Pillai, whose works would later earn him the moniker,
Kerala Maupassant, started writing at an early age and his associations with
Kainikkara Kumara Pillai during his school days and with
Kesari Balakrishna Pillai during his
Thiruvananthapuram days are known to have helped the aspiring writer in his career, it was the latter who introduced him to European literature. His first short story was
Daridran (The Poor) which was published in 1929. In 1934 came out Thakazhi's first published volume,
Puthumalar (
New Blossoms) which was a collection of short stories. This was soon followed by his first novel
Thyagathinu Prathiphalam (
Fruits of Sacrifice) which primarily dealt with the social injustices prevalent during that time. Pillai's literary works are known to portray the society in Kerala in the mid-20th century.
Thottiyude Makan (Scavenger's Son), a story about a scavenger who strives unsuccessfully to keep his son from continuing the family profession was published in 1947 and is known to be the first realistic novel in
Malayalam literature. In 1956, Pillai published his love epic
Chemmeen (Prawns), which was a departure from his earlier line of
realism and the novel received critical acclaim, becoming the first post-colonial Indian novel to be translated into English; the English translation was accepted into the Indian Series of UNESCO Collection of Representative Works. It told a tragic love story against the backdrop of a fishing village in
Alappuzha. The novel and its film adaptation, also titled
Chemmeen (1965), earned him national and international fame.
Chemmeen was translated into 19 world languages and adapted into film in 15 countries. The film adaptation, directed by
Ramu Kariat, won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1965. His next notable work was
Enippadikal (
Rungs of the Ladder), published in 1964, which traces the careerism of an ambitious bureaucrat whose lust for power and position becomes his own undoing. The novel was adapted into a
movie in 1973 by
Thoppil Bhasi.
Anubhavangal Paalichakal, another novel he published in 1966, was also made into a feature film by
K. S. Sethumadhavan, in 1971, with
Sathyan,
Prem Nazir and
Sheela in the lead roles. The story "
Vellapokkathil", written in the mid-1960s, is considered one of his best stories. It was adapted into a
short film of the same name by
Jayaraj in 2007. Pillai wrote
Kayar (Coir) in 1978, a long novel extending to over 1000 pages, covering the history of several generations in
Kuttanad for over 200 years and is considered by many as his masterpiece, n spite of the popularity of
Chemmeen. The novel deals with hundreds of characters over four generations, bringing back to life an axial period (1885–1971) during which
feudalism,
matriliny, and
bonded labour gave way to
conjugal life and to universal access to land ownership, and later, to
decolonisation. He published four autobiographical books and two other works. Four of his short stories were the base of a film,
Naalu Pennungal, made by
Adoor Gopalakrishnan in 2007, which he termed as his homage to the writer. == Awards and honours ==