P PADMARAJAN

P. Padmarajan (1945–1991) was born on May 23, 1945, at Njavarakkal House in Muthukulam, Alappuzha district, to Anantha Padmanabha Pillai and Devakiyamma. He studied at Muthukulam Boys High School and M.G. College, Thiruvananthapuram, earning a degree in Chemistry in 1963. He then spent two years studying Sanskrit under the great scholar Cheppad Achyutha Varrier. In April 1965, he joined All India Radio, Thrissur, as a program announcer and continued there until 1986. His first published work was the short story Lola Milford, the American Girl, which appeared in Koumudi in 1965. He went on to write around fifteen novels and over a hundred short stories. His debut novel Nakshathrangale Kaaval won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972. In 1974, he entered the world of cinema through the film Prayaanam, marking the beginning of his work as a screenwriter and director. Padmarajan wrote 36 screenplays, including those for films he directed himself, and earned numerous national and international accolades as a filmmaker. He passed away on January 23, 1991, in Kozhikode.