Raja Krishna Menon is an Indian

film writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

and producer. He started as an advertisement director and later moved to feature films. He has directed three

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films. His most recent film

Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

was released on 7 October 2017.

Early life and background

Menon was born in Thrissur, Kerala and brought up in

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 ...

. He is the son of Malayalam actor

T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (born 7 November 1935) is an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. He started acting at the age of 40. He has acted in more than 600 films. He came into the film industry playing villain roles; later he started doing com ...

. He spent a major part of his childhood in Kerala. He studied at

The Valley School ''For schools of similar names, see Valley School (disambiguation)'' The Valley School is a co-educational private day school 20 km south of Bangalore city in India (). The school was founded in 1978 by philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. T ...

and finished a Bachelors in Science (BSc) degree with a Chemistry Major from

Christ College, Bangalore CHRIST - Deemed to be University is a deemed to be university in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Founded in 1969 as Christ College, the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India conferred autonomy to Christ College in 2004. On 22 July 2008 i ...

. Although a science student, Menon was involved in creative pursuits throughout college. He was a debater, quizzer, and writer and won many college festival competitions.

Career

On receiving his degree, Menon assisted D. Radhakrishnan, an ad film director and still photographer. He moved to Mumbai in 1993 and by 1996, was managing the business for writer/director Sanjeev Khamgaonkar. Towards the end of 1996, Menon went independent, working out of an office that director Mukul Anand gave him. He started editing commercials and got into the business of creating trailers for Bollywood films, shooting and creating trailers that were not just an edit of the film footage. His early films included Raja Hindustani, Army and Loafer. Menon then moved on to advertisement commercials and has made over 300 commercials till date In 2003, Menon wrote, directed and produced his first feature film titled '' Bas Yun Hi'' starring

Purab Kohli Purab Kohli is an Indian television and film actor, model and former video jockey. Career Television Kohli started his career as an actor with the 1998 television show '' Hip Hip Hurray'' on Zee TV and earned recognition through video jockey ...

and

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

. He continued with advertising from 2003 – 2008. In 2009 he wrote, produced and directed his second feature film Barah Aana starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, and Italian actress Violante Placido. The film was a critical success. Barah Aana was selected in international film festivals, including the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

. Post films he continued to produce commercials and documentaries for Oglivy, JWT, Creative Land Asia, BBH, Ulka etc. in partnership with Janani Ravichandran under their banner ‘Bandra West Pictures’. Menon's third film Airlift was released on 22 January, 2016 starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrit Kaur in the lead. The film received critical acclaim and box office success. He is committed to direct

Shahid Kapoor Shahid Kapoor (; born 25 February 1981) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. Initially recognised for portraying romantic roles, he has since taken on parts in action films and thrillers, and is the recipient of several awards, inc ...

in the yet untitled

Dingko SIngh Master Chief Petty Officer Ngangom Dingko Singh (1 January 1979 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian boxer who won the gold medal at 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. He was from the North-eastern Indian state of Manipur. He was awarded the Padma Shri ...

's Biopic.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Raja Krishna Menon on ‘Airlift’, Akshay Kumar and the biggest human evacuation in history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Raja Krishna Malayalam film directors Film directors from Thrissur Film directors from Bangalore Living people Film producers from Bangalore Screenwriters from Bangalore Year of birth missing (living people) Christ University alumni