Kozhikode (Kerala), Jan 23 (PTI) The daughters of legendary writer M T Vasudevan Nair on Friday demanded the withdrawal of a recently published book on his life, alleging that it contains “factual inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.” The book, titled Empty Space–Bashpeekrutayude Aaramviral, jointly authored by scriptwriter Deedi Damodaran and writer Echmukkutty, has come under sharp criticism from Nair’s daughters, Sitara and Aswathy.
In a statement issued on social media, Sitara, tagging Aswathy, said the book was neither endorsed by them nor fact-checked with the family.
“The greater part of the matters in this book, purporting to be about the life of Pramila Nair, do not conform to facts and are blatant untruths,” she said.
Pramila Nair was M T Vasudevan Nair’s first wife and the mother of Sitara.
Aswathy is the daughter of Nair’s second wife, Kalamandalam Saraswathy.
Sitara alleged that the book was part of “a foul attempt to defame and assassinate the character” of their father and their families, create controversy and boost book sales.
“Many discussions in the book, as well as the allegations levelled against MT, are completely baseless. We wish to remind you that the character assassination of a deceased writer and a public figure is not a route to seek fame and financial profit,” she said.
She further said that the contents of the book consisted of half-truths and distortions.
“We are firmly convinced that the literary and cultural world will reject this book. We also wish to inform all those involved in this book that it should be withdrawn immediately and that if they do not do so, appropriate measures will be taken,” Sitara said.
Responding to the allegations, Deedi Damodaran said the book was not about M T Vasudevan Nair but about Pramila Nair, who she said was a translator and writer.
“There was hardly any documentation about her existence earlier. Because she had a short marital life, erasing details of her life and writings is not right,” Damodaran told reporters.
She said the book was based on Pramila Nair’s autobiographical fiction and material drawn from various published sources, and that she had not added anything of her own.
Responding to Sitara’s objections, Damodaran said she had not written anything about Sitara in the book.
“I only wrote about Pramila Nair. My work is about a writer, not about Sitara’s mother,” she said. PTI TBA SSK
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