Jayaraaj

Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry.

He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden Peacock award at the IFFI, and the FIPRESCI Award from the International Federation of Film Critics. He is also a seven-time recipient of the National Film Award and several Kerala State Film Awards. His films include ''Paithrukam'' (1993), ''Desadanam'' (1996), ''4 The People'' (2004), ''Vellapokkathil'' (2007), ''Ottaal'' (2015), and ''Bhayanakam'' (2018).

He is the founder of the Birds Club International and is actively involved in philanthropic work.

Early life

During his stay at Thiruvananthapuram, he attended film festivals including the International Film Festival of Kerala and watched many world classics. Kurosawa's ''Rashomon'' and DeSica's ''Bicycle Thieves'' were among them, and they influenced him immensely.

Career

Bharathan was impressed by Jayaraj and made him his assistant director for ''Chilambu''(1986). Jayaraj then went on to be the assistant to Bharathan in six more films including the critically acclaimed '' Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam'' (1987) and '' Vaishali'' (1988). Jayaraj debuted as director with ''Vidyarambham'' (1990). His early career mainly produced commercially oriented films like '' Aakasha Kottayile Sultan'' (1991), ''Johnnie Walker'' (1992), ''High Way'' (1995), ''Thumboli Kadappuram'' (1995) and ''Arabia'' (1995).

Notable in his early career were ''Kudumbasametham'' (1992), ''Paithrukam'' (1993) and ''Sopanam'' (1993). ''Desadanam'' (1997) was followed by ''Kaliyattam'' (1997) which was an adaptation of Shakespeare's '' Othello''. It won him the National Film Award for Best Direction.

In 1999 Jayaraj started his nine-film series project ''Navarasa'' with '' Karunam'', followed by '' Shantham'' (2001). '' Shantham'' won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. The third in the ''Navarasa'' series was ''Bheebhatsa'', a Hindi film followed by ''Adbutham'' and ''Veeram''. In 2018, the sixth film in the series ''Bhayanakam'' was released and had won awards for Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 2017 National Film Awards. On 10 June 2019, Tovino Thomas officially announced and shared the poster of ''Roudram 2018'', the seventh film in the series. While sharing the poster on Facebook Tovino wrote, "The movie is based on real-life incidents that occurred in central Travancore, during the devastating floods that Kerala survived. ''Roudram 2018'' portrays the tempestuous ferocity of nature, and the utter helplessness of humankind before that might."

Of late he has been doing commercial and art films and is successful in both genres. While ''Thilakkam'' (2003) and ''4 The People'' (2004) were huge commercial successes '' Kannaki'' (2002), ''Makalkku'' (2005), '' Daivanamathil'' (2005) and ''Ottaal'' (2015) were critically acclaimed. ''Ottaal'' made history, becoming the first ever Malayalam movie to have swept all the top awards in the 20-year history of the International Film Festival of Kerala. The film was one of four Malayalam films selected to be a part of the Indian Panorama at the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November 2015.

Philanthropy

In an earnest effort towards conserving nature and strengthening people's welfare, Jayaraj founded the Jayaraj Foundation in 2010 and officially launched it on 6 June 2014. World Organisation of Hope's (WOH) ambitious programme 'SMART' ports, Music, Art and Recreation Therapy (Yoga and Meditation)nd "Birds Club international" are the two projects initiated by the foundation.

Word Organisation of Hope (WOH) is an organisation aimed at building children's awareness of their rights and to protect them. The programme SMART ports, Music, Art and Recreation Therapy (Yoga and Meditation)is an offshoot of WOH. It supports children and adolescents in their own struggle to secure and defend their dreams.

Birds Club International (BCI) aims at creating miniature rain forests in schools and colleges, to make a better environment both for birds and humans. It plans to bring together the future generation and integrating more of society towards nature conservation activities. Several units of BCI have been started in many schools and colleges in Kerala, with the help of the Government of Kerala, to achieve this.

Awards

;International awards

; National Film Awards

*1996 : Best Feature Film in Malayalam - ''Desadanam''
*1997 : Best Director - ''Kaliyattam''
*2001 : Best Film - '' Shantham''
*2005 : Best Film on National Integration - '' Daivanamathil''
*2007 : Best Non-Feature Film Direction - ''Vellapokkathil - The Deluge''
*2014 : Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation - ''Ottaal''
*2017 : Best Director - ''Bhayanakam''
*2017 : Best Adapted Screenplay - ''Bhayanakam''
*2017 : Special Jury mention - Rebirth

; Kerala State Film Awards
*1992 : Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film - ''Kudumbasametham''
*1996 : Kerala State Film Award for Best Director - '' Deshadanam''
*1997 : Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value - ''Kaliyattam''
*1999 : Kerala State Film Award for Best Film - '' Karunam''
*2015 : Kerala State Film Award for Best Film - ''Ottaal''

;Filmfare Awards South
* 1997 : Best Director : ''Kaliyattam''
* 2000 : Best Director : '' Karunam''
* 2000 : Best Film - Malayalam : '' Karunam''

;V. Shantharam Awards
*1997 : ''Kaliyattam''
*2001 : '' Shantham''

;John Abraham Awards
*2000 : '' Karunam''
*2012 : ''Vellapokkathil - The Deluge''

;Asianet Film Awards
* 2002: Asianet Film Award for Best Director for Kannaki

;Ramu Karyatt Awards
*1996 : ''Desadanam''

;P. Padmarajan Awards
*1996 : ''Desadanam''
*2000 : '' Karunam''

Filmography

References

External links

*

All in the name of God
The Hindu - 5 July 2005

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayaraj
Malayali people
20th-century Indian film directors
Malayalam film directors
Kerala State Film Award winners
Tamil film directors
1960 births
Living people
Filmfare Awards South winners
Best Director National Film Award winners
21st-century Indian film directors
Artists from Kottayam
Film directors from Kerala
Telugu film directors
Hindi-language film directors
Film producers from Kerala
Screenwriters from Kerala
Malayalam screenwriters
Best Adapted Screenplay National Film Award winners
Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award
Directors who won the Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation National Film Award
Directors who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award