Rahul Riji Nair is an Indian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, scriptwriter, producer and actor active in the

Malayalam film industry Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both the mainstream film industry a ...

. His debut feature film '' Ottamuri Velicham'' won 4 awards at the 2017

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

, including Best Feature Film. Rahul won the

67th National Film Awards The 67th National Film Awards were announced at a press meet on 22 March 2021 to honour the best Indian films certified in India between 1 January and 31 December 2019. The awards ceremony, at which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents it ...

for Best Malayalam Film in 2019 for his third feature film Kalla Nottam.

Personal life

Rahul was born in

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

on 21 March 1988 to Dr. Riji G. Nair and Rajasree Nair. He did his schooling from SN Trusts Central School, Kollam and graduated in Engineering from Amrita School of Engineering in 2009. He worked as a Software Engineer and then as Marketing Manager with multiple companies in

Technopark, Trivandrum Technopark is a technology park in Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India. Established on 28 July 1990 by the Government of Kerala, under chief minister E K Nayanar, However, the government was unable to commence building. The next c ...

before venturing into filmmaking. He is married to Nithya Vijay.

Career

Rahul started his career in the

in 2017 as the writer, producer and director of the Malayalam feature film '' Ottamuri Velicham''. This film won 4 awards in Kerala State Film Awards 2017, including Best Feature Film of the year. His third feature film, Kalla Nottam won the 67th National Film Award for Best Malayalam Feature Film. His films have premiered at prestigious film festivals in Mumbai, Kolkata, New York, Stuttgart, Chicago etc. He has also won multiple international wards including the prestigious Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Feature Film at the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival and German Star of India Award for Best Feature film at the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart. Rahul pioneered the production of mainstream Web Series in Malayalam by creating the first Originals for Major OTT platforms like Disney+ Hotstar and Sony LIV. He's noticed for his diverse body of work that has successfully traversed both Independent and Mainstream Cinema. Rahul founded the production house First Print Studios in 2011 and is currently serving the company as its CEO. As a self taught filmmaker, he ventured into independent filmmaking through Documentaries, Short Films and Music Videos. Rahul's first independent directorial was the documentary ''

The Human Boundaries ''The Human Boundaries'' is a documentary film on the life of Hindu refugees from Pakistan. Synopsis A group of 152 Pakistani Hindus entered India in September 2011 with a one-month tourist visa. They came as refugees from the various religi ...

'' in 2012 and it was widely screened across

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. His Tamil Music Video titled ''Mounam Sollum Varthaigal'' gave his first major break through as it went viral with over 25 million views.

Filmography

Feature Films

Web series

As actor

As Lyricist

Music Video

Short films

Documentary

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

* 2019 -

- Best Malayalam Film : ''Kalla Nottam'' ;

* 2017 -

Kerala State Film Award for Best Film The Kerala State Film Award for Best Film is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to the best film in Malayalam cinema. The awards are managed directly by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy under the Department ...

: '' Ottamuri Velicham'' ;

Kerala Film Critics Award The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam language film industry of India. The a ...

* 2020 - Special Jury Award : Kho Kho ; International Awards * 2021 - Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award for Best Feature Film, 26th Kolkata International Film Festival: ''Kalla Nottam'' *2021 - Best Screenplay, Yellowstone International Film Festival: ''Kalla Nottam'' * 2020 - Best Film Innovation Award, Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati: ''Kalla Nottam'' * 2018 - German Star of India est Feature Film 15th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart: '' Ottamuri Velicham'' * 2018 - Second Best Feature Film, Chicago South Asian Film Festival: '' Ottamuri Velicham'' ; Nominations * 2020 - Best Film, Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati: ''Kalla Nottam'' * 2020 - Best Screenplay, Indian Film Festival of Cincinnati: ''Kalla Nottam'' * 2020 - Best Screenplay, New York Indian Film Festival: ''Kalla Nottam'' * 2018 - Best Film, New York Indian Film Festival: '' Ottamuri Velicham''NYIFF 2018 Award Nominations
/ref> * 2018 - Best Director, New York Indian Film Festival: '' Ottamuri Velicham'' * 2018 - Director's Vision Award, 15th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart: '' Ottamuri Velicham'' * 2018 - Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality, Mumbai Film Festival: '' Ottamuri Velicham''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, Rahul Riji 21st-century Indian people Malayalam film directors Living people Film directors from Kollam district People from Kollam 1988 births Indian male screenwriters Screenwriters from Kerala Malayalam screenwriters Malayalam film producers Indian male film actors Male actors in Malayalam cinema Malayalam-language lyricists