MT Vasudevan Nair remembers Prem Nazir.
This is an article that appeared in Malayala Manorama‘s Onam Special, 2008 edition, where MT Vasudevan Nair remembers his dear friend, Prem Nazir. It also brings to for the warm and caring side of this literary colossus ( I just couldn’t find another expression), who recalls a friend who was always around in need and did deeds that helped many of his fellow beings rise above penury, pain and being paupers.
( I had to bravely rescue it from the ‘literary onslaught’ of my 2 -year old nephew before he wrote his own version over MT’s, so my apologies for the scribbles that at times flow into the text at places in the bundle.Thanks..CM)
OLD MALAYALAM CINEMA 
jhaan itthiri vyikiyallo
sir acchuvettan paranjhu ninghal
anc parayum inhi aaru athum chodhikkallhaeyi neeyio nammallho atho veruthe see you sir properly sir jhaan ncsuresh
enikkum moolam kakkhooshuvyadikal pinnhe kunnhe irippundo in marupacche nokki vilasini in karimbuzhai so i want1car skoda with premnazirs photo for next trips in kerala
suicide tried before i dont like everybody tries suicide only by you in vidhubala and jbharatiammal in triveni premnazir says everyones tries suicide only first then who wants ours body i believing sir krishnakottipuram talkies in katambhazhipuram via sreekrishnapuram
ncsuresh a parttime salesman sells plus1garage and manojkillimuttamchaadipuzhayil aashari will give ncsuresh1st wedding
iddli shaapittu pakshe oodhiyal nammallum kunjhunghallhe janippikkamayirunho
glady antonicchiantravels in ernakulams talks during interviews i ormapedutthals in india
1wedding before1january2017i ordered premnazir is replaced for his family and member in ancaldubai shirkha in sharjah as trailer operater which i dont care
but i want1st wedding by janu manoj mahesh etc in kadambhazhipuram only palakkad days i want now iam in gandhipuram they are all sayings to come
premnazir premnawaz shahnawaz illkinawaz mrs i dont know now
please
Prem Nazir never was in a situation wherein MT had to help him out….both were colossus in their own ways. And subject to correction wasn’t Nazeer a part of VELLAM of the MT-Hariharn team??/
Dear Narayan,
I stand corrected. He indeed was there in Vellam (1985).And yes, both were colossus in their own ways, and lets leave it at that 🙂 Thanks so much for the correction, cm
MT has written about his dear friend Prem nazir…It was quite surprising to know
even though he claim Prem nazir as his dear friend he never used him in any of the films he directed nor along with director Hariharan never made any effort to give him a role of a life time like’ Iruttinte Atmavu’ so that he could get a national award which he really deserved for Iruttinte Atmavu and Adimakal in olden days.
MT, instead always supported and gave breakthrough for Sukumaran or some body like that who were not any extra ordinary actors.
He could have done that easily.
Its said ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed..” . Prem nazir was a true friend…..but MT wasnt….so selfish of U, MT..!!.
I should have never come across this article….!
Hi Sudersan,
Here is my take on it. Prem Nazir had found himself doing secondary/supporting roles from the early 80’s [ Vidaparayum Mumbe/1981 ] being a great example. Till he passed away in 1989, it were these kind of roles that he chose for himself. With regard to the MT – Hariharan duo not including him in their projects, as far as I know, their first collaboration was Idavazhiyile Poocha Minda Poocha in 1979.Even if you take their collaborative productions in the immediate decade, till his passing away in 1989, it would be Valarthumrugangal (1981), Evideyo Oru Shatru (1982)-unreleased, Vellam (1985), Panchagni (1986), Nakhkshathangal (1986), Amrutam Gamaya (1987) and Aaranyakam (1988), hardly the kind of movies that Prem Nazir would have found a suitable characterisation, and looking at them now, the roles he could have played in those would have been supporting roles which didn’t call for any extarordinary emotive brilliance. Let us not foget that MT Vasudevan Nair’s first screenplay in Malayalam, Murappennu (1965) had Prem Nazir as a part of it,so did Nagaramey Nandi (1967)with A Vincent, Iruttinte Athmaavu (1967) with P Bhaskaran, Asuravithu (1968) with A Vincent and Nizhalattam (1970), again with A Vincent – a list of movies that have been milestones in their own right in the history of Malayalam cinema.And unlike the present casting dynamics that revolve around a star and his acolytes, the early 60’s were a time when talent ruled the roost, and casting was done with a lot of deliberation, atleast when it had a great team of technicians behind the project.Coming to MT Vasudevan Nair’s directorial ventures, Nirmalyam/1973, Bandhanam/1978, Varikkuzhi/1982 and Manju/1983 were not exactly what you would think of having a suitable place in teh screenplay for an actor who was now desperately seeking to play his age.The point is, personal friendships need not be something that had to be extended to their professional domains to be validated. MT was a brilliant writer in his own domain, and PN excelled onscreen. They know better about their relationships than us who would judge them by our third-person accounts from media, colored for their own specific interests. Hope this helps a bit. Thanks, cinematters.
that was a good reply cm… profession and friendship are 2 different aspects in cinema.. MADHU sir was supposed to the mentor of sathyan anthikkad.. but he never gave MADHU sir any chance in any of his movies.. it is true that sukumaran was not an extra ordinary actor (same can be said about prem nazeer too) HAD EVIDEYO ORU SATHRU released…. it would have changed the graph of sukumaran (who was the main protagonist and villain in that film)… anyway MT – HARIHARAN duo is reworking that project with INDRAJITH (doing the role of sukumaran) in their upcoming film EZHAMATHE VARAVU..
hi
appreciate your feedback.
all the points are not correct though.
MT says “Mayoori” got released almost with a similar subject as they planned.
so they could not do a project together.that was in 1984.
now look when Panchagni got released? 1986. why he did not give Panchagni to Nazir ?
PN had 12 releases in 1984 even.and he started playing his age.look how A P Abu gave Dwani to him in 1989 before his death?.was he bad in it? it was his profession and due to his relations with people he might have done secondary movies or roles.for example he did Udayam Padinjaru directed by Madhu because K P Ummar requested him (Ummar himself had written about it once).
so ,thats not the issue.
the issue is, MT never tried to help him in his later days.MT’s scripts were most sought after in 1980’s. at that time he could have done something especially I remember producer pushparajan planned a movie with MT’s script which never took off after pooja.
Panchagni came in 1986. if MT wanted to give a good script to prem Nazir why he did not give Panchagni which came much later than Mayoori?
now . u say personal relation ship need not reflect on the professional front…I doubt that statement ….even present day films do not agree that statement.
anyway Prem nazir was not a person looking for entry to films for that matter.
MT is a brilliant screen play writer and claimed PN as his dear friend….hence my words…thanks
Hi Sudersan,
Film Making is an industry that has a lot of variables at play when it comes to realising a project, and that is common knowledge. What I still reiterate is that I doubt whether both of them NEEDED each other’s help to advance in their chosen professional domains.What factors ruled in casting MT’s directorial ventures or his ones with Hariharan as the director are best known to them, and I donot think any good is going to come out of mere speculations and our aspersions based on our limited knowledge. If MT says PN is his dear friend and can authoritatively write on it, do we know any better? And what I said was “personal friendships need not be something that had to be extended to their professional domains to be validated.” I don’t think MT needed to prove to PN that him being a dear friend, he also needed to look out for opportunities that could also involve PN in his screenplays. They know best.Lets leave it at that. thanks again, cinematters
sudersan jee..
what role will suit for nazir in PANCHAGNI?? RASHEED?? RAMETTAN?? both those roles were tailor made for MOHANLAL and THILAKAN. and for your kind information, Mr ABDULLAH of KTC made one point in his latest interview in chandrika magazine that VADAKKAN VEERAGATHA was first planned with NAZEER in 1979-80 (by same MT – HARIHARAN team ) may be the failure of PALATTU KUNJIKANNAN role of chanthu was offered to nazeer and he even accepted advance. sadly that project didnt get started due to various reasons and later after 5 or 6 years, nazeer ahs returned the advance money. i dont know whether PREM NAZEER could give justice to chanthu or not!! but the AAROMAL chekavar’s role (designed for JAYAN) was a perfect choice.
hi
about Panchagni I meant for Nazir’s directorial venture.
anyway thanks for the comments and clarifications . special thanks to cinematters.
probably we dont understand film world human psycology well.
thanks once again.
sudersan
A pleasure always Sudersan to have cineastes like you passing through.Thanks, cinematters
Appreciate the efforts. the pages are a bit out of sync (page no 8 coming after 14)
Hi Rajesh,
My sincere apologies. Thank you so much for pointing that out. It has since been corrected and updated. Regards..CM