Rajiv Anchal

Rajiv Anchal (born 20 December 1956, Kerala, India is a film director, screenwriter, and sculptor who works in Malayalam language cinema. In 1997, he made Guru, India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His first English language film was Beyond The Soul (2003).

Sculptor

In 1977, Anchal won a state award for sculpture from the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy.^{[citation needed]} Anchal has contributed to the statuary of Kerala state. One such sculpture is Sakambhari, 40 foot work at Alleppey. Anchal contributed to temple wall murals in Kerala.^{[citation needed]} He also contributed to the construction of the Parnashala lotus at the Santhigiri Ashram and the large Jatayu bird sculpture in Jatayu Earth’s Center, Chadayamangalam, Kollam.^[1]

Filmmaker

In 1980, Rajiv Anchal entered the Malayalam film industry as an art director and production designer under the direction of Lenin Rajendran during the making of Chillu. In 1985, Anchal made his directorial debut on an unreleased film, Enikkum enikkum idaykku. Ammaanamkili (1986) also failed to run in theatres.^{[citation needed]} In 1993, Anchal's career was established with the popular Kerala release, Butterflies a romantic comedy thriller which featured Mohanlal and Aishwarya. Kashmeeram (1994), starring Suresh Gopi, Ratheesh and Priya Raman followed. It was dubbed in Telugu and released in New Delhi.^{[citation needed]}

Anchal's movie, Guru was released in 1997. Guru is a fantasy movie about a utopia.^{[citation needed]} It uses symbols of terrorism and world evils. Anchal reused Hollywood film sets to make a fantasy world. Mohanlal played the lead role.^{[citation needed]} Nedumudi Venu, Srinivasan, Suresh Gopi, Sithara, Kaveri and Sreelakshmi played supporting roles.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Butterflies (1993)
Kashmeeram (1994)
Guru (1997)
Rushy Vamsam (1999)
Pilots (2000) (also as writer)
Beyond the Soul (2002) (also as writer and producer)
Nothing But Life (2004) (also as writer) / Made in USA
Paattinte Palazhy (2010)^[2]

Awards

1986, Ammaanamkili, children's film award.
1990, Njan Gandharvan, Kerala state film award for art direction.
1994, Kashmeeram, film critics' award for best director.
1997, Guru India's official entry to the Oscars in the category of Best Foreign Film. This required it to be edited to ninety minutes length.
2003, Beyond the Soul New York International Independent Film and Video Festival awards for best director, best screenplay and the grand jury prize for best feature film.

Professional affiliations

Anchal is a life member of the International Film and Television Club of Asian Academy of Film & Television.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Varma V. Kerala nature park modelled on mythical bird Jatayu to take flight next year The India Express news website 17 December 2015. Accessed 4 July 2016.
^ George M. Meera Jasmine was the only choice for Paattinte Palazhy Rediff movies website. 23 August 2010. Accessed 4 July 2016.

External links

[1] Varma V. Kerala nature park modelled on mythical bird Jatayu to take flight next year The India Express news website 17 December 2015. Accessed 4 July 2016.

[2] George M. Meera Jasmine was the only choice for Paattinte Palazhy Rediff movies website. 23 August 2010. Accessed 4 July 2016.

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