Mathew Mattom, one of the Malayalam serial novelists who was the mainstay of the commercial success of the popular vernacular weeklies boom of the 1980s, is no more. He was 65.
He died of a heart attack in the early hours of Sunday. His funeral has been scheduled for Monday afternoon at the Bethlehem Church cemetery at Parampuzha, relatives said.
Mathew Mattom who commenced his writing career as a student continued as a prolific writer in his youth, simultaneously contributing up to half a dozen weeklies. He was among those who had perfected a gripping writing style for themes woven around a simple love story made complex by tossing in generous amount of suspense and adventure, to keep the readers on tenterhooks week after week. When the popular weeklies’ boom met with a natural death with the arrival of the TV and serials, his novels were among first to be dubbed into the visual media. His novel Aalippazham was one of the early TV serials while Maydinom and Karimbu made it to the celluloid world.
Born into an agriculture family at Pampavalley in Idukki district, he had moved to Kottayam, the heartland of popular Malayalam weeklies of the 1980s. He leaves behind his wife and two children.
