Priyadarshan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Priyadarshan

• Priyadarshan was raised by his parents in a middle-class South-Indian family.

  

• Priyadarshan’s father was a college librarian and he was the one who instilled the habit of reading books in Priyadarshan. Priyadarshan’s father was also a theatre enthusiast which got him inclined towards films.

• Priyadarshan’s father and Indian actor Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair were very close friends and it was Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair who gave him the name ‘Priyadarshan.’

• Priyadarshan used to love comic books in childhood and was quoted saying in an interview that
  

  I learnt a lot about framing a shot from those comics of Phantom, Mandrake, Mickey Mouse.”

• When Priyadarshan was studying in his college, he started writing short plays and skits for All India Radio.

• In 1978, he worked as an assistant director for the Malayalam drama film titled ‘Thiranottam.’

• In 1982, he wrote the Malayalam drama film titled ‘Sindoora Sandhyakku Mounam’ which was based on the American film titled ‘Psych-Out’ (1968).

• In 1983, Priyadarshan was cast in the Malayalam drama film titled ‘Hello Madras Girl.’

• In 1985, he wrote and directed the Malayalam screwball comedy film titled ‘Onnanam Kunnil Oradi Kunnil.’

• In 1986, he directed the Malayalam comedy thriller film titled ‘Hello My Dear Wrong Number.’ The script was written by the Indian actor Sreenivasan from a story by Priyadarshan.

• In 1990, he was cast in the Malayalam drama film titled ‘Kadath.’

• In 1991, he wrote and directed the Telugu action drama film titled ‘Nirnayam’ which was a remake of Priyadarshan’s own 1989 Malayalam film titled ‘Vandanam.’ The film was also loosely based on the 1987 American film titled ‘Stakeout.’

• In the same year, he did the direction and the screenplay of the Tamil romantic black comedy film titled ‘Gopura Vasalile.’ The film was based on different side stories from the Malayalam film titled ‘Pavam Pavam Rajakumaran’ (1990) and the Hindi film titled ‘Chashme Buddoor’ (1981).

• Priyadarshan was assigned for the direction of the Miss World 1996 event that was held in Bangalore.

• Indian film-maker P. Venu was his biggest influence in filmmaking.

• In 1994, he directed the Telugu action comedy film titled ‘Gandeevam.’

• In 1998, Priyadarshan directed the Hindi romantic film titled ‘Doli Saja Ke Rakhna’ which was an adaption of the 1997 Malayalam film titled ‘Aniyathipraavu.’ 

• Priyadarshan has been friends with the Indian actor Mohanlal even before they both entered the film industry.

• Mohanlal was the first one to get into the industry and with his help, Priyadarshan moved to Chennai and got the chance to work as an assistant scriptwriter in a couple of films and started writing scripts; however, he later had to come back to Kerala due to some personal reasons.

  

• Priyadarshan has worked as a columnist for Malayala Manorama Newspaper for international cricket matches played in Kerala

• Priyadarshan met Lissy for the first time during the shoot of his second film.

• In 2000, Priyadarshan directed the Hindi comedy film titled ‘Hera Pheri’ which was a remake of the 1989 Malayalam film titled ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ which itself was inspired by the 1971 American TV film titled ‘See The Man Run.’

  

• In the same year, he directed the Tamil mystery thriller film titled ‘Snegithiye’ which was loosely based on the 1999 Marathi film titled ‘Bindhaast.’

• In 2001, Priyadarshan had to begin the shoot of the English language epic period film titled ‘The Last Revolutionary’ which was to be produced by 20th Century Fox. The film was based on the life of Indian freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad but the project was shelved due to unknown reasons.

• In 2005, Priyadarashan was cast in the Malayalam romantic comedy film titled ‘Kilukkam Kilukilukkam’ which was a sequel to the 1991 film titled ‘Kilukkam.’

• In 2006, Priyadarshan started his company named ‘Four Frames Sound Company’ in Chennai and he also purchased the Good Luck Preview Theatre in an auction conducted by the IT Department. However, both the company and the theatre’s ownership were moved to his ex-wife Lissy after their divorce in 2016.

• In the same year, he directed and wrote the screenplay of the Hindi romantic comedy-drama film titled ‘Chup Chup Ke’ which was a remake of the Malayalam language film ‘Punjabi House’ (1998).

• In 2011, Priyadarshan was appointed as the Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy for the period 2011-2014.

• In the same year, he was appointed as the Director of the International Film Festival of Kerala.

• After the release of his Hindi film titled ‘Kamaal Dhamaal Malaamal,’ Priyadarshan underwent an ayurvedic healing process in Kerala and took a long break before returning to directing films.

• From 2014 to 2019, Priyadarshan served as a Director of ‘Rising Star Outreach of India’ which is one of the largest leprosy colonies of India which serves the self-sufficient communities via medical care, colony development, and education.

• In 2015, he was appointed as the chairperson of the Committee of Ceremonies for the 35th National Games which were held in Kerala.

• In 2016,  he was appointed as the Central Jury Chairperson of the 64th National Awards for 2016 (President’s Award for the Year 2016).

• In 2019, Priyadarshan served as a Chairperson of the Feature Films Jury of the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

• In 2020, he became one of the directors of the Hindi miniseries titled ‘Forbidden Love’ which was telecast on ZEE5.

• Priyadarshan always wanted to become a cricketer and used to play cricket at the state level. During his college days, he used to represent his institute as a captain but later he suffered from an eye injury while playing one day which left his dream unfulfilled.

• He makes sure to carry all his cricket equipment on his film sets to play with his other crew members during shoot breaks.

  

• Priyadarshan was one of the first directors in India to introduce rich colour grading, clear sound, and quality dubbing through his Malayalam films.

• Priyadarshan has also directed many advertisement films and some of his most popular commercials are for Coca-Cola, American Express, Nokia, Parker Pens, Asian Paints, and Max New York Life Insurance.

• In 2021, Priyadarshan directed the Hindi romantic comedy film titled ‘Hungama 2’ which was loosely based on Priyadarshan’s own 1994 Malayalam film titled ‘Minnaram’ with a comedy sequence borrowed from his other Malayalam film titled ‘Vandanam’ (1989).

• In the same year, he directed and wrote the Malayalam epic historical action film titled ‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’ which was based on the fourth Kunjali Marakkar named Muhammad Ali.

• In 2021, Priyadarshan was one of the directors of the Tamil anthology web series titled ‘Navarasa’ which was released on Netflix.

• In 2023, he directed the Tamil drama film titled ‘Appatha.’

• In 2024, Priyadarshan announced his reunion with the Indian actor Akshay Kumar for the Hindi film ‘Bhooth Bangla.’

  

• In the same year, Priyadarshan became one of the directors of the Malayalam anthology web series titled ‘Manorathangal’ which was based on the Indian author M. T. Vasudevan Nair’s nine short stories. The web series was released on ZEE5.

• Priyadarshan has directed many Malayalam films and some of them include ‘Nathi Muthal Nathi Vare’ (1982), ‘Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu’ (1986), ‘Kilichundan Mampazham’ (2003), ‘Oru Marubhoomikkadha’ (2011), and ‘Aamayum Muyalum’ (2014).

  

• He has directed many Tamil films and some of them are ‘Lesa Lesa’ (2003), ‘Kanchivaram’ (2008), ‘Poi Solla Porom’ (2008), ‘Nimir’ (2018), and ‘Sometimes’ (2018).

  

• Priyadarshan has directed many Hindi films and some of them include ‘Saat Rang Ke Sapne’ (1998), ‘Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar’ (2001), ‘Hungama’ (2003), ‘Garam Masala’ (2005), ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007), and ‘Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal’ (2012).

  

• He loves spending time with animals and often shares photos with his pet dog on social media.