P. Bhaskaran: Lyricist and Director
Pulloottupadathu Bhaskaran better known as P. Bhaskaran is a Malayalam poet lyricist, director and actor. His father was a poet, lawyer, journalist and Indian freedom fighter. He inherited father’s talent and started to write poems when he was studying in 7th standard. During his college years he fell in love with literature and communism. He had earlier written poem in local magazine and later joined Deshabhimani Weekly. For his participation the August Struggle, he was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.
During his earlier days, he used to write songs for communist stage performers but most of the songs were banned in the state. His debut as a film lyricist was with the Tamil film Apurva Sahodarangal in 1949 for its Malayalam song. The first Malayalam film song for which he wrote lyrics was “Madhumadhuri” for the film Chandrika in 1950. He had penned about 3000 songs for close to 250 films. His songs are well known for simple but beautiful use of the language. He also had directed and acted in several Malayalam films. In 1954, he and Ramu Kariat directed the film Neelakkuyi. The movie is regarded as ushering in social realism in Malayalam cinema. It got the President’s Silver Medal, first ever national recognition for a Malayalam film. Bhaskaran directed forty movies. Guruvayoor Mahatmyam in 1984 was the last film he directed. His films Adyakiranangal (1964), Irruttinde Athmavu (1969), and Thurakkatha Vathil (1971) went on to win National Film Awards for various categories. He also acted in several films including Neelakkuyil. His most vibrant acting was arguably in the film Manoradham (1978), as a strict family head who has deep faith in astrology. He also directed several documentaries including the award winning Vallathol. He won four Kerala State Film Awards including the life time achievement award.
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