S. Ramesan Nair (3 May 1948 – 18 June 2021) was an Indian

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

who worked predominantly in the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

film industry. Over his career he wrote songs for over 170 films and over 3,000 devotional songs outside of the films. He debuted with the movie ''

Pathamudhayam ''Pathamudayam'' () is a 1985 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by J. Sasikumar and written by S. L. Puram Sadanandan. It is a remake of the 1976 Hindi film ''Kalicharan'', and the film stars Mohanlal, Urvashi, M. G. Soma ...

'' in 1985. He was a recipient of the

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award is given each year, since 1958, by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy), to Malayalam writers for their outstanding books of literary merit. The awards are given in various categories.

in 2010 and the

Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 2018 for his collection of poems ''Gurupournami''.

Early life

S. Rameshan Nair was born on 3 May 1948 in a village named Kumarapuram in the present-day Kanyakumari district, in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, as the son of late Shadananan Thampi and late Parvathi Amma. Due to the intense passion towards poetry, he dropped his admission for MBBS and graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1966 and later completed his post graduation in Malayalam Literature in 1972. He worked as a sub editor in Kerala Bhasha Institute and also worked with the

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

as a producer.

Career

Nair was a playwright, lyricist, translator and commentator of classical Indian literature such as the Tamil works ''Chalappathikaram'' and ''

Tirukkuṟaḷ The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text ...

''. He achieved wide appreciations as a poet through works like ''Sooryahridayam,'' before starting his accomplished career as film lyricist in 1985 by penning songs for the movie ''

Pathamudayam ''Pathamudayam'' () is a 1985 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by J. Sasikumar and written by S. L. Puram Sadanandan. It is a remake of the 1976 Hindi film ''Kalicharan'', and the film stars Mohanlal, Urvashi, M. G. Soman ...

''. He wrote songs for 170 films and 3,000 devotional tracks.Kolappan, B. (8 December 2018)
"Tamil Nadu-born writer wins Sahitya Akademi Award for Malayalam work"
. Chennai: ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

''. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

Filmography

Nair made his entry into Malayalam films by writing songs for ''

Rangam ''Rangam'' () is a 1985 Indian Malayalam-language psychological drama film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. The film stars Mohanlal as Kathakali artist Appunni, along with Shobana and Raveendran. The film features a m ...

'' in 1985 for director

I.V. Sasi Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1947 – 24 October 2017), better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was a ...

. Through his career he went on to write songs for over 170 films working for composers including M. G. Radhakrishnan,

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film ...

, Berny-Ignatius,

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

, Vidyasagar and Shyam. Some of the popular movies for which he wrote songs included '' Kuruppinte Kanakku Pustakom,

Aadyathe Kanmani ''Aadyathe Kanmani'' () is a 1995 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed by Rajasenan. Plot Balachandran Unnithan (Jayaram) is a singer who falls in love with Ambika( Sudha Rani), a singer from his own troupe and they both get ma ...

Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava ''Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava'' () is a 1995 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Rajasenan and written by Rafi Mecartin. It stars Jayaram, Narendra Prasad, Rajan P. Dev, Kasturi and Sangita. The movie was remade in Telugu as ''S ...

, 19 April, Aniyathipraavu, and Raakuyilin Raagasadassil.'' His notable songs in these movies included ''Aavaniponnunjal, Mayilay Parannuva, Manju peyyana, Aniyathipravinu, Onnanam Kunninmel, Ambadi Payyukal Meyyum, Thei Oru Thenavayal'' and ''Oru Rajamalli''. His last film as lyricist was My dear Machans in 2021.

Awards and honors

He was awarded the sixth Vennikkulam Smaraka Award instituted by the Thadiyoor Dakshina Samskarika Vedhi. Ramesan Nair was awarded the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 2018 for the work ''Guru Pournami''.Kolappan, B. (8 December 2018)
"Tamil Nadu-born writer wins Sahitya Akademi Award for Malayalam work"
. Chennai: ''The Hindu''. Retrieved 1 April 2019. He won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for lifetime achievement in 2010. He also received Edasseri Award,Venmani literature award,Poonthanam Jnanappana Award and Mahakavi Ulloor Memorial Literary Award and Asan Memorial Poetry Prize.

Personal life

Nair was married to his wife P. Rama, a school teacher. The couple had a son,

Manu Ramesan Manu Ramesan is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He is the son of lyricist S. Ramesan Nair. He has composed songs for films such as ''Pidichirukku'', '' Gulumal: The Escape (2009)'' and '' Plus Two (2010)''. ...

, a music composer in the Malayalam movie industry. Nair died at the age of 73 on 18 June 2021, at Lakshmi hospital in

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

, due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

related complications. He was diagnosed earlier with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and also suffered from many other illnesses. He was cremated with full state honours on the next day. He is survived by his wife Rema, son Manu and granddaughter Mayika.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, S. Ramesan 1948 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian poets Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India Indian male poets Malayalam-language lyricists Malayalam-language writers Malayalam poets People from Kanyakumari district Poets from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam