Shaji N Karun: A life lived illuminating Indian cinema

Shaji N Karun began his career in the '70s as a cinematographer trained at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. He would go on to become India's most-awarded filmmaker, a virtuoso cameraman, visionary film czar, film festival innovator and pioneer in inclusiveness in cinema in the country.

As a rookie cameraman, Karun quickly earned the respect of Indian film industry heavyweights with his works in Mumbai and back home in Kerala. "Listen to what that young man says," Hema Malini would tell her directors on the set in Mumbai when the inexperienced FTII graduate used to cause a stir with his strange suggestions on lighting.

Wizard behind camera

Born on January 1, 1952 in the port town of Kollam in southern Kerala, the celebrated Malayalam filmmaker was a magician in imagining the effect of lighting on people and objects on the movie set. Karun's camera magically transformed a torpid earth on the banks of Kerala's famous river Bharathapuzha in Malappuram for the black and white film, Thampu (1978), directed by G Aravindan.

Karun's remarkable work with Aravindan in such formidable films as Kanchana Sita, Kummatty and Esthappan in the late '70s and with director K G George in Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback and Panchavadi Palam in the early '80s announced the arrival of Malayalam cinema as an artistic and aesthetic force in the global film industry along with the works of such filmmakers as John Abraham and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

"Shaji explained to us about the lighting scheme and composition of the stunning black and white imagery of Thampu when we decided to restore the film that was lying in tatters," says Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, whose Film Heritage Foundation was behind the restoration of the film, which was screened in the Cannes Classics section in 2022. "He said the film had been shot on Indu stock, which was an indigenous film stock manufactured in India," adds Dungarpur.

Piravi, Karun's directorial debut in 1988 based on the police excesses in Kerala during the Emergency from 1975 to 1977, reflects his sharp focus on creating images with the lack of light. Piravi, an official selection at the 1989 Cannes film festival where it won a Camera d'Or Special Mention for the first film of a director, exposed the mind-numbing human tragedy of the Emergency through the film shot almost entirely in pouring rains to exacerbate the reality.

When Swaham, his sophomore feature had its world premiere, again in Cannes in 1994, "Shaji chose to wear a dhoti and shirt to walk the red carpet", recollects Malti Sahai, the then-director of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The last Indian film in Cannes competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or, before Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light in 2024 broke Indian cinema's jinx in the French Riviera, Swaham also revealed Karun's simplicity and determination to reach the highest levels against all odds.

High artistic standards

After Swaham finished its final touches at the National Film Development Corporation lab in Mumbai, Karun and his friend Sukhwand Singh Dadha from FTII lugged a heavy steel box containing its reels to the Mumbai customs office in Santa Cruz for transfer to Cannes. A friend in Thiruvananthapuram booked Karun's flight ticket to the festival and he stayed in a tiny room of a budget hotel in Cannes waiting for the world premiere. At the festival, he spent his time speaking with other filmmakers from Asia vying for the Palme d'Or, like Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.

When Kapadia broke his record for the last Indian film in Cannes competition last year, Karun was among the first to congratulate the Mumbai-born filmmaker, a fellow FTII graduate. His praise acknowledging Kapadia's higher standards of cinematic philosophy, giving her a rare sense of aesthetics and visual language, was notable for its emphasis on lighting. "Payal has the rare ability to recognise the disappearing light and sound in front of her to make cinema enlightening," Karun said. "Payal's gender interpretations in her works allow them to stand out in Indian cinema," he added.

Karun won many National Film Awards, beginning with Piravi, adjudged the Best Film in 1988. Karun also won the Best Director prize for the film. His Vanaprastham, a fierce critique of caste politics in the art, won the National Award for Best Film in 1999 and he won it again for Kutty Srank ten years later. Karun directed seven films, his last, Olu, a stunning underwater fantasy, coming seven years ago.

Realising his extraordinary understanding of cinema's power, Karun was someone the central government turned to for leadership when it set up committees for promoting Indian cinema. He was often asked to chair the technical committee of IFFI, the showcase of Indian cinema and its talent. He never refused and would bring the best projectors from Belgium to complement the high quality of Indian productions.

Affirmative action in cinema

When the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), the most popular film festival in the country, took shape in 1994, it was Karun who led its festival management. After the Hema Committee report on sexual harassment in Malayalam film industry rocked the state last year, Karun came to rescue of IFFK in December 2024 as the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), honouring female actors in Malayalam cinema from the '60s and '70s and creating an edition centred on women professionals in the industry.

When the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front government in Kerala appointed him as KSFDC Chairman in 2019, Karun decided to do something never attempted in the country before. He worked with the government to produce five first feature films of women directors. It was the first time a state government had initiated affirmative action in the Indian film industry and the first state-funded inclusion initiative anywhere in the world.

"There is an immediate connection between violence against women and lack of opportunities," French producer Sandrine Brauer, co-founder of Paris-based Collective 50/50 of film and television professionals worldwide that promotes gender equality in the audio-visual industry, then said welcoming the move.

Karun followed up the funding for women directors with production funds for filmmakers from backward communities, including from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. So far, KSFDC has produced ten films under its affirmative action initiative. To help first-time filmmakers find exhibition opportunities for their movies, Karun built and upgraded cinemas owned by the government in Kerala. "There are nine state-owned movie halls having 17 screens today in Kerala," says Vidya G of KSFDC. "After he (Karun) was diagnosed with liver cancer in January last year, he would come to the office straight from his hospital sessions," she adds. "He was in his office even last week."

Karun is survived by his wife Anasuya Warrier, a philanthropist, and their two sons.