P. C. Kuttikrishnan | |
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| Born | Parutholli Chalappurathu Kuttikrishna Menon (1915-06-08)8 June 1915 |
| Died | 10 July 1979(1979-07-10) (aged 64) |
| Pen name | Uroob |
| Occupation | Novelist,short story writer,journalist |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Subject | Social aspects |
| Literary movement | Realism |
| Notable works | Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum,Ummachu |
| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Devaki Amma |
| Relatives | Parutholli Chalappurathu Karunakara Menon (father) Parukutty Amma(Parvathy)(mother) |
Parutholli ChalappurathuKuttikrishnan Karunakara Menon, popularly known by hispen nameUroob (1915 – 1979) was an Indian writer ofMalayalam literature. Along withBasheer,Thakazhi,Kesavadev, andPottekkatt, Uroob was counted among the progressive writers in Malayalam during the twentieth century. He was known for his novels such asSundarikalum Sundaranmarum andUmmachu, short stories likeRachiyamma and the screenplays of a number of Malayalam films includingNeelakuyil, the first Malayalam feature film to receive theNational Film Award. He was a recipient of several honours includingKendra Sahithya Academy Award and the inauguralKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel.
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 nearPonnani, inMalappuram district of the south Indian state ofKerala.[1] His early education was at A. V. High School, Ponnani and aftermatriculation, he travelled for six years, working at various places in India.[2] During this period, he worked at a tea estate in theNilgiri hills, a textile factory and K. R. Brothers Printers inKozhikode,Mangalodhayam monthly, and joined the Kozhikode station of theAll India Radio (AIR) in 1954.[3] After retiring from service as a producer of AIR in 1975, he served as the editor of Kunkumam weekly for a while before joiningMalayala Manorama in 1976 where he worked as the chief editor ofMalayala Manorama weekly andBhashaposhini. He also served as the president of theKerala Sahitya Akademi.[2]
Kuttikrishnan married Devaki Amma, the sister-in-law ofEdasseri Govindan Nair, in 1948.[1] He died on July 10, 1979, at the age of 64, while he was being treated at theGovernment Medical College, Kottayam.[2]
Kuttikrishnan joined a literary group in Ponnani in the 1930s which hadEdasseri 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.[4] He assumed the pen name,Uroob which meanseternal youth inPersian language anddusk inArabic,[5] for an article he wrote on K. Raghavan, a noted music director ofMalayalam cinema, to conceal his identity as the music director was his colleague at AIR and he continued with the pseudonym thereafter.[6] 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.[7]Ummachu published in 1954,Mindappennu, published in 1956 andSundarikalum Sundaranmarum (The Beautiful and the Handsome) published in 1958 among novels andGopalan Nayarude Thadi,Rachiyamma andThurannitta Jalakam among short stories are some of his most notable works.M. Krishnan Nair, a known Malayalam literary critic, countedRachiyamma among the best stories of world literature.[8]Ummachu has been translated into English under the title,The Beloved.[9] Several of his works have strong female characters and he was known to be an advocate of gender equality.[8] Three of his anthologies,Ankaveeran,Mallanum Maranavum andAppuvinte Lokam are children's literature and he is considered by many as one of the greats of that genre in Malayalam literature.[4]
In 1954, WhenRamu Kariat decided to make a feature film based on Uroob's story,Neelakuyil, under the same name, he co-wrote the screenplay withP. Bhaskaran. The film went on become a landmark in Malayalam cinema and was the first feature film to receive national recognition by winning theNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.[10] His association with P. Bhaskaran continued to yield four more films,Rarichan Enna Pauran (1956),[11]Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu (1958),[12]Kurukshetram (1970)[13] andUmmachu (1971).[14] In between, he wrote the screenplay forMindapennu, a film byK. S. Sethumadhavan in 1970.[15] He wrote the screenplays for two more films,Thrisandhya in 1972[16] andAniyara in 1978, the latter a film byBharathan.[17]
Uroob received three awards from theGovernment of Tamil Nadu (then Government of Madras), forKathir Katta in 1948,Thurannitta Jalakam in 1949 andKumbedukkunna Mannu in 1951.[5]Kerala Sahitya Akademi institutedan annual award for Novel in 1958,Ummachu was selected for inaugural award.[18] He receivedSahitya Akademi Award in 1960 for his work,Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum, in 1960,[19] the same year as he received the M. P. Paul Award forGopalan Nayarude Thady.[5] In 1971, he received theKerala State Film Award for Best Story for thefilm adaptation of Ummachu.[20] Two years later,Sundarikalum Sundaranmarum won him another honour, the Ashan Centenary Award.[1] The Government of Kerala set up a museum,Uroob Memorial Literary Museum, in his honour at the premises of Kiliyanad School inKozhikode.[21][22]
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