THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Saturday presented the fifth Narendra Prasad Awards to veteran actor G K Pillai and literary critic B Rajakrishnan.
The awards, instituted in memory of the late writer and actor R Narendra Prasad, comprise of cash prize, citation and plaque. The award function was organised by the city-based theatre group Natyagruham, founded by the late actor, in association with the Mavelikkara-based Narendra Prasad Foundation.
Speaking on the occasion, Adoor remembered Narendra Prasad as a ‘’pious person’’ who was a stark contrast to the villainous characters that he usually enacted on screen. The filmmaker said that he noticed the late actor’s literary flair from the very moment he read his first novel published in a Malayalam weekly in a serialised form.
Adoor said that it was he who suggested Narendra Prasad’s name to the post of Director of the Mahatma Gandhi University’s School of Letters following the death of G Shankara Pillai.
“When the then Vice-Chancellor U R Ananthamurthy asked me to suggest a suitable person, I proposed Narendra Prasad’s name without thinking twice. Unfortunately, he could serve in that post for long as he became busy in the world of popular cinema,’’ Adoor said.Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi chairman Soorya Krishnamoorthy, film producer G Suresh Kumar, director Suresh Unnithan were present on the occasion. ‘Kumaran Varunnilla’ a play scripted by the late actor was also staged by Natyagruham after the award presentation ceremony.