On Anil Panachooran’s rightward shift

Anil Panachooran’s rightward shift in the latter part of his life is also marked by a slow dripping away of the soulful poet in him. His lines ceased to be organic, bereft of all feeling, almost mechanical and at times dishonest and evil. The pen which once wrote powerful, moving lines like “Samathvam ennoraashayam marikkukillla bhoomiyil” began churning out lines like “Pranayam nadich jihad ponmareechanayi varunnu kunjungale” (written for sangh parivar’s love jihad propaganda). In this period, he also defended himself saying that he writes just for the money. But, however the poet tries to deny his own past, the reader or listener can sense it when the lines come from deep within, which used to be the case with him.

Yet, it would be unfair to judge the poet just by what he wrote in the latter part of his life. Tributes to the poet that he once used to be.

A short obit written on the night of his death — https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/poet-and-lyricist-anil-panachooran-passes-away/article33489099.ece