CHENNAI: Popular Tamil writer Anuradha Ramanan died here on Sunday following a cardiac arrest. She was 62.
Anuradha was admitted to a private hospital in Adyar a week ago following heart problems. The funeral is scheduled for Monday evening, at the Besant Nagar crematorium.
Survived by daughters Sudha and Subha, the granddaughter of R Balasubramanyam, an yesteryear actor, Anuradha had written over 800 novels and 1,230 short stories in a career spanning over 30 years.
Hers was a household name.
For, Anuradha dealt with family themes and everyday life.
Some of her novels like Sirai (Jail), Kootupuzhugal (Worms Colony), Malarin Payanam (The Journey of a Flower) and Oru Veedu Iruvasal (One house, Two doors) have been made into Ta m i l , Telugu and Kannada movies.
Actress Lakhsmi, who played a rape victim taking shelter at the house of the rapist, after being thrown out by her husband, to lead a dignified life in the film Sirai, won the national award for essaying the role.
Anuradha’s stor i e s Archanai Pookal’, Paasam and Kanakanden Thozhi are among those that were turned into soap operas on TV.
An artist to begin with. Her attempts to land a job with popular magazines did not bear fruit. It was on one such visit to the Mangai magazine office that she left her diary behind. The editor found her writings more interesting than her drawings. He asked her to write a story. Thus started a career in writing, in 1977.
She won several prizes in competitions conducted by Tamil magazines and also answered questions as an ‘Agony Aunt’ for a newspaper.