Malayalam Script Writer's
Best Malayalam screenplay writers
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M.T. Vasudevan Nair was born on 9 August 1933 in Kudallur, Kerala, British India. He is a writer and director, known for Nirmalyam (1973), Kadavu (1991) and Oru Cheru Punchiri (2000). He is married to Kalamandalam Saraswathi.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
P. Padmarajan was an Indian author, screenwriter, and film director who was known for his landmark works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. Padmarajan was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam, along with Bharathan, in the 1980s, which created films that were widely received while also being critically acclaimed.
Padmarajan was born on 23 May 1946 in Muthukulam near Haripad in Alappuzha district as the sixth son of Thundathil Anantha Padmanabha Pillai and Njavarakkal Devaki Amma. After early schooling at Muthukulam, he studied at M. G. College and University College Trivandrum, graduating with a BSc in chemistry (1963). Subsequently, he learned Sanskrit from the scholar Cheppad Achyutha Warrier at Muthukulam. He then joined All India Radio, Trichur (1965), starting as a program announcer, and later settled at Poojappura, Trivandrum (1968); he would remain at All India Radio until 1986, when his busy involvement in films would prompt him to retire voluntarily.
His stories deal with deceit, murder, romance, mystery, passion, jealousy, libertinism, anarchism, individualism, and the life of peripheral elements of society. Some of them are considered as among the best in Malayalam literature, his first novel Nakshathrangale Kaaval (With only the stars as witness) won the Kerala Sahithya Academy award (1972).
He entered the world of Malayalam films by writing the screenplay for Bharathan's directorial debut Prayaanam (1975) to take first steps to be one of the most talented script writers to have graced Malayalam cinema.
He later began to direct films based on his own screenplays, beginning with Peruvazhiyambalam (The Street as a Choultry) (1979), which are greatly popular among the common people as well as intellectuals and film critics, while maintaining richness in artistic and thematic originality and excellence. Padmarajan was a great experimenter who explored all walks of life in his works. His screen plays had such hitherto-unheard of features and subjects - such as casting rain as a character in Thoovanthumbikal (Dragonflies in the Spraying Rain), friendship between two young school girls in Desadanakili Karayarilla (Migratory Birds Don't Cry), unusual climax (By traditional standards) in Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (Vineyards for us to dwell) and Oridaththoru Phayalvaan (There Lived a Wrestler). Many of his films bear the mark of his romanticism.
He is celebrated for his possibly unparalleled attention to detail in his screenplays. Some of his scripts are arguably the smoothest narratives ever penned in the Malayalam language. They are also ample proof for his keen observation, acute perception, and astute portrayal of human relationships and emotions. Many of his films have stunning and haunting climaxes, most of them not commonly portrayed in Malayalam movies. His characters were portrayed with great sensitivity and intensity on the screen and many of the scenes are generously sprinkled with humor. The dialogues of characters are quite natural, in the language of the common man, and yet have a subtle lyrical quality.
Indeed, a just case may be made that his directorial merit flowed easily from his exquisitely crafted screenplays: he never directed a film based on a script written by someone else (unlike other Malayalam film directors of comparable stature, say, Bharathan and K. G. George), and rarely adapted his script from a story not his own. Consequently, he had an unusually intimate knowledge of the characters in his films in combination with his mastery of the script.- Writer
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Dennis Joseph was born on 20 October 1957 in Ettumanoor, Kottayam district, Kerala, India. He was a writer and director, known for Manu Uncle (1988), Thanthram (1988) and Nair Saab (1989). He was married to Leena. He died on 10 May 2021 in Ettumanoor, Kottayam, Kerala, India.- Writer
- Director
- Music Department
Reghunath Paleri is known for Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare (1986), Vismayam (1998) and Meleparambil Aanveedu (1993).- Producer
- Writer
- Director
- Pappanacode Laxmanan is known for Neela Sari (1976).
- Kaloor Dennis is known for January Oru Orma (1987), Witness (1988) and Oomappenninu Uriyadappayyan (2002).
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Sreenivasan was born on 6 April 1956 in Kannur, Kerala, India. He is an actor and writer, known for Sandesham (1991), Vadakkunokkiyantram (1989) and Akkare Akkare Akkare (1990).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Ranjith is known for Pranchiyettan and the Saint (2010), Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha (2009) and Indian Rupee (2011).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Renji Panicker is an Indian film actor, scriptwriter, director, film producer, and journalist best known for his Malayalam films. Renji Panicker began his career as a journalist. He started off as a reporter for magazines and publications. During an interview, while working for Chithrabhumi, a film magazine, he met director Shaji Kailas, who led him into the world of cinema and within a short time became one of the most wanted scriptwriters of Malayalam cinema. Renji scripted several commercially successful films for Shaji Kailas, including Dr. Pasupathy (1990), Thalastaanam (1992), Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans (1993), Ekalavyan (1993), Mafia (1993), Commissioner (1994), and The King (1995). The Renji Panicker-Shaji Kailas team elevated Suresh Gopi into a bankable lead actor during the early 1990s. He is known for his collaboration with director Joshiy, which included the films Lelam (1997) and Pathram (1999). Panicker uses stuffy English words to deliver the impact with emphasis. Except Dr. Pasupathi and Aakasha Kottayile Sultan all of his films are done with a political backdrop. Political problems and events were always added and magnified in his scripts, which evoked controversies and threats to his life. Panicker's dialogue in Lelam based on a real-life character and jingoistic characters from Commissioner are considered timeless for Mollywood. He made his debut as a director with Bharatchandran IPS in 2005, He also co-produced this film. This film crossed 100-day run in all major centres and gave a rebirth to Suresh Gopi. Renji's second directorial attempt was Roudram, released in 2008, with Mammootty in the main role, Another police story, this film was a success.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Syam Pushkaran was born on 6 September 1984 in Cherthala, Kerala, India. He is a writer and producer, known for Kumbalangi Nights (2019), Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016) and Joji (2021).- Writer
- Producer
John Paul was born on 29 October 1950 in India. He was a writer and producer, known for Ee Sabdam Innathe Sabdam (1985), Witness (1988) and Athirathram (1984). He was married to Aisha Elizabeth. He died on 23 April 2022 in Kochi, Kerala, India.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Thoppil Bhasi was born on 8 April 1924 in Vallikunnam, Alleppey, India. He was a writer and director, known for Ningalenne Communistaki (1970), Sarasayya (1971) and Ponni (1976). He died on 8 December 1992.- Writer
- Director
Sachy was born in 1972 in India. He was a writer and director, known for Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), Anarkali (2015) and Driving Licence (2019). He died on 18 June 2020 in Thrissur, Kerala, India.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
A.K. Lohithadas was born on 10 May 1955 in Chalakudy, Kerala, India. He was a writer and director, known for Thaniyavartanam (1987), Kasthuriman (2003) and Joker (2000). He was married to Sindhu. He died on 28 June 2009 in Kochi, Kerala, India.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
K.G. George was born on 26 May 1946 in Changanacheri, Kerala, British India [now India]. He was a director and writer, known for Yavanika (1982), Ee Kannikoodi (1990) and Lekhayude Maranam: Oru Flashback (1983). He was married to Selma George. He died on 24 September 2023 in Kakkanad, Kerala, India.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Adoor Gopalakrishnan is India's most acclaimed contemporary filmmaker. Born in 1941 in Kerala, a state in south India, he belongs to a family with strong links to the performing arts, especially Kathakali, a highly-stylised form of dance drama. From the age of eight Adoor began acting for the stage, later producing and directing over twenty plays, several written by him. He is the author of two books on the theatre as well as a book on the cinema, "The World of Cinema", for which he won a national award in 1983. In 1962 Adoor enrolled in the Film and Television Institute in Pune and graduated in 1965 with a diploma in Scriptwriting and Direction. The same year he founded the Chitralekha Film Society of Trivandrum as well as the Chitralekha Film Cooperative. Both played a key role in the development of film culture in Kerala. In 1972 Adoor made Swayamvaram/One's Own Choice, his first full-length feature film. It launched the New Cinema in Kerala and became one of the major films of the Indian New Wave. He has since made seven more films (along with over 25 shorts and documentaries), all of which have won major national and international awards: Kodiyettam/Ascent (1977); Elippathayam/Rat Trap (1981); Mukhamukham/Face to Face (1984); Anantaram/Monologue (1987); Mathilukal/The Walls (1990); Vidheyan/The Servile (1993), and Kathapurushan/Man of the Story (1995). Elippathayam received the prestigious British Film Institute Award in 1982; Mukhamukham won the FIPRESCI prize in 1985; Kathapurushan was honoured in India in 1995 with the National Award for Best Film. Retrospectives of Adoor's films have been held in Pesaro, Helsinki, La Rochelle, Nantes, Munich, and New York. All of Adoor's films draw on the history and culture of his native Kerala. Kerala's transition from feudalism to modernity serves as a backdrop to his complex meditations on the psychology of power, the nature of oppression, the corruption of patriarchy, and the coexistence of the modern and the feudal in post-Independence democratic India. Elippathayam, his masterpiece, vividly captures the descent into paranoia of a man trapped within his feudal universe. In Mukhamukham, a study in failed idealism, a Communist leader gives up on revolution and decides to go to sleep instead. Vidheyan, a parable-like story, deals with the abuse of power, the plight of the outsider, and the nature of a master-servant relationship. The more recent films--especially Anantaram, Mathilukal and Kathapurushan--display a new concern with interiority and reflexivity, foregrounding time, memory, consciousness, and the nature of storytelling itself. Adoor's genius lies in his ability to create visually complex films that operate on multiple levels, that are culture-specific and yet universal in significance.- Writer
- Music Department
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
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Blessy was born in Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. He is known for Thanmathra (2005), Kaazhcha (2004) and Pranayam (2011).- Writer
- Director
S.L. Puram Sadanandan was born in 1927. S.L. Puram was a writer and director, known for Ivide Thudangunnu (1984), Pathamudayam (1985) and Kallu Kondoru Pennu (1998). S.L. Puram died on 16 September 2005.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Anjali is a leading Indian film director and screenwriter. She completed her post-graduate degree from London Film School with honors in editing, producing, and directing film; her graduation film Black Nor White premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and received the BFI award for Best Short Film. Anjali made her writing and directorial debut with the feature Manjadikuru (Lucky Red Seeds), a coming of age drama set in 1979, for which she received the FIPRESCI award for Best Malayalam Film and Best Indian Debut. Anjali has also written the critically and commercially acclaimed Ustad Hotel, for which she received the National Film Award for Best Screenplay - Dialogues. Her next feature film, Bangalore Days, revolving around the life of three Malayali cousins, emerged as a cult classic. Anjali's feature film Koode, showcasing issues of caste, migration, and child sexual harassment while dealing with themes of loss and solace, released to wide critical and commercial success in India and internationally. Having worked on projects in India, the Middle East, and the UK, Anjali's films provide a nuanced insight into the migrant experience and cross cultural interactions and she has received multiple National and State awards for her work in cinema. Her recent film Wonder Women delicately makes us aware of the beliefs, confusion, and questions regarding pregnancy and childbirth. Anjali is also one of the founding members of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an organization that focuses on gender equality in the Malayalam film industry. She started a production company, Little Films India, in 2006 where she leads content and production affairs. Anjali is currently developing her next feature film and an anthology for a leading production house.- Writer
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- Director