally, Payyannur wrote the dialogues for the 1993 live-action animated film O' Faby.

Since Payyannur could not find success in cinema, he transitioned to television where he found success as a director of telefilms, documentaries, and other programmes.

He travelled to foreign countries for the series Gulfilunarunnu Keralam (Kerala Waking Up in the Gulf), which was the first Malayalam telefilm to be set and filmed entirely in the Gulf countries.

Another notable series was European Sketchukal (European Sketches).

In 2001, Payyannur resigned from the State Bank of Travancore to become fully immersed in literary activities and visual media.

That same year, he established his own television production company, Panorama, which produced a variety of television programmes, such as Ponpulari on Surya TV.

Panorama also published a magazine named Kerala Panorama from Trivandrum and has a YouTube channel by the same name.

During his tenure at the State Bank of Travancore, Payyannur was active in promoting literary events sponsored by the bank and in organising the annual SBT Literary Award.

Payyannur was a member of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.

He also held the position of Member Secretary at Bharat Bhavan, a cultural exchange centre under the Kerala Cultural Affairs Department, for a period of five years.

Payyannur was found dead in his flat at Vanchiyoor near Trivandrum on 24 November 2022.

A case was registered for unnatural death, but it was later declared that he died from a heart attack.

His last rites were held at Paramekkavu Santhighat in Thrissur.

He was survived by his wife Girija, a retired school teacher, and his daughter Varsha, who lives in Pune.

At the time of his death, Payyannur was working on an unfinished novel titled Sathram, which was based on the life of poet P. Kunhiraman Nair.

The collection Peramaram won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story in 2012.

He received the Karoor Award, Malayattoor Award, and Thoppil Ravi Award.

He was also a media personality and has written, directed and produced television programmes, telefilms, and documentaries.