Jayakanthan | |
|---|---|
 Jayakanthan in 2012 | |
| Born | (1934-04-24)24 April 1934 |
| Died | 8 April 2015(2015-04-08) (aged 80) |
| Occupation | Novelist,short story writer,screenplay writer, film director |
| Language | Tamil |
| Notable awards | Padma Bhusan,Jnanpith,Sahitya Akademi Award,Order of Friendship |
D. Jayakanthan (24 April 1934 – 8 April 2015), popularly known asJK,[1] was anIndian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist. Born inCuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went toMadras, where he joined theCommunist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.
Jayakanthan's literary honours includeJnanpith andSahitya Akademi awards. He was also a recipient ofPadma Bhushan (2009), India's third-highest civilian honour,[2] the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1978), and theRussian government'sOrder of Friendship (2011).
Jayakanthan was born in 1934 into a family of agriculturists inManjakuppam, a suburb ofCuddalore, a part of theSouth Arcot District of the erstwhileMadras Presidency. Brought up by his mother and maternal uncles, he got interested in politics at a young age as his uncles were actively involved in it. As a child, he was highly inspired by the works ofSubramania Bharati.[3] Jayakanthan dropped himself out of school after completing fifth grade, as he thought studies would hinder his political activism.[4]
In 1946, he left forMadras (now Chennai) in search of livelihood, where he performed odd jobs, before ending up as a compositor in the printing press ofCommunist Party of India (CPI).[5] His association with the CPI, instilled the ideas of the movement,[6] where he got to accompany leaders such as P. Jeevanandham, Baladandayutham and S. Ramakrishnan. The leaders of the party encouraged him to write.[7] After graduating to an active member of the party, he got to learn about topics pertaining toworld literature, culture, politics, economics and journalism. It was during this time, Jayakanthan started writing for pro-communist magazines. Over the next few years, he established himself as one of the top-most writers in the party. His early works were first published in the party newspaperJanasakthi, and soon other magazines likeSarasvathi,Thamarai,Santhi,Manithan,Sakthi andSamaran published his works. His early works focussed on the plight of slum-dwellers who were settled in and around the party office.[4]
Jayakanthan wrote his first short story for a Tamil magazine titledSowbakiyavathi,[5] which got it published in 1953. Following early success, Jayakanthan started writing for mainstream magazines such asAnanda Vikatan,Kumudam andDinamani Kadir, who published a number of short-stories particularly in the 1960s.[1][7] In 1964, Jayakanthan entered films by co-producing and directing a venture titledUnnaipol Oruvan, based on his novel.[7] The film focussed on the plight of slum-dwellers. Although a commercial failure, it won thePresident's Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film in 1965.[8] The following year he made another film based on his namesake novelYaarukkaga Azhudhaan which hadNagesh playing the lead role.[9] His novelSila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (1970) won him theSahitya Akademi Award (for Tamil) in 1972. Later this was adapted into afilm of the same name byA. Bhimsingh, which won aNational Film Award. Promoted by the film's success, Bhimsingh made one more film tiltedOru Nadigai Naadagam Paarkiral, based on his namesake novel.[10]
In 2008, Ravisubramaniyan made a documentary film on Jayakanthan, the second of its kind, and was produced byIlaiyaraaja.[11] In 2011,Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal was adapted into aMalayalam television seriesChila Nerangalil Chila Manushyar.[12] In February 2014, Jayakanthan was admitted into a private hospital in Chennai following illness. Following a brief illness, he was discharged after a year, and died on 8 April 2015.[5]
In 2017 his award-winning novelOru Manithan Oru Veedu Oru Ulagam is being made as a feature film by award-winning filmmakerKumar G. Venkatesh.
A musical tribute to Jayakanthan was released byBava Chelladurai, Bharathi Baskar andJeyamohan on 24 April 2023 as part of Jayakanthan's birthday celebration. ComposerRaleigh Rajan selected three of Jayakanthan's poems and created the musical tribute sung by Sathyaprakash.[13]
Jayakanthan was married to his cousin Gnanambikai, who worked as a primary school teacher. The couple had two daughters and a son - J Kadambari, J Jayasimhan, and J Deepalakshmi.[5] Born in a family that had a lot of political activists, Jayakanthan became interested in politics at a young age. He became a strong supporter of the CPI ever since joining the party in the 1950s.[14] He was coaxed to join politics by K. Baladhandayutham of the CPI. While he stood up against theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its leaders for a majority of his lifetime, he supported the CPI leaders for "Nehruvian socialism" and had a great admirationIndira Gandhi. He quit the CPI, and later joined the Tamil Desiyak Katchi, founded byE. V. K. Sampath, before joining theIndian National Congress.
Despite his name recognition and popularity as a superb Tamil author in multiple genres, Jayakanthan's entry into electoral politics was a flop. He contested the 1977 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, as an Independent candidate in the Theagaraya Nagar constituency and could poll only 481 votes (0.64%). He had remarked theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a "fascist" organisation.[5] This extremist view of Jayakanthan is resented by Sri Lankan Tamils, and attribute it to his knowledge deficit on the history of Sri Lankan Tamils.
A majority of Jayakanthan's works revolve around the lives of underclass people like rickshaw-pullers, prostitutes and rag-pickers. In an interview, he said that during his initial days in Chennai he spent his life amidst such people. This prompted him to develop a liking towards them.[15]
Prolific Tamil writerJeyamohan has written numerous articles about the fictional world in Jayakanthan's works, and also had extensively discussed it in his bookMannum Marabum along with several other authors.[16] Major Tamil criticM. Vedhasagayakumar has made a comparative study on the works of Jayakanthan andPudhumaipithan.Jayanthasri Balakrishnan did her doctoral research study in Tamil on complete novellas of Jayakanthan.[17]
A full-length documentary made by filmmaker Ravi Subramaniam and other essays by several Tamil writers written after the death of the writer are also considered notableworks on him.
Jayakanthan's portfolio includes 200 short stories.[18][19]
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