TRIBUTE TO MT

MTV's 'Nirmalyam' fueled my passion for cinema: Kamal Haasan

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan remembered literary stalwart M T Vasudevan Nair who passed away in Kozhikode on Wednesday and said the novelist and screenwriter will forever live in people's hearts. “Please forgive me, MTV sir. I don't have the heart to say goodbye. We bid adieu to normal people, but you will live on in our hearts for years through your work,” he said. He recalled his association with the screenwriter and auteur when he acted in 'Kanyakumari'.
“I was just 19 then and did not understand the nuances of MTV's work then. But, years later, my passion for cinema, which was just like the flame of a candlelight, fueled into something bigger after I watched 'Nirmalyam', his directorial work. He was admired by all. Accomplished and aspiring writers would feel love, respect, fear and jealousy for MTV. He found victory in every field as a novelist, editor and screenplay writer. The Malayali literary world and every Malayali too experienced that victory,” said Kamal.

MT Vasudevan Nair, Malayalam's master of lyrical nostalgia, died on Wednesday in Kozhikode. The 91-year-old writer breathed his last at Baby Memorial Hospital. The last rites will be performed at Mavoor road crematorium here on Thursday around 5 pm. No public homage will be conducted, as the writer was completely against it, reported Manorama News. But people will be allowed to give last respects to MT at his residence.

The writer was rushed to the hospital on December 15 after suffering a cardiac arrest. On Tuesday, doctors said that MT is out of ventilator support. But his condition turned very critical on Wednesday night.