Celebrated Malayalam poet-lyricist ONV Kurup passed away on Saturday, February 13. He was 84. The Jnanpith award winner breathed his last at KIMS Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, Malayalam Manorama reports.
One of Kerala's best contemporary poets, ONV passed away at 4:45 pm due to age-related illness.
The illustrious writer penned close to 900 songs for Malayalam films and published 21 collections of poetry. Known as ONV, the writer was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011. He was the chairman of the Kerala Kalamandalam twice, for the periods 1996-2001 and 2006-07. In 2007, he received India's highest honour for literature, the Jnanpith award in 2007.
As a lyricist, ONV won the National Award for Best Lyricist in 1989 and had won the Kerala State Film award 13 times.
He is survived by his wife Sarojini, son Rajeevan and daughter Mayadevi.
