Jnanapith Award for ONV

At last our poet par excellence ONV was yesterday conferred with the 2007 Jnanapith Award for his contribution to Literature.This award had been long overdue to ONV and comes to a Malayalam poet for the second time after G.Sankara Kurup had been honoured in 1965. This has come as a great honour to the Malayalam language itself.

I had personally come in to contact with him many years back when he had written the lyrics of the films I have been associated with. Since then I had maintained personal relationship with him on many occasions, the last on being at the marriage function of playback singer Aparna Rajeev, his grand daughter.

Given below is a photo taken at the Pooja Ceremony of the film MIZHIGAL SAAKSHI directed by Ashok R Nath, The occasion was the confluence three great personalities singer K.J.Yesudas, Music Composer Mastero Dakshinamoorthy Swami and eminent lyricist ONV.

Producer Das, Yesudas, Dakshinamoorthy Swami, ONV and me

During the shooting of the Krishanattam sequence at the Mugathala Murari Temple , he visited our sets to witness the picturising of the song written by him and sung by his grand daughter Aparna Rajeev.

Anil Mughathala, Ramu Mangalapally, Kochu Preman, ONV, Ashok R Nath, Vineeth, Sukumari and me

I wish him a very long and fruitful life with many more honours being showered upon our own Poet Laureate ONV.

MIZHIGAL SAAKSHI - Screen play - Book Release

Anil Mugathala is a very talented Malayalam script writer who was recently honoured by the Padmarajan Award for his screen play - MADHYA VENAL. His first screen play was for the film MIZHIGAL SAAKSHI directed by Ashok R.Nath for which I was the Cinematographer. The film was critically acclaimed and well appreciated when it was released.

Now the Film script has been turned into a book and the release of the first copy was done at a function held in the Press Club Hall, Thiruvananthapuram on 16 th May 2010. I received the First copy from the well known Poet Shri. O.N.V. Kurup who had also penned some excellent lyrics in the film. The function was attended by Directors Ashok R.Nath , Nemom Pushparaj, Vijayakrishnan and many others.

Anil Mugathala is a rising star on the horizon of Malayalam Cinema who has many more tales to tell and I expect more and more films based on his themes in future.

On the stage ( L to R) O.N.V, Nemom Pushparaj, Myself, Anil Mugathala & Vijayakrishnan

Receiving the First copy from O.N.V

Addressing the audience

The Book