P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was a Malayalam based author, screenwriter, and filmmaker acclaimed for his fine and detailed screenwriting and expressive direction style. Padmarajan made some of the landmark motion pictures in Malayalam cinema, including masterpieces like Oridathoru Phayalwan (1981), Arappatta Kettiya Gramathil (1986), Kariyila Kattu Pole (1986), Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (1986), Thoovanathumbikal (1987), Moonnam Pakkam (1988) and Njan Gandharvan.
His stories deal with deceit, murder, romance, mystery, passion, jealousy, libertinism, anarchism, individualism, and the life of peripheral elements of society. Some of them are considered as among the best in Malayalam literature, his first novel Nakshathrangale Kaaval won the Kerala Sahithya Academy award (1972).
He entered the world of Malayalam films by writing the screenplay for Bharathan’s directorial debut Prayaanam (1975) to take first steps to be one of the most talented script writers to have graced Malayalam cinema.
He later began to direct films based on his own screenplays, beginning with Peruvazhiyambalam (1979), which are greatly popular among the common people as well as intellectuals and film critics, while maintaining richness in artistic and thematic originality and excellence. Padmarajan was a great experimenter who explored all walks of life in his works.
His screen plays had such hitherto-unheard of features and subjects - such as casting rain as a character in Thoovanthumbikal (Fireflies of the Night), friendship and gay love in Desadanakili Karayarilla (Migratory Birds Don’t Cry), unusual climax (By traditional standards) in Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (Wineyards for us to dwell) and Oridaththoru Phayalvaan (Once There Was A Wrestler). Many of his films bear the mark of his romanticism.
Together with Bharathan and K. G. George, he successfully laid the foundation for a school of Malayalam cinema that strove to tread a middle ground by striking a fine balance between intellectual and commercial appeal, without sacrificing the strong points of either approach; this was accomplished by portraying brilliant stories with “next door” men and women as characters, steering clear of artificial characters, stereotypes and pedantic inclinations allegedly typical of `critically acclaimed’ films. The term “Parallel film” is usually used to describe his style of film making. Along with Bharathan, he displayed mastery in handling sexuality on the screen, hitherto less known in Malayalam Cinema.
His sudden and untimely death occurred at Hotel Paramount Towers in Calicut while he was visiting a Cinema playing his last film Njan Gandharvan. The news of his death was a shock to Keralites and was widely mourned, and the feeling of loss among the people of Kerala lingers to this day.
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