P. Jayachandran (born 12 April 1971), better known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Unni R., is an Indian short-story writer and screenwriter, who is known for his work in

Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six Classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a Sou ...

and

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. Born in Kudamaloor in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

district, he is currently based in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, Kerala, India. He studied in Kudamaloor LP school, CMS college High school,

CMS College Kottayam The CMS College (CMS College Kottayam) is the first Western-style college in India. Overview The college now has 17 Undergraduate and 18 postgraduate departments. There are six research centres in the college. Research work leading to the degr ...

and Baselius College,

. Unni R. won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay The Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have bee ...

for the film ''Charlie'' (2015).

Career

For the story of same name, he has received the Kerala Sahithya Academy Geetha Hiranyan Endowment, Anganam-E.P. Sushama Endowment and Thomas Mundasseri Award. Ozhivudivasathe Kali has been later made into the film of the same name by Director Sanal Shashidaran. It won the 46th Kerala State Award for Best Film in 2015. He was a recipient of several awards including K.A. Kodunalloor Award and T.P Kishore Memorial Award (both for Praanilokam); V.P. Shivakumar Memorial Award and SBT Award (both for Mudraraakshasam); as well as Abu Dhabi Shakti Award and Ayanam C.V. Sriraman Award (both for Kottayam 17) His works have been translated into English and other Indian languages such as Tamil. His Leela and Bhootam were translated for the Tamil monthly magazine Kaalachuvadu by Tamil poet Sukumaran. Kalinaadakam which was translated to Tamil has been widely read and noted Tamil writer Perumal Murukan opined in his 19th D.C. Kizhakemuri Memorial lecture that Unni R.’s stories have extensive readership in Tamil Nadu along with the veterans such as

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (17 April 1912 – 10 April 1999), popularly known as Thakazhi after his place of birth, was an Indian novelist and short story writer of Malayalam literature. He wrote over 30 novels and novellas and over 7 shor ...

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (21 January 1908 – 5 July 1994), popularly referred to as Beypore Sulthan, was a writer of Malayalam literature. He was a writer, humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer, noted for his path-breaking, ...

M.T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

and Madhavikutty. Several of his articles, including one on Nakulan and on Madhavikutty, were also translated to Tamil and English. Indian Literature, a bi-monthly journal of Sahitya Academy featured his translated stories – Catwalk (Vol.231/2006) and Pedestrian named Badushah (Vol 260/2010). Malayalam Literary Survey (Jan-Mar 2008) published the translation of his short story, The Kali Play. Besides screen writing, he has also acted as supporting roles in

Aparahnam ''Aparahnam'' () is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language film directed and produced by M. P. Sukumaran Nair. The film stars Babu Antony, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Ashwathy and M. Chandran Nair. Plot Cast *Babu Antony as Nandakumar *Kaviyoor Ponnamma * ...

Chappakurishu ''Chaappa Kurish'' ( ml, ചാപ്പാ കുരിശ്, en, Heads or Tails) is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language chase thriller film co-written and directed by Sameer Thahir and starring Vineeth Sreenivasan, Fahadh Faasil, Roma Asrani, ...

Munnariyippu ''Munnariyippu'' () is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language psychological experimental thriller film directed by Venu and produced by Ranjith, screenplay by Unni R. The film stars Mammootty and Aparna Gopinath, with Nedumudi Venu, Joy Mathew, Pra ...

etc. He started his career as a sub-editor in the Karpooram Weekly, Kottayam, Kerala (1994-1995). He also worked as a Producer in

Asianet Satellite Communications Asianet Satellite Communications Private Limited, is an Indian multi system operator (MSO). It is the largest cable network services company in Kerala since its inception in 1993. It is a market leader in South India, it is ranked among the t ...

for a long period of time (1995-2013). Unni R.'s short story "Vaanku" won the 2020 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story and was made into the 2021 film of the same name.

Bibliography

Short story Collections

* ''Ozhivu Divasathe Kali'' * ''Kali Nadakam'' * ''Kottayam 17'' * ''Kadhakal'' * ''Oru Bhayankara Kamukan'' * ''One hell of a lover'', selection of short stories translated from the Malayalam by J. Devika, Chennai: Eka, 2019.

Other works

* Chumbikkunna Manushyar Chumbikkatha Manushyar (Essays) * Basheer (Editor, Essays) *Prathi Poovan Kozhi (Novel )

Filmography

Awards and honours

* Kerala State Film Award 2015 ( Best Screenplay) - Charlie * Geetha Hiranyan Endovement - Ozhivu Divasathe Kali (2006) * Thomas Mundasseri Award - Ozhivu Divasathe Kali * Ankanam E.P. Sushama Endovement- Ozhivu Divasathe Kali *

Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award is a literary award instituted by UAE-based Abu Dhabi Sakthi Theatres and awarded to writers in Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep an ...

- Kottayam 17 * Ayanam C.V. Sreeraman Award - Kottayam 17 * K.A. Kodungalloor Story Award * T.P. Kishore Award * V.P. Sivakumar Memorial Keli Award * Mohan Raghavan Award for Best Script Charlie * IIFA Award for Best story Charlie * Freedia Entertainments North America Film Award for best Script Charlie

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unni R. 1971 births Living people Screenwriters from Kerala Malayalam short story writers Malayalam screenwriters Indian male short story writers Indian male screenwriters 21st-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian screenwriters