Ajayan (director)

Thoppil Ajayan
Born(1950-04-08)8 April 1950[1]
Vallikunnam, Alappuzha
Died13 December 2018(2018-12-13) (aged 68)
OccupationPlaywright, script writer, film director
LanguageMalayalam
SpouseDr. Sushama[1]
RelativesThoppil Bhasi (father)

Ajayan, also known as Thoppil Ajayan, (8 April 1950 – 13 December 2018) was a Malayalam film director who is of note for his only feature film Perumthachan (The Master Carpenter).[2] The film received positive reviews from critics worldwide. For this film, Ajayan won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director and Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director in 1990.[3] The film also won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Popular Film in 1990 and was nominated for the Golden Leopard award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1992[citation needed].

In the afterword to his book The Master Carpenter, author M. T. Vasudevan Nair wrote that Ajayan first approached him for a screenplay of his story Manikkakkallu.[4] That did not materialise and later he approached with another dream project Perumthachan.[4] In the end of the afterword, M. T. thanks Ajayan for persuading him to write the screenplay for Perumthachan.[4]

He died on 13 December 2018.[5]

  1. ^ a b Soman, KPAC (8 August 2011). "Thoppil Bhasi - A Profile".
  2. ^ "Movies: Perumthachan". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2014. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Kerala State Film Awards: 1969-2011". PRD, Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b c M. T. Vasudevan Nair (2005). The Master Carpenter. Katha. p. 184. ISBN 8189020234.
  5. ^ ‘Perumthachan’ director Thopil Ajayan passes away in Kerala