Jeethu Joseph (born 10 November 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly 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 has also worked in a few

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and Hindi films. Jeethu made his directional debut with the 2007

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

, ''

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

''. He is best known for the

crime thrillers Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, '' Drishyam'' and ''

Drishyam 2 ''Drishyam 2: The Resumption'', or simply ''Drishyam 2'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph and produced by Antony Perumbavoor through the company Aashirvad Cinemas.A sequel to their 2 ...

''. ''Drishyam'' became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, at its time of release. It was the first Malayalam film to cross the 50 crore mark, at the box office. ''

'' was released directly through

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the prequel, it was highly acclaimed and appreciated, worldwide. His other works include '' Mummy & Me'' (2010), ''

My Boss ''My Boss'' is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Jeethu Joseph, starring Dileep and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles and Mukesh in a cameo appearance. It is the third film by Jeethu Joseph. The film is produc ...

'' (2012), ''

Life of Josutty ''Life of Josutty'' is a 2015 Malayalam-language family drama film directed by Jeethu Joseph. The film stars Dileep in the title role along with a supporting cast consisting of Jyothi Krishna, Rachana Narayanankutty, Renjini Rupesh, Hareesh Per ...

'' (2015), '' Memories'' (2013), '' Oozham'' (2016), '' Aadhi'' (2018). Jeethu made his

debut with ''

Papanasam Papanasam is a panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Kumbakonam. The name literally translates to "Destruction of Sins" in the Tamil language. It is the suburban region ...

'' (2015) which is a remake of his 2014 film '' Drishyam'', Hindi debut with ''

The Body The Body may refer to: Literature * ''The Body'' (short story), a short story by Camillo Boito * ''The Body'' (novella), a novel written by Stephen King * ''The Body'' (Sapir novel), a novel by Richard Sapir * ''The Body'' (Kureishi novel), ...

'' (2019), and

debut with ''

Drushyam 2 ''Drushyam 2'' () is an Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It is a remake of his 2021 Malayalam-language film ''Drishyam 2'' and a sequel to ''Drushyam'' (2014). The film was joint ...

'' (2021).

Early life

Jeethu was born in a

Syro-Malabar Catholic lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ , native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg , caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...

family in Mutholapuram, Muvattupuzha taluk to Leelamma and V. Joseph, ex-MLA of Muvattupuzha. Jeethu wanted to attend the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. It is situated on the premises of the erstwhile ...

(FTII) although his father wanted him to become an engineer. He attended Fathima Matha English Medium School and later graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from

Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha Nirmala College is a first grade arts and science college in Muvattupuzha, Kerala, India run by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates and offers degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and com ...

Career

Early works

Jeethu Joseph started as an assistant director to Jayaraj in the film ''Bheebhathsam''. After that, he got a chance to direct a film starring Dileep but it did not materialize and he was back where he started. Meanwhile, Jeethu developed the one-line plot of ''Detective.'' But after failing to find any producers, his mother Leelamma Joseph offered to co-produce the film, which became his debut directorial. A month into the project, a producer evinced interest and took on the production. ''

'' was released in 2007. The film fared well at the box-office. His next film '' Mummy & Me'' was a success at the box-office. ''Mummy and Me'', although it took close to three years in the making, marked a turning point in his career as director. "My first film was easy compared to the struggle I had to go through for my second, ''Mummy and Me''." There were offers to make films like ''Detective'', but Jeethu declined. "I wanted to do a different film" It was for this reason that, though he had one line scripts of ''Mummy and Me'' and ''Memories'' ready in 2008, he chose to make ''Mummy and Me''. His third film ''

'' was also a success in theatres. Jeethu's fourth movie '' Memories'', a suspense thriller, was released in 2013 which did well in box office.

Post ''Drishyam''

Towards the end of 2013, the drama-thriller '' Drishyam'' starring Mohanlal was released, which was well received critically and commercially. It was the highest-grossing Malayalam film, until 2016, and the first Malayalam film to cross 50 crore mark at the box office. ''Drishyam'' was remade in Tamil by Jeethu with

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

enacting Mohanlal's role. It was also remade to Telugu, Kannada and Hindi by other directors. Jeethu then directed Dileep-starrer ''

''.

Personal life

Jeethu married Linta and they have two children. Linta is a costume designer in Malayalam cinema.

Filmography

* ''All films are in Malayalam, otherwise noted the language''

Awards

* 2013 –

44th Kerala State Film Awards Superlatives In the 45th Kerala State Film Awards, 85 films were considered and '' Ayaal'' won the maximum number of awards (5) followed by ''Zachariayude Garbhinikal'' (4). Winners Most Awards See also * 61st National Film Awards ...

- Best Popular Film - '' Drishyam'' * 2013 – Vanitha Film Awards – Best Director – '' Drishyam'' * 2013 – Kerala Film Critics Association Awards – Best Director – '' Drishyam'' * 2013 – Jaihind TV Film Awards – Best Director – '' Drishyam'' * 2013 - South Indian International Movie Awards - Best Director - Drishyam

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeethu Joseph Malayalam film directors Malayali people Living people Malayalam screenwriters 1972 births Kannada screenwriters People from Muvattupuzha Tamil screenwriters Telugu screenwriters Film directors from Kochi 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from Kochi 21st-century Indian screenwriters Telugu film directors