Anjali Menon is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter who predominantly works in
Malayalam cinema.
Anjali has won international, national and state awards for her work and is best known for her feature films ''
Manjadikuru
''Manjadikuru'' ( en, Lucky Red Seeds) is a 2008 Malayalam film written and directed by Anjali Menon. A shorter video version of the film was premiered at the 2008 International Film Festival of Kerala, and won the FIPRESCI Award for best Mala ...
,'' ''
Kerala Cafe
''Kerala Cafe'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language anthology film produced by Ranjith and directed by a team of ten directors including Lal Jose, Shaji Kailas, Anwar Rasheed, Shyamaprasad, B. Unnikrishnan, Revathy, Anjali Menon, M. Padmakumar ...
'' (Happy Journey), ''
Ustad Hotel
''Ustad Hotel'' is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Anwar Rasheed, written by Anjali Menon and produced by Listin Stephen. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan,Thilakan and Nithya Menen with Siddique, Mamukkoya, and Lena in su ...
'', ''
Bangalore Days
''Bangalore Days'' is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Anjali Menon, and co-produced by Anwar Rasheed and Sophia Paul under the banner Anwar Rasheed Entertainments and Weeken ...
'' and ''
Koode
''Koode'' () is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language psychological drama film written and directed by Anjali Menon, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Nazriya Nazim and Parvathy Thiruvothu. The music was released by Muzik 247. The film marks the 100th ...
''.
She is counted among the change agents in Indian cinema whose work gets attention from the audience and the critics.
Anjali is the founder of Little Films a film company based in Mumbai and Kerala that produces fiction and non-fiction works. Anjali is one of the founders of the
Women in Cinema Collective
Women in Cinema Collective (abbreviated as WCC) is an organisation for women working in the Malayalam cinema industry.
Formation
The organisation was formed following harassment of a Mollywood actress. The organisation aims at the welfare of wome ...
(WCC), an organization that focuses on gender equality in the Malayalam film industry.
Early life and education
Anjali Menon was born in
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...
to T M Nair and Sarada Nair. She spent her childhood in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
and travelled annually to India. Prior to her film education Anjali graduated from
Providence Women's College,
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...
and received her Masters in Communication Studies from
Pune University
Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...
. Anjali has trained in Indian classical dance and music.Alumna of
London Film School, Anjali postgraduated with Honors in Film Direction, Film Producing and Film Editing in 2003.
Personal life
She lives in Mumbai with her husband and son.
Career
Anjali started her career by editing and assisting producers in the making of educational documentaries. She took up event photography and feature writing for journals.
Black Nor White
Black Nor White, was Anjali Menon’s graduation film produced by
Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker.
Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting ...
at
London Film School starring Rez Kempton and
Archie Panjabi
Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is a British actress. She has had various roles in both UK and US television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–07), Nas Kamal in NBC crime drama '' Blindspot'' (2016–17, 2020), Kendra Malle ...
, was premiered at the
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...
and won the British Film Institute ImagineAsia award.
''Manjadikuru''
Anjali’s feature film debut ''
Manjadikuru
''Manjadikuru'' ( en, Lucky Red Seeds) is a 2008 Malayalam film written and directed by Anjali Menon. A shorter video version of the film was premiered at the 2008 International Film Festival of Kerala, and won the FIPRESCI Award for best Mala ...
'' (2008), a
coming of age drama set in early 80's. It won the
FIPRESCI award
for the Best Malayalam film and Hassankutty Award for Best Indian Debut Director at
International Film Festival of Kerala
The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...
. Manjadikuru aka Lucky Red Seeds swept the Grand Jury awards at the South Asian International Film festival with Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Upcoming talent. Anjali also received
Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay
The Kerala State Film Award
The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have bee ...
for the movie.
SAIFF reviewer Dustin Chang
described it as “The film is all about the colors, sounds and wonders of childhood. It feels similar to reading an Arundhati Roy story. The imagery is so striking you could almost smell it.”
Manjadikuru’s postproduction was put on hold
for 4 years due to producer related issues. Anjali’s company Little Films India took over the project, completed the film and had a release in 2012 to excellent reviews but the film had a limited box office run.
''Kerala Cafe''
While Manjadikuru was on hold Anjali worked on her first theatre release -
Kerala Cafe
''Kerala Cafe'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language anthology film produced by Ranjith and directed by a team of ten directors including Lal Jose, Shaji Kailas, Anwar Rasheed, Shyamaprasad, B. Unnikrishnan, Revathy, Anjali Menon, M. Padmakumar ...
(2009), then first-ever Malayalam
anthology film produced by Ranjith Balakrishnan, Capitol Theatre for which she directed the humorous segment 'Happy Journey', centered around gender politics. Happy Journey featuring Jagathy Sreekumar & Nithya Menen was premiered at the Abu Dhabi International Film festival and won the NETPAC award at IFFK 2009. ‘Happy Journey’ was recognised as a fresh new voice in the industry.
''Ustad Hotel''
Anjali wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues of the critically and commercially acclaimed
Ustad Hotel
''Ustad Hotel'' is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Anwar Rasheed, written by Anjali Menon and produced by Listin Stephen. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan,Thilakan and Nithya Menen with Siddique, Mamukkoya, and Lena in su ...
(2012), directed by
Anwar Rasheed. Ustad Hotel is a relationship drama of an NRI youngster and his grandfather who runs a seaside restaurant. Lauded for its local flavour and cross generational appeal Ustad Hotel was a huge commercial success and Anjali won the
National Film Award for Best Screenplay
The National Film Award for Best Screenplay is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one o ...
(Dialogues) at the
60th National Film Awards
The 60th National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2012 in the Indian cinema. The ceremony was held on 3 May 2013 and was hos ...
while the film won the National Awards for Most Popular Film. Anjali won the Best Writer awards at
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 ...
and
Vanitha Film Awards
The Vanitha Film Awards are presented annually by ''Vanitha'', an Indian magazine from the ''Malayala Manorama'' group in the south Indian state of Kerala. The awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence i ...
.
''Bangalore Days''
In 2014 Anjali wrote and directed ''
Bangalore Days
''Bangalore Days'' is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Anjali Menon, and co-produced by Anwar Rasheed and Sophia Paul under the banner Anwar Rasheed Entertainments and Weeken ...
'' (2014), revolving around the life of three Malayali cousins who move to
Bangalore
Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...
, which became a huge commercial success and which identified her as a commercially successful filmmaker who made sensible cinema.
The ensemble cast consisted of Dulquer Salman, Nivin Pauly, Nazriya Nazim, Fahadh Fazil, Parvathy Thiruvoth, Nithya Menen, Isha Talwar, Kalpana and it was the first film produced by Anwar Rasheed Entertainment in association with Weekend Blockbusters. As per the industry, Bangalore Days was instantly declared “super bumper mega hit” when it released
and went on to become the entry point film for non-Malayalees into Malayalam cinema.
Anjali won the Kerala State Award for Best Writer & Best Director at the
Filmfare Awards & the
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 ...
''Koode''
Anjali wrote and directed and co-produced the commercially and critically acclaimed Koode (2018), which showcased issues of migrant workers and child sexual harassment as it dealt with themes of loss and solace. Starring Prithviraj, Parvathy, Nazriya Nazim & Ranjith Balakrishnan, it was lauded for its performances and poetic storytelling.
Koode was the official adaptation of Marathi film ‘Happy Journey’ by Sachin Kundalkar but with many new layers that Anjali brought in
Other work
Anjali is a motivational speaker who addresses subjects related to filmmaking, community, gender empowerment, entrepreneurship and parenting at venues like TED, TISS, TIE Global, CII, KSUM, and IGCE. Anjali has been a jury member for IFFK, MAMI, IFP and Filmfare awards.
Anjali works towards cultural conservation through documenting cultural performers and gathering lore. Anjali has published short stories, screenplays and articles and she blogs about her worldview
Themes & influences
Anjali's movies have depicted themes of family, migrant experience, gender and cross-cultural interactions. She has mentioned
Mira Nair
Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spher ...
,
Padmarajan
P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, a ...
,
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof () is a Polish given name, equivalent to English ''Christopher''. The name became popular in the 15th century. Its diminutive forms include Krzyś, Krzysiek, and Krzysio; augmentative – Krzychu
Individuals named Krzysztof may choose to ...
,
Robert Altman,
Gulzar
Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...
, and
Marion Hansel as her inspirations, in pursuing film-making.
She portrays stories of non-resident Indians in her work and referred to her reverse migrant identity and hybrid sensibility in her work as an advantage.
[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
Anjali is vocal about the need for gender equality in the workplace
and sensitivity in on-screen portrayals.
Filmography
Awards
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Anjali
Living people
Malayalam film directors
Malayalam screenwriters
Indian documentary filmmakers
People from Dubai
Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
Indian women film directors
Indian women film producers
Alumni of the London Film School
Indian women screenwriters
21st-century Indian women writers
Women writers from Kerala
Film directors from Kerala
Film producers from Kerala
21st-century Indian film directors
21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Indian women artists
Women artists from Kerala
Screenwriters from Kerala
Indian women documentary filmmakers
Businesswomen from Kerala
Best Dialogue National Film Award winners
1979 births
21st-century Indian screenwriters