Parutholli Chalappurathu
Kuttikrishnan Karunakara Menon, popularly known by his
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Uroob (1915 – 1979) was an Indian writer of
Malayalam literature. Along with
Basheer,
Thakazhi,
Kesavadev, and
Pottekkatt, Uroob was counted among the progressive writers in Malayalam during the twentieth century. He was known for his novels such as
Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum and
Ummachu, short stories like ''Rachiyamma'' and the screenplays of a number of Malayalam films including ''
Neelakuyil'', the first Malayalam feature film to receive the
National Film Award
The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
. He was a recipient of several honours including
Kendra Sahithya Academy Award and the inaugural
Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel.
Biography
Parutholli Chalappurathu Kuttikrishnan Karunakara Menon was born on June 8, 1915, to Parutholli Chalappurathu Karunakara Menon and Parukutty Amma(Parvathy) at Pallapram, a small village near
Ponnani
Ponnani () is a Nagar Palika (Municipality), municipality in Ponnani Taluk, Malappuram District, in the state of Kerala, India. It serves as the administrative center of the Taluk and Block Panchayat of the same name. It is situated at the est ...
, in
Malappuram district
Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . The most populous district of Kerala, Malappuram is home to around 13% of the tot ...
of the south Indian state of
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
.
His early education was at A. V. High School, Ponnani and after
matriculation
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...
, he travelled for six years, working at various places in India.
During this period, he worked at a tea estate in the
Nilgiri hills, a textile factory and K. R. Brothers Printers in
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature.
It is the nineteenth large ...
, ''Mangalodhayam'' monthly, and joined the Kozhikode station of the
All India Radio
All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...
(AIR) in 1954.
After retiring from service as a producer of AIR in 1975, he served as the editor of Kunkumam weekly for a while before joining
Malayala Manorama
'' Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1888, and currently has a rea ...
in 1976 where he worked as the chief editor of ''Malayala Manorama weekly'' and
Bhashaposhini. He also served as the president of the
Kerala Sahitya Akademi
The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam Literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and Malayalam literature, literature. It is situated in the city of Thrissur, Kerala in India.
History
The acad ...
.
Kuttikrishnan married Devaki Amma, the sister-in-law of
Edasseri Govindan Nair, in 1948.
He died on July 10, 1979, at the age of 64, while he was being treated at the
Government Medical College, Kottayam.
Literary and film career
Kuttikrishnan joined a literary group in Ponnani in the 1930s which had
Edasseri Govindan Nair,
Kuttikrishna Marar,
Akkitham,
Kadavanad Kuttikrishnan, and Moothedath Narayanan Vaidyar as its members and it was during this time he wrote his first short story, ''Velakkariyude Checkkan''.
He assumed the pen name, ''Uroob'' which means ''eternal youth'' in
Persian language
Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...
and ''dusk'' in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
for an article he wrote on K. Raghavan, a noted music director of
Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...
, to conceal his identity as the music director was his colleague at AIR and he continued with the pseudonym thereafter.
His first short story anthology, ''Neerchalukal'' was published in 1945 and three years later, ''Amina'', his first novel was published. His body of work included 8 novels, 27 short story anthologies, three plays, 3 poetry anthologies and three essay compilations.
''
Ummachu'' published in 1954, ''Mindappennu'', published in 1956 and ''
Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum'' (''The Beautiful and the Handsome'') published in 1958 among novels and ''Gopalan Nayarude Thadi'', ''Rachiyamma'' and ''Thurannitta Jalakam'' among short stories are some of his most notable works.
M. Krishnan Nair, a known Malayalam literary critic, counted ''Rachiyamma'' among the best stories of world literature.
''
Ummachu'' has been translated into English under the title, ''The Beloved''.
Several of his works have strong female characters and he was known to be an advocate of gender equality.
Three of his anthologies, ''Ankaveeran'', ''Mallanum Maranavum'' and ''Appuvinte Lokam'' are children's literature and he is considered by many as one of the greats of that genre in Malayalam literature.
In 1954, When
Ramu Kariat decided to make a feature film based on Uroob's story,
Neelakuyil, under the same name, he co-wrote the screenplay with
P. Bhaskaran. The film went on become a landmark in Malayalam cinema and was the first feature film to receive national recognition by winning the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.
His association with P. Bhaskaran continued to yield four more films,
Rarichan Enna Pauran (1956),
Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu (1958),
Kurukshetram (1970)
[970>] and
Ummachu (1971).
[971">] In between, he wrote the screenplay for
Mindapennu, a film by
K. S. Sethumadhavan in 1970.
[970>] He wrote the screenplays for two more films,
Thrisandhya in 1972
[972>] and
Aniyara in 1978, the latter a film by
Bharathan.
[978>]
Awards and honours
Uroob received three awards from the
Government of Tamil Nadu
The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary.
Under the Const ...
(then Government of Madras), for ''Kathir Katta'' in 1948, ''Thurannitta Jalakam'' in 1949 and ''Kumbedukkunna Mannu'' in 1951.
Kerala Sahitya Akademi
The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam Literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and Malayalam literature, literature. It is situated in the city of Thrissur, Kerala in India.
History
The acad ...
instituted
an annual award for Novel in 1958, ''
Ummachu'' was selected for inaugural award.
He received
Sahitya Akademi Award in 1960 for his work, ''
Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum'', in 1960,
the same year as he received the M. P. Paul Award for ''Gopalan Nayarude Thady''.
In 1971, he received the
Kerala State Film Award for Best Story for the
film adaptation of Ummachu.
Two years later, ''
Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum'' won him another honour, the Ashan Centenary Award.
The Government of Kerala set up a museum, ''Uroob Memorial Literary Museum'', in his honour at the premises of Kiliyanad School in
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature.
It is the nineteenth large ...
.
Major works
Novels
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Short stories
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*''Kathir-Katta''
*''Lathiyum Pookalum''
Plays (theatre)
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Essay compilations
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*''Uroobinde Lekhanangal''
Children's stories
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Translations in other languages
* "One Death turned back", translated form the Malayalam by Narayana Menon, publ. in ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'', Bombay, September 29, 1963, pp
4446
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Poems
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* ''Nizhalattam''
* ''Maamoolinte Mattoli''
Screenplays
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Neelakuyil''
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Rarichan Enna Pouran''
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Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu''
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Kurukshetram''
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Ummachu''
*''Thrisandhya''
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Aniyara''
Short film
*''Rachiyamma''
Works on Uroob
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References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
Novelists from Kerala
Malayalam-language novelists
Writers from Malappuram district
Kerala State Film Award winners
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam
1915 births
1979 deaths
20th-century Indian novelists
Poets from Kerala
Dramatists and playwrights from Kerala