fiction.wikisort.org - Director

Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema.[2] Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film Dr. Pasupathy (1990).[3]

Shaji Kailas
Shaji in 2022
Born	(1965-02-08) 8 February 1965 (age 57)[1] Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Occupation	Director Screenwriter film producer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Annie ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	3

He is best known for his action films with mainly focusing on political thriller and crime genres such as Thalastaanam (1992), Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans (1993), Ekalavyan (1993), Mafia (1993), Commissioner (1994), The King (1995), Aaraam Thampuran (1997), Narasimham (2000), and Valliettan (2000).[4]

Early and personal life

Shaji was born to Shivaraman Nair who worked as an executive engineer in P.W.D & Janakiyamma on 8 February 1965.[1]

He is married to actress Annie. They currently reside at Trivandrum, Kerala, India and have three sons Jagan, Sharon, and Rushin.[5]

Career

1984–1991: Early career

Shaji Kailas started his film career as assistant director under renowned writer director Balu Kiriyath in 1984. Shaji Kailas' debut as a director was in 1989 with The News, starring Suresh Gopi in the lead role. Scripted by Jagadish, this investigative thriller was an hit at the box office. With the film, Shaji succeeded in gaining attention of film viewers. But his second release Sunday 7 PM, came out in 1990 was a failure. Later in the same year, he directed Dr. Pasupathy, a political satire, with Innocent in a leading role. Dr. Pashupathi, written by Renji Panicker, ended up as one of the biggest grosser of the year. This film also marked the beginning of Shaji Kailas- Renji Panicker combo, which later went into making of several super hits. But, the success of Dr. Pashupathy was followed by Souhrudam, a romantic comedy starring Mukesh and Sai Kumar in the leading roles. His next film, Kilukkampetti, with Jayaram in the lead role was hit. After this in 1992 he switched to action films with the blockbuster Thalastaanam, which would go on to become his trademark genre.

1992–2000: Breakthrough

In the year 1992 Shaji Kailas got his first real career break. His association with Renji Panicker brought out Thalastaanam, with Suresh Gopi in the leading role. Revolved around student politics, Thalastaanam also marked the rebirth of Renji Panicker as a scriptwriter. This film also marked Suresh Gopi's first step to super stardom. The cinematography of the film was done by Ravi K. Chandran. This film also saw the rise of Narendra Prasad, who later became one of the most acclaimed villains in the Malayalam industry. In the same year Shaji Kailas tried out a comedy flick, Neelakurukkan, which was above average grosser. But in the beginning of 1993 Shaji Kailas landed up again with another blockbuster, Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans. In the same year, Ekalavyan completed a run of 150 days in the theatres & played a crucial role in elevating lead actor Suresh Gopi to superstardom.[2][6] Again in the same year, the Shaji Kailas-Renji Panicker-Suresh Gopi team returned with Mafia, a gangster film completely shot in Bangalore. It was still known for its well-choreographed action scenes that pitted against an upcoming crime boss Ravishankar portrayed by Suresh Gopi against the ever-threatening Gowda brothers portrayed by Tiger Prabhakar & Babu Antony.[2]

In 1994 Commissioner, (again with Suresh Gopi in title role) broke several box office records and went on to become the highest grossing film of the year. In 1995, he collaborated with Mammootty for the first time in The King which was the highest grossing Malayalam film at the time and ran successfully for 200 days in several centers. A turning point in his career, the success of the film made him one of the most commercially successful and sought after directors in Malayalam film industry. In the next year, in 1997 Shaji Kailas again joined with Ranjith for a low-budget action film titled Asuravamsam, with Manoj K. Jayan, Siddique and Biju Menon in leading roles. This film was criticized by many for its extremely violent scenes. He also done some cinematography for action scenes of the film. Asuravamsam was also an average grosser. In the same year, he again joined with Ranjith to make Aaram Thamburan, a turning point in his film career. In this film, he joined with Mohanlal for the first time. This film was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at the time and was able to complete 250 days in theatres. Then came The Truth, in 1998, with Mammooty in the lead role. It was an investigative thriller. In 1999, he directed F. I. R, another action flick with his friend Suresh Gopi as hero scripted by Dennis Joseph. F. I. R emerged one of the top grossers of the year.

2000–2012: Commercial stardom, decline and hiatus

In 2000, he directed two films. Narasimham, released in the first weeks of the year, with Mohanlal in the lead role swept the box office and became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever. Scripted by Ranjith, this film completed 150 days in theatres. Just after the big success of Narasimham, again Shaji Kailas paired with Renjith, but this time it was Mammootty in the leading role. Valliettan, the Onam release of 2000 also successfully completed 150days at box office. Then came Thandavam, though evoked one of the biggest initial pulls in the history of Malayalam cinema, Thandavam failed at the box office. He took a break for one year. It was at this time, Shaji again tried out his luck in Tamil with Jana in (2004).

In the year 2004 Shaji Kailas made a comeback in Malayalam with Natturajavu. With Mohanlal in lead role and, scripted by T. A. Shahid, Natturajavu was a commercial success in the box office. In the year 2005 Shaji Kailas directed The Tiger, an investigative thriller starring Suresh Gopi. In 2006, Chinthamani Kolacase, a vigilante suspense thriller with Suresh Gopi in leading role and Baba Kalyani with Mohanlal released. Both were hits. However, his first film with Dileep, The Don, turned into a huge flop in 2006. The next film, Baba Kalyani, starring Mohanlal, was a moderate hit at box office which completed 75 days in theatres. But later, Shaji failed to find his rhythm. Time in 2007, Alibhai and Sound of Boot in 2008 was not up to the mark. In January 2010, Shaji Kailas directed Drona 2010, which turned out to be another fiasco. Beginning of 2011 showcased his attempt to reclaim his position within Malayalam industry with the sequel of yesteryear mega hit "August 1", 15 August which garnered heavy negative reviews from critics and audiences alike and was finally declared as another flop by Shaji Kailas. His next movie was with Mammotty and Suresh Gopi named The King and the Commissioner the movie was the next part of the yesteryear blockbusters The King and Commissioner. His next movie was Simhasanam with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Sai Kumar in the lead role. The movie was released in July 2012 and ends up with a huge disaster. After the consecutive flops Shaji Kailas took a break from direction.

2022: Resurgence

On 16 October 2019, it was announced that Shaji Kailas will be coming back from his hiatus with Kaduva starring Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead. Kaduva was released on 7 July 2022. The film received mixed to positive responses from critics. The film grossed around ₹8 crore on its opening day and emerged a commercial success. His next directorial project is Alone, starring Mohanlal in the lead role.[7]

Filmography

Director

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Language	Notes
1989	News	Malayalam	Also story writer
1990	Sunday 7 PM	Malayalam
1990	Dr. Pasupathy	Malayalam
1991	Souhrudam	Malayalam
1991	Kilukkampetti	Malayalam	Also story writer
1992	Thalasthanam	Malayalam
1992	Neelakurukkan	Malayalam
1993	Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans	Malayalam
1993	Ekalavyan	Malayalam
1993	Mafia	Malayalam
1994	Commissioner	Malayalam
1994	Rudraksham	Malayalam
1995	The King	Malayalam
1996	Mahathma	Malayalam
1997	Asuravamsam	Malayalam
1997	Aaram Thamburan	Malayalam
1998	The Truth	Malayalam
1999	F.I.R	Malayalam
2000	Narasimham	Malayalam
2000	Valliettan	Malayalam
2001	Vaanchinathan	Tamil
2002	Shivam	Malayalam
2002	Thandavam	Malayalam
2003	Vishnu	Telugu
2004	Janaa	Tamil
2004	Natturajavu	Malayalam
2005	The Tiger	Malayalam
2006	Chinthamani Kolacase	Malayalam
2006	The Don	Malayalam
2006	Baba Kalyani	Malayalam
2007	Time	Malayalam
2007	Alibhai	Malayalam
2008	Sound of Boot	Malayalam
2008	Ellam Avan Seyal	Tamil	Remake of Chinthamani Kolacase
2009	Red Chillies	Malayalam
2009	Lalitham Hiranmayam of Kerala Cafe	Malayalam	Anthology film
2010	Drona 2010	Malayalam
2011	August 15	Malayalam
2012	The King and the Commissioner	Malayalam	Crossover spiritual sequel to The King and Commissioner
2012	Simhasanam	Malayalam	Also story writer
2012	Madirasi	Malayalam
2013	Ginger	Malayalam
2015	En Vazhi Thani Vazhi	Tamil
2017	Vaigai Express	Tamil
2022	Kaduva	Malayalam
2022	Alone	Malayalam
2022	Kaappa	Malayalam
2023	Pink Police	Malayalam

Other credits

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
1984	Thathamme Poocha Poocha	Assistant director
1985	Naayakan	Assistant director
1985	Pattabhishekam	Assistant director
1986	Geetham	Assistant director
1986	Snehamulla Simham	Assistant director
1988	Padamudra	Associate director
1989	News	Story writer	Also director
1991	Kilukkampetti	Story writer	Also director
1999	Ustaad	Co-producer
2006	Baba Kalyani		Also director
2012	Simhasanam	Story writer	Also director
2019	Jananayakan	Judge	Reality TV show on Amrita TV
2019	Thakkol	Producer

Accolades

Filmfare Awards South

• 1993: Best Director Malayalam – Ekalavyan

Asianet Film Awards

• 2000: Best Director Award – Narasimham

References

External links

• Shaji Kailas at IMDb
• On the trail of the 'Tiger'
• Shaji Kailas and Family
• Shaji Kailas in Keralacafe
• Shaji Kailas's movies in Malayalam Movies

---