According to hospital sources, renowned author and Jnanpith Award recipient M T Vasudevan Nair passed away on Wednesday. He was receiving treatment for heart failure at a private hospital in this area. He was ninety-one. A hospital source said, “M T has died,” without providing any details. Since his admission last week, a multidisciplinary team of professionals, including cardiologists and critical care specialists, had been caring for him.
Known by most as M T, he penned nine novels, 19 anthologies of short stories, six motion pictures, around 54 screenplays, and a number of essay and memoir collections during his seven-decade career. His book Naalukettu (The Ancestral House), which is regarded as a classic in Malayalam literature, cemented his status as a literary legend. He also penned several acclaimed works, including Asuravithu, Manju, and Kaalam.
In addition to many other honours, such as the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award, Vallathol Award, Ezhuthachan Award, Mathrubhumi Literary Award, and O N V Literary Award, MT’s literary accomplishments earned him the Jnanpith Award in 1995, India’s highest literary honour. The third-highest civilian distinction in India, the Padma Bhushan, was given to M T in 2005. In 2022, he was given the first Kerala Jyothi Award, the highest civilian accolade bestowed by the Kerala government, after having won the J C Daniel Award for lifetime achievement in Malayalam film in 2013.
M T also served as the editor of Mathrubhumi Weekly for several years. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his condolences for MT Vasudevan Nair’s passing, saying that we have lost the genius that elevated Malayalam literature to the fore of the world literary canon. “It is an irreparable loss not only to Kerala in general but also to the world of Malayalam literature,” Vijayan said in a statement.
Vijayan described M T as a titan in the disciplines of journalism, screenplay writing, cinema direction, short story writing, novel writing, and cultural leadership, stating that he captured the intricacy and beauty of Keralan life in his works. “He rose to global prominence while firmly rooting himself in the cultural traditions of Valluvanadu, reflecting the life and ethos of the people. In doing so, M T marked not only the individual minds of Keralites, but also the collective consciousness of the people of Kerala through his writings,” he said.
As a sign of respect for M T, the state administration announced in a statement that it will observe official mourning on December 26 and 27. According to the statement, the Chief Minister has ordered the postponement of all government events, including the Cabinet meeting that was originally planned for December 26.
