कावालम नारायण पणिक्कर / Kavalam Narayan Panikker
Kavalam Narayan Panikker (born 28 April 1928) is an Indian dramatist and poet. He attended CMS College in Kottayam and obtained a degree in Economics from S D College, Alappuzha and later a Bachelor of Law degree from Madras Law College. He then practiced law for six years from 1955 before devoting himself to art and literature. In 1961 he was nominated as Secretary of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy.
In 1974, Kavalam shifted his residence to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram and in this period his play Avanavan Katampa, was filmed by G. Aravindan. He has worked in many countries, including the former Soviet Union. In Greece he worked with Greek artists on a production of the Ilyayana, a fusion of the Indian Ramayana and the Greek epic Iliad. He has directed two movies about the greatest Kutiyattam maestro, legendary actor Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar — Mani Madhava Chakyar: The Master at Work and Parvati Viraham: Mani Madhava Chakyar as Ravana.
He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2007.
(Bio, courtesy Wikipedia.)