Naalukettu (novel)

Naalukettu
AuthorM. T. Vasudevan Nair
LanguageMalayalam
GenreNovel
PublisherCurrent Books, DC Books
Publication date
1958 (1958)
Publication placeIndia
Published in English
1975
Media typePrint
Pages204
Awards1959: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award
ISBN978-81-226-0727-7

Naalukettu is a Malayalam novel written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. Published in 1958, it was MT's first major novel.[1] The title attributes to Nālukettu, a traditional ancestral home (Taravad) of a Nair joint family. Like many other novels written by MT, Naalukettu is also set against the backdrop of the crumbling matrilineal order of Kerala in a newly independent India.

Naalukettu remains a classic in Malayalam fiction. It contributed to the renewal of a literary tradition initiated by S. K. Pottekkatt, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, and Uroob in the 1950s.[2] It was given the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1959.[3] It has had 23 reprints (as of 2008), was translated into 14 languages, had a record sale of half a million copies (as of 2008), and still features in the best-seller lists.[4][5]

Doordarshan adapted the novel into a television film in 1995 with malayalam actor, Krishnaprasad, as the protagonist.[6] It won the Kerala State Television Award for the year 1996.[6] A screenplay based on the novel was released on 8 December 2012 as part of the DC International Book Festival, Thiruvananthapuram.[6][7]

  1. ^ Subodh Kapoor, ed. (2002). The Indian Encyclopaedia. Vol. 15. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 4544. ISBN 81-7755-257-0.
  2. ^ Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Paul Willemen (26 June 1999). Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema. British Film Institute. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-85170-669-6.
  3. ^ E. V. Ramakrishnan, ed. (1 January 2005). Indian Short Stories: 1900–2000. Sahitya Akademi. p. 377.
  4. ^ K. Kunhikrishnan (6 January 2008). "Caught in the cusp of change". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  5. ^ "'Nalukettu' a landmark work, says Baby". (in Malayalam). The Hindu. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "നാലുകെട്ടിന്റെ തിരക്കഥ വരുന്നു" Archived 2014-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. (in Malayalam). DC Books. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Naalukettu Screenplay". DC Books. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2019.