Amal Neerad (born on 7 October 1976) is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

who mainly works in

Malayalam Cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. He attended the

Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) is a film and television institute located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Named after Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, the institute provides higher and professional education and technical expe ...

, Kolkata (first batch). He was awarded the

National Film Award for Best Cinematography The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards p ...

(special mention) in 2001 for his diploma film ''Meena Jha'' (short feature section). He started his career shooting music videos, documentaries and ads. It was his Diploma film that brought him to the attention of Ram Gopal Verma and his team. Neerad moved into Hindi Cinema with three back to back films; James (2004), ''

Darna Zaroori Hai ''Darna Zaroori Hai'' (translation: ''Fright is necessary'') is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language anthology horror film produced by Satish Kaushik, and Ram Gopal Varma. The film is a sequel to ''Darna Mana Hai''. It stars a host of Bollywood actors i ...

'' (2006) and ''

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

'' (2006). In 2004, he also shot the Malayalam Film '

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

'. Back in Malayalam Cinema, paths were being opened for new filmmakers collaborating with superstars like

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

whom he had met during the shoot of 'Black'. That fateful meeting resulted in his debut directorial venture, the now Cult Classic movie '' Big B'' (2007). The stylish narrative and technical brilliance also brought together a team of fresh technicians and minds on board, like writer

Unni R. P. Jayachandran (born 12 April 1971), better known by his pen name Unni R., is an Indian short-story writer and screenwriter, who is known for his work in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. Born in Kudamaloor in Kottayam district, he i ...

, music director

Gopi Sundar Gopi Sundar C. S. (born 30 May 1977) is an Indian music director, programmer, playback singer, songwriter, actor and performer who works prominently in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil film industries. He started his career composing music for tele ...

, cinematographer

Sameer Thahir Sameer C. Thahir ISC (born 7 November 1976) is an Indian cinematographer, screenwriter, and film director and producer who works mainly in the Malayalam cinema while also having worked in a few Tamil films. He is a graduate of Maharajas ...

, asst. cinematographers

Jomon T. John Jomon T. John (born 17 February 1982) is an Indian cinematographer and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Jomon made his debut with ''Chaappa Kurishu'' (2011). Jomon won the 2015 Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematogra ...

and

Shyju Khalid Shyju Khalid is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who works in Malayalam films. Shyju Khalid made his debut as cinematographer with ''Traffic'' (2011). His notable works are '' 22 Female Kottayam'' (2012), ''Idukki Gold'' ...

, editor

Vivek Harshan Vivek Harshan (born 28 May 1981) is a National Film Awards winning Indian film editor who works predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. He has frequently collaborated with Amal Neerad since the beginning of his career. '' Big B'', ''Iyobinte ...

etc. revolutionising Malayalam Cinema of the new decade. He has since then gone on to direct and shoot and produce and distribute many critically and commercially successful Malayalam movies.

Early and personal life

Amal Neerad born in

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. He attended school and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. He was the college union chairman of

Maharaja's College, Ernakulam The Maharaja's College is a government college of higher education located in Kochi, Kerala. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest colleges in India. Located in the heart of the city, the college is spread over a campus of on the ban ...

in two consecutive terms (1992–93 and 1993–94). He married actress

Jyothirmayi Jyothirmayi is an Indian actress, television presenter, and former model, who works in Malayalam cinema. Starting her career as a model, she ventured into television, working as an anchor and later starring numerous Television show. Career Jy ...

on 4 April 2015.

Career

Amal joined

in 1995. He is a winner of

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

for best cinematography. After his graduation from the institute he worked as a cinematographer with

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Bollywood, Hindi, Kannada cinema, Kannada language ...

's production company for the films such as ''

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

'', ''

'' and ''

''. His debut movie in Malayalam as cinematographer was ''

'', directed by

Ranjith Ranjit or Renjith may refer to: Religion * Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam (born 1966), Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Colombo * Malcolm Ranjith (born 1947), Sri Lankan Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, C ...

. In 2007, he made his directorial debut '' Big B'' starring

and

Shereveer Vakil Shereveer Vakil is an Indian actor and gym trainer. Vakil had worked in many films such as ''James'' (2005) and ''Welcome'' (2007) and he had played a villain role in the Malayalam movie '' Big B'' (2007). Besides, Vakil has worked earlier as ...

. Even though the movie was an average grosser at the box office, the stylish narrative and technical brilliance that the film possessed apparently gave the movie an iconic stature and cult following. His next film was ''

Sagar Alias Jacky ''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Amal Neerad. It is the sequel of 1987 film ''Irupatham Noottandu'' and Mohanlal reprise his role as Sagar Alias Jacky. The film was written by S ...

'' starring

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

, a sequel of 1987 film ''

Irupatham Noottandu ''Irupatham Noottandu'' () is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language gangster film directed by K. Madhu, written by S. N. Swamy and produced by M. Mani. It stars Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, and Ambika. The film's music was composed by Shyam. The plot foll ...

''. In 2010, He directed '' Anwar'' with Prithviraj and

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

in lead roles. Amal Neerad launched his production company

Amal Neerad Productions Amal Neerad Productions is an Indian film production company based in Kerala, founded by Amal Neerad Amal Neerad (born on 7 October 1976) is an Indian film director, cinematographer and Film producer, producer who mainly works in Malayalam ...

through the 2012 film ''

Bachelor Party A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...

'' directed by himself. In 2013, he produced the anthology film, ''

5 Sundarikal ''5 Sundarikal'' ( en, 5 Beautiful Women) is a Malayalam romantic anthology film. It contains five short stories on love about five types of women. The stories are directed by Shyju Khalid, Sameer Thahir, Aashiq Abu, Amal Neerad and Anwar Rashee ...

''. Amal directed the segment ''Kullante Bharya'' starred

Dulquer Salmaan Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...

and handled camera for the segment ''Aami'', directed by Anwar Rasheed. He directed and co-produced (with Fahad Faasil) the period thriller '' Iyobinte Pustakam'' starring

Fahadh Faasil Fahadh Fazil (8 August 1982) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema and has appeared in few Tamil and Telugu films. He has acted in more than 50 films and has received several awards, including a Natio ...

Lal Lal ( fa, لعل, hi, लाल, bn, লাল, ur, لال, ps, Lāl) is an Indo-Iranian surname and given name, which means "darling", "precious", or "beloved", from the Sanskrit ''lala'' ("cajoling").''Dictionary of American Family Names''F ...

, and

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born August 1978) is an Indian actor, distributor, Sponsor, Model, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist, who works in the Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a N ...

in 2014. In 2017, he produced and directed ''

Comrade In America ''Comrade in America'' (abbreviated as ''CIA'') is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language adventure film directed by Amal Neerad, starring Dulquer Salmaan and Karthika Muralidharan in the lead roles. The music is composed by Gopi Sundar, and Renadiv ...

'' starring

. He later directed

starred ''

Varathan ''Varathan'' () is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Amal Neerad. It is an adaptation of '' Straw Dogs''. It was jointly produced by Nazriya Nazim and Amal Neerad under the banners of Fahadh Faasil and Friends and ...

'' in 2018. The movie was jointly produced by Neerad and Fahadh Faasil. Amal joined hands with

Anwar Rasheed Anwar Rasheed is an Indian film director and producer who works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2005 with ''Rajamanikyam''.He continued to do successful action-comedy films, such as '' Chotta Mumbai'' (2007) and '' Annan Thambi'' (20 ...

again as a cinematographer for the movie ''

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

'', starring

. Later, he joined Mammootty again after 15 years for the movie ''

Bheeshma Parvam ''Bheeshma Parvam'' () is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film produced and directed by Amal Neerad, the film stars Mammootty in lead role alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Nadhiya ...

'' which emerged as one of the biggest hits in Mollywood industry.

Filmography

Awards and recognitions

His film Iyobinte Pustakam bagged best film in 2014

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artis ...

. ;

2014 Kerala State Film Awards The awards were presented by Chief minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy on 26 December 2015, with the presence of the chief guest Mohanlal. Jury The 10-member jury, headed by John Paul, was composed of people representing different areas of cinem ...

Best Cinematography This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

: Amal Neerad

References

External links

- Amal Neerad Productions Official YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neerad, Amal Malayalam film directors Living people Malayalam film cinematographers 1975 births Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute alumni Artists from Kollam Film producers from Kerala 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian photographers Cinematographers from Kerala