THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 26 February 2007 P. Bhaksaran, the veteran filmmaker, poet, lyricist and freedom fighter, died here yesterday afternoon at the age of 83. He leaves behind his wife and four children. He was suffering from acute Alzheimers disease and was taking rest at his city home. Yesterday morning he developed chest pain. He was taken to a hospital but passed away soon.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Bhaskarans demise was a great loss to the cultural sphere. Several leaders, including former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran and state ministers, were among the early visitors to his house as the news spread.

A freedom fighter who attracted youngsters to the freedom movement and later to the communist party through his popular poetry and songs, he was imprisoned for six months during the British rule.

Author of several books, he has directed some 50 films including Neelakkuyil, the first neorealistic film in Malayalam that won the Presidents medal in 1954. He was also chairman of the Asianet, the first private television channel in Malayalam.

Bhaskaran, who dominated Malayalam cinema along with Vayalar Ramavarma as top-notch lyricist for long, had penned hundreds of songs known for their romantic charm and soft lyrical touch most of which are hugely popular still.

He was instrumental in freeing Malayalam film music from the influence of the Hindi and Tamil playback styles in the 1950s, by writing simple and lucid lines set to original music by veteran directors. Still, many of his widely appreciated scores are hailed for their ghazal touch. Bhaskarans vintage numbers, most of them composed by K. Raghavan and M.S. Baburaj, form part of the Malayali nostalgia.

His songs in the 1960s launched careers of top singers including K.J. Jesudas and Jayachandran, and made S. Janaki one of the most favorite female voices in Malayalam.

Hailing from Kodungallur in Thrissur district in Kerala, Bhaskarans early writings were inspired by the freedom struggle and the leftist agitations to create an egalitarian society. One of his early popular poems was Vayalar Garjikkunnu, penned as a literary tribute to the revolutionaries of the Punnapra-Vayalar peasant uprising.

Later, he distanced himself from the communist party and its ideology and his subsequent poems are known for their humanism and romanticism.

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Freedom Fighter P. Bhaskaran Passes Away