Kunjanandan Nair, better known by his pseudonym, Thikkodiyan, was an Indian playwright, novelist, lyricist and screenwriter of Malayalam.
13 Facts About Thikkodiyan
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Thikkodiyan was known for his contributions to the genre of radio plays and his autobiography, Arangu Kaanatha Nadan, which detailed the socio-cultural development of Malabar in the post-independent period, fetched him a number of awards including the Kendra Sahithya Academy Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography, Vayalar Award and the Odakkuzhal Award.
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Thikkodiyan was born P Kunjanandan Nair, on 15 February 1916, at Thikkodi, a small hamlet in Kozhikode district, of the south Indian state of Kerala, to Puthiyedath Kunjappa Nair and P Narayani Amma.
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Thikkodiyan lost his parents while he was boy and was brought up by his grandfather, who was a theatre enthusiast.
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Thikkodiyan married Parvathy in 1942 and the couple had a daughter, Pushpa.
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Thikkodiyan died at his residence in Kozhikode on 28 January 2001, at the age of 84.
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Thikkodiyan took to writing plays in the early 1950s, while serving as a scriptwriter at the Kozhikode station of the All India Radio.
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Thikkodiyan was considered among the major writers of radio plays in Malayalam literature.
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Thikkodiyan made a foray into cinema, writing the story, screenplay and dialogues for Kunchako's 1964 film, Pazhassi Raja and he write the screenplay and dialogues for five more films which included Uttarayanam, the debut film of the award-winning director, G Aravindan.
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Thikkodiyan wrote a song, Appolum Paranjillee, for the movie, Kadamba for which the music was scored by K Raghavan.
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Thikkodiyan was known to have assisted many stage and film actors, such as Kunhandi and Balan K Nair, in developing their careers.
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Thikkodiyan shared the 1974 Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay with G Aravindan for the film, Uttarayanam, which was the first of his several major awards.
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Thikkodiyan was a recipient of the Deviprasadam Trust Award, and Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishad Award.