Shaji Kailas

Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema.

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

He is married to former actress Annie.

They currently reside at Trivandrum, Kerala, India and have three sons Jagan, Sharon, and Rushin.

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 a hit at the box office.

With the film, Shaji succeeded in gaining attention of film viewers.

Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film Dr. Pasupathy (1990).

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.

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), Valliettan (2000), Kaduva and Kaapa (2022).

After this in 1992 he switched to action films with the blockbuster Thalastaanam, which would go on to become his trademark genre.

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.

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 sequences that pitted against an upcoming crime boss Ravishankar portrayed by Suresh Gopi against the ever-threatening Gowda brothers portrayed by Tiger Prabhakar and Babu Antony.

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 gory violence.

He also done some cinematography for action sequences 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.