Don Max is an Indian film director and editor, who works mainly 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' ...

along with Tamil and Telugu language films. He is considered one of the leading contemporary film editors in the Malayalam film industry, and has introduced several new editing techniques into the regional films.

Early life

Don Max was born on 16 November 1980 in Mundakayam, Kottayam District , Kerala , as the eldest child of K. L. Varghese, a former bank manager at SBT, and T. V. Chinamma, who was a teacher in Malayalam at St. Thomas High School in

Anikkad Anikkad is a village in Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala, India. It is located near the Muvattupuzha town in Avoly Panchayat. Location Anicadu is situated in Muvattupuzha taluk of Kerala State, in Main Eastern Highway in between Muv ...

. He was born on the same day the Malayalam action star

Jayan Krishnan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, was an Indian actor, naval officer, stunt performer and cultural icon of the 1970s and 1980s. He starred in over 150 Malayalam films. During his film caree ...

died. After spending his first seven years in the Idukki district, his family shifted to

Pallickathode Pallickathodu, also spelled ''Pallikkathodu'' which includes Anickadu village, is a town in eastern Kottayam district, Kerala, India. It falls under the Kanjirappally assembly constituency. Economy Pallickathodu has a predominantly agricultura ...

, Anickad. He grew up in the town and studied at St. Thomas, Anickad. He later studied his pre-degree education at St. Dominic College in Kanjirapilly, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Thomas College, Palai. He later did a Diploma in Multimedia and Animation at Arena Animations,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and specialized in Compositing and Animation.

Career

Beginning his career as an editor for ad films and television channels, Don initially focussed on animation, before realising that he would have a more fulfilling career as an editor the possibilities in editing. He joined

Ketan Mehta Ketan Mehta (born 21 July 1952) is an Indian film director who has also directed documentaries and television serials since 1975. Early life and education Born on 21 July 1952 in Navsari in Gujarat, Mehta did his schooling from Sardar Patel V ...

’s Institute and then worked in the Prime Time channel in Dubai, before beginning working as an editor for the Malayalam channel, Kairali. Don subsequently did trailers for more than fifty films, before debuting as a senior editor through

Shaji Kailas Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film ''Dr. Pasupathy'' (1990). He is best known for his action films with mainl ...

’s ''The Tiger'' (2005). Don experimented with doing editing at the location, becoming one of the first Malayalam editors to do so, while he also did editing for

V. K. Prakash V. K. Prakash (born 12 October 1960) is an Indian film director and actor. He makes films, music videos, and commercials, and works predominantly in Malayalam, but has also directed Telugu, Marathi, Kannada and Hindi films. Prakash's debut featu ...

’s ''

Moonnamathoral ''Moonnamathoral'' () is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language supernatural film directed by V. K. Prakash and written by Rajesh Jayaraman. It stars Jayaram, Vineeth, Samvrutha Sunil, Sherin Shringar, and Jyothirmayi. The film was the first Mala ...

'' (2006), the first digital cinema in Malayalam. He simultaneously worked on Tamil film projects and worked on big budget films such as '' Aadhavan'' (2009), ''

Sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

'' (2010) and ''

Ponnar Shankar Ponnar Shankar is a historical story (990–1020 CE) as part of the post-Sangam history of the Tamil country. This period saw the rise and fall of many kingdoms, some of which were empires that exerted influence far and wide. It is also named as ...

'' (2011). Don also garnered positive reviews for his work in ''

Jilla ''Jilla'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by R. T. Neason and produced by R. B. Choudary through the company Super Good Films. Starring Mohanlal and Vijay athe film revolves around the conflict bet ...

'' (2014), with a critic from Indiaglitz.com noting "Don Max sure is a gifted editor" and "has a very rich taste, evidently shown through the methods he used to connect the scenes". In late 2014, he began his first directorial venture with actor

Anoop Menon Anoop Menon (born 3 August 1976) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and lyricist. He worked in television before acting in Malayalam films and has acted in more than 75 films. Menon won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Supportin ...

in the lead role, and released his debut movie '' 10 Kalpanakal'' in 25 November 2016.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Max, Don Living people People from Kottayam district Malayalam film editors Tamil film editors Telugu film editors Film editors from Kerala 1980 births