Shaji Kailas

Alias Shaji
Age 3 years
Height 5'8"
Occupation Dialogue, Story, Screenplay, Director
Language Worked in Tamil, Malayalam
Spouse Annie
Birth Place Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Eye Color Black
Hair Color Black
Marital Status Married
City Kerala

Shaji Kailas's debut as a director was in 1989 with News, starring Suresh Gopi in the lead role. Scripted by Jagadish, this investigative thriller was an average grosser. But, with this film, Shaji succeeded in gaining attention of film viewers. But his second release Sunday 7 PM, came out it 1990 was a big flop. Later in the same year, he directed Dr. Pasupathy, a political satire, with Innocent in a leading role.

Dr. Pashupathi, written by Renji Panicker, ended up as one of the biggest grosser of the year. This film also marked the beginning of Shaji Kailas- Renji Panicker combo, which later went into making of several super hits. But, the success of Dr. Pashupathy was followed by two huge flops Souhrudam, starring Mukesh and Saikumar in the leading roles and Kilukkampetti, with Jayaram as hero. Shaji Kailas then switched to action films.

In the year 1992 Shaji Kailas got his first real career break. His association with Renji Panicker brought out Thalastaanam, with Suresh Gopi in the leading role. Revolved around student politics, Thalastaanam also marked the rebirth of Renji Panicker as a scriptwriter. This film also marked Suresh Gopi's first step to super stardom. The cinematography of the film was done by Ravi K. Chandran. This film also saw the rise of Narendra Prasad, who later became one of the most acclaimed villains in the Malayalam industry. In the same year Shaji Kailas tried out a comedy flick, Neelakurukkan, which was above average grosser. But in the beginning of 1993 Shaji Kailas landed up again with another blockbuster, Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans, again penned by Renji Panicker.

This film turned into a landmark in the career of Jagadish, who until then limited to comic roles. In 1993 Ekalavyan was released. Scripted again by Renji Panicker, Ekalavyan was a feather in Shaji Kailas' cap. Suresh Gopi got established as an undisputed super star with this political thriller. Produced by P. V. Gangadharan for Grihalakshmi Productions, Ekalavyan also had a back up of a huge star cast including Vijayaraghavan, Siddique, Narendra Prasad, Geetha, Janardanan, Madhu, Devan and Maniyanpilla Raju and completed a run of 150 days in the theaters. In 1993, the Shaji Kailas-Renji Panicker-Suresh Gopi team returned with Mafia, an underworld film completely shot in Bangalore.

Shaji Kailas got married to Annie on 1 June 1996 at the residence of his close friend Suresh Gopi, in the presence of a few close friends. Annie later adopted the name Chithra. She had earlier acted in his film Rudraksham. They currently reside at Thiruvananthapuram and have three sons.

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