Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair

Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj , is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in the 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 ten-time recipient of the National Film Award and several Kerala State Film Awards. His films include Paithrukam (1993), Desadanam (1996), Kaliyattam (1997), 4 The People (2004), Vellapokkathil (2007), Ottaal (2015), Veeram (2016) and Bhayanakam (2018).

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 Film director 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 (Sports, Music, Art and Recreation Therapy (Yoga and Meditation)) and Birds Club International are the two projects initiated by the foundation.

World Organisation of Hope (WOH) is an organisation aimed at building children's awareness of their rights and to protect them. The programme SMART [Sports, 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 Year Film Award (s) 2022 Shabdikkunna Kalappa Best Cinematography: Nikhil S Praveen 2018 Rebirth Best Short Documentary , Best Director Of Short Documentary 2018 Bhayanakam Best Film , Best Actor: Ranji Panicker in Spain, Madrid International Film Festival 2015 Ottaal Crystal Bear, Suvarna Chakoram, FIPRESCI award, NETPAC award, Rajata Chakoram , Best Environment Film , IFFK - Best Film (Golden Crow Pendant) , Nomininee- Amnesty International Fil Festival , Nominee- Hamburg Film Festival (Michael Award) 2007 Vellapokkathil Best Short Movie 2005 Daivanamathil Best Film Award in Spain, Madrid International Film Festival 2000 Karunam Golden Peacock Award, International Film Festival of India- Awards from Federation of International Film Societies, Berlin International Film Fest, Special Mention in Kerala International Film Festival. 2001 Shantham Best Cinematography in Festival De 3 Continents, France 1996 Desadanam Special Mention at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in competition section.

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 , Best Screenplay - Kudumbasametham 1996 : Kerala State Film Award for Best Director - Paitrukam 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

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

YearTitleCredited asLanguageNotes Director Writer Producer 1990 Vidhyarambham Malayalam 1991 Aakasha Kottayile Sultan 1992 Johnnie Walker Kudumbasametham 1993 Paithrukam Sopanam 1995 Arabia Highway Thumboli Kadappuram 1997 Desadanam Kaliyattam 1998 Sneham Thalolam 2000 Karunam Part 2, Navarasa series. Millennium Stars Shantham Part 1, Navarasa series 2002 Bhibatsa Hindi Part 3, Navarasa series Kannaki Malayalam 2003 Thilakkam 2004 4 the People Rain Rain Come Again Yuvasena Telugu Remake of 4 the People 2005 By the People Malayalam Daivanamathil Makalkku 2006 Adbutham Part 4, Navarasa series; Released 2021 Aanachandam Ashwaroodan 2007 Anandabhairavi 2008 Gulmohar Of The People Sila Nerangalil Tamil Vellapokkathil Malayalam Short film 2009 Loudspeaker 2011 Naayika 2012 Pakarnnattam 2013 Camel Safari 2015 Ottaal 2016 Veeram MalayalamHindiEnglish Part 5, Navarasa series 2018 Bhayanakam Malayalam Part 6, Navarasa series 2019 Roudram 2018 Part 7, Navarasa series 2020 Hasyam Part 8, Navarasa series. 2021 Backpackers 2023 Kadhikan 2024 Manorathangal Segment: "Swargam Thurakkuna Samayam" 2025 Shanthamee Rathriyil Mehfil 2026 Aval TBA Filming Filming Filming Filming