Shaji Kailas is an Indian film director and scriptwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy filmDr. Pasupathy. Shaji is best known for political thrillers such as Thalastaanam, Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans, Ekalavyan, Mafia, Commissioner, The King, Aaraam Thampuran, Narasimham, and Valliettan.
Personal life
Shaji was born to Shivaraman Nair who worked as an executive engineer in P.W.D & Janakiyamma on Independence Day 15 August 1965. Shaji Kailas married Annie. They currently reside at Thiruvananthapuram and have three sons Jagan, Sharon and Rushin.
Early years
Shaji Kailas started his film career as assistant director under renowned writer director Balu kiriyath in 1984. Shaji Kailas's debut as a director was in 1989 with News, starring Suresh Gopi in the lead role. Scripted by Jagadish, this investigative thriller was an average grosser. But, with this film, Shaji succeeded in gaining attention of film viewers. But his second release Sunday 7 PM, came out in 1990 was a big flop. 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 huge flop Souhrudam, starring Mukesh and Saikumar in the leading roles. However the comedy film Kilukkampetti, with Jayaram as hero was hit. Shaji Kailas then switched to action films.
1992–2000
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 Action King Suresh Gopi to superstardom. Again in the same year, the Shaji Kailas-Renji Panicker-Suresh Gopi team returned with Mafia, an underworld film completely shot in Bangalore. The action superhit is still known for its neatly choreographed action scenes that pitted Rising Mafia King Ravishankar portrayed by Suresh Gopi against the ever-threatening Gowda Brothers portrayed by Tiger Prabhakar & Babu Antony. In 1994 Commissioner, broke several box office records. Like Commissioner, The King also evoked sharp criticism. 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 criticised 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 Mohanlalfor the first time. This film was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at the time and completed 250 days in theatres. Then came The Truth, in 1998, with Mammooty as hero. It was an investigative thriller. In 1999, he directed FIR, another action flick with his friend Suresh Gopi as hero scripted by Dennis Joseph.
2000–2018
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 100 days 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. 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.
