Ramasimhan Aboobakker (born Ali Akbar Aboobakker; 20 February 1963), formerly credited as Ali Akbar, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor, and lyricist, who 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 had directed more than 20 Malayalam films. He is mostly known for directing comedy-drama films, such as ''

Junior Mandrake ''Junior Mandrake'' is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language comedy film directed by Ramasimhan aka Ali Akbar and written by Benny P. Nayarambalam from a story by Arun Kudamaloor. The plot revolves around the carriers of a mysterious bust named Juni ...

'', '' Gramapanchayath'', ''

Kudumba Vaarthakal ''Kudumba Vaarthakal'' () is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language comedy film directed by Ali Akbar and produced by Milan Jaleel. The film stars Jagadish, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Kalabhavan Mani and Kalpana in the lead roles. The film has mus ...

'', and ''

Bamboo Boys ''Bamboo Boys'' is a 2002 Indian Malayalam-language comedy film written and directed by Ramasimhan. It stars Kalabhavan Mani, Cochin Haneefa, Harishree Ashokan, and Salim Kumar. The film was released on 11 October 2002. Plot Four tribal men fr ...

''. He won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director 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 his debut film ''

Mamalakalkkappurathu ''Mamalakalkkappurathu'' () is a 1988 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Ramasimhan. The film stars Manoj K. Jayan, Anil, Elias and Kilimol in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Mohan Sithara. The film won ...

'' (1988), and the

National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film The National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film 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. ...

for ''Rabia Chalikkunnu'' (1996). He was professionally credited as Ali Akbar until 2021. In 2021, he converted to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

from

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and changed his name to Ramasimhan.

Early life

He was born in a Mappila Muslim family and hails from

Meenangadi Meenangadi is an old town situated on the highway NH 766 between Kalpetta and Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad District, in Kerala, India. This place is one among the Provinces where the existence of Dolmens provide an historical evidence of earlier ci ...

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 ...

, India.

Film career

Ramasimhan made his directorial debut with the 1988 Malayalam film ''

'', for which he won the

that year. In 1995, he directed ''

Pai Brothers Pai or PAI may refer to: People * Pai (surname), Indian surname from coastal Karnataka and Goa plus people with the name * Pai (Chinese surname), includes Chinese name origin, plus people with the name Fictional characters * Pai (Manga charac ...

'', a comedy-drama starring Innocent and Jagathy Sreekumar as two entrepreneurs entrapped in a

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

. His 1997 comedy film ''

'' is one of his best known works, starring Jagadish and Jagathy Sreekumar. It was based on the bust of Junior Mandake which is believed to be a jinx. The film was a commercial success. In 2002, he directed another comedy film, ''

'', about four tribal men who come out of jungle on a quest to find a doctor in the city. His 1996 drama film ''Rabia Chalikkunnu'' won the

at the 44th

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 ...

. It was followed by

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

films '' Gramapanchayath'' (1998), ''

'' (1998) and ''

Swastham Grihabharanam ''Swastham Grihabharanam'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Ali Akbar and produced by Kamarudeen K. The film stars Mukesh, Jagathy Sreekumar, Sukanya and Jagadish in lead roles. The film had musical score by Berny-Ignat ...

'' (1999). His directorial ''

Senior Mandrake ''Senior Mandrake'' is a 2010 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Ali Akbar. It is a sequel to the 1997 film ''Junior Mandrake''. Jagathy Sreekumar, Jagadish and Kalpana plays the lead roles. Plot Kuttan (Jagathy Sreekuma ...

'' (2010), a sequel to ''Junior Mandrake'', received unfavourable reviews. In 2011, he was banned by FEFKA for associating with acot Thilakan and directing the film '' Achan'' with him in the lead role. In 2012, he directed ''Ideal Couple''. In 2020, Ramasimhan announced a film on

Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji sometimes called Variyamkunnan (1883 – 20 January 1922) was the most prominent leader of the war in Malabar against the British during the Malabar rebellion and founder of a parallel government, in Malabar. ...

, which was produced through

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

, titled '' 1921: Puzha Muthal Puzha Vare'', based on the 1921 Malabar rebellion. The film was released in March 2023.

Personal life

Ramasimhan is married to Lucyamma and the couple have two daughters.

Religion

In 2015, Ramasimhan said that he was a victim of child sexual abuse as he was abused by an '' ustad'' (teacher) at his

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

when he was eight years old. In December 2021, Ramasimhan announced that he is renouncing

and he and his wife have decided to

convert to Hinduism Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...

, and has changed his name to Ramasimhan. He said the decision came after seeing disrespectful reactions by many

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

who put laughing emoji to the news about the accidental death in a helicopter crash of then Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat.

Politics

Ramasimhan was an

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (abbreviated as SFI) is an Indian left-wing student organisation politically aligned to the ideologies of Independence, Democracy and Socialism. Currently, V. P. Sanu and Mayukh Biswas are elected as the All ...

(SFI) leader during his school days. After that, he stayed away from politics for a long period. In 2014, Ramasimhan contested in the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

from

Vatakara Lok Sabha constituency Vatakara Lok Sabha constituency ( ml, വടകര ലോക്സഭാ നിയോജക മണ്ഡലം) is one of the 20 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Kerala state in southern India. Assembly segments Vatakara Lok Sabha c ...

as an

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...

(AAP) candidate. But lost to

Mullappally Ramachandran Mullappally Ramachandran (born 7 November 1944) is an Indian politician and former president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). He is a member of the Indian National Congress, and the son of Congress leader Mullappally Gopalan. ...

. He left AAP within 15 days after election, alleging he found evidence for financial corruption within the party in

. He said he also communicated the matter with Sarah Joseph who also left the party. In 2016, he contested in the

2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election The 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election was held on 16 May 2016 to elect 140 MLAs to the 14th Kerala Legislative Assembly. Voter turnout was 77.53%, up from 75.12% in the previous election. The result was declared on 19 May 2016. The Left ...

from Koduvally constituency as a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP) candidate. But lost to Karat Razak. In 2021, he resigned from BJP state committee, citing discontent to the party's then state leadership.

Filmography

Awards

* 1988 -

- ''

Maamalakalkkappurath ''Mamalakalkkappurathu'' () is a 1988 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Ramasimhan. The film stars Manoj K. Jayan, Anil, Elias and Kilimol in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Mohan Sithara. The film won ...

'' * 1996 - 44th

- ''Rabia Chalikkunnu''

References

External links

*
Ali Akbar at Msidb
* {{Authority control 1963 births Living people Malayalam screenwriters Malayalam-language lyricists People from Wayanad district 20th-century Indian people 21st-century Indian people Film directors from Wayanad district Screenwriters from Kerala Converts to Hinduism from Islam Indian former Muslims Indian Hindus