Ashraf Hamza is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in

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

. Hailing from

Ponnani Ponnani () is a Nagar Palika (Municipality), municipality in Ponnani Taluk, Malappuram District, in the state of Kerala, India. It serves as the administrative center of the Taluk and Block Panchayat of the same name. It is situated at the est ...

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

, he debuted with 2019 Malayalam movie ''

Thamaasha ''Thamaasha'' () is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by Ashraf Hamza and produced by Sameer Thahir, Shyju Khalid, Lijo Jose Pellissery and Chemban Vinod Jose.The film stars Vinay Forrt, Chinnu Chandni, Divya Prabha ...

''. His second directorial feature was ''

Bheemante Vazhi ''Bheemante Vazhi'' () is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Ashraf Hamza and written by Chemban Vinod Jose. It stars Kunchacko Boban and Megha Thomas, with Jose, Jinu Joseph, Naseer Sankranthi, Divya M. Nair and Chin ...

'' (2021). He was the co-writer of 2022 movie ''

Thallumaala ''Thallumaala'' () is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Khalid Rahman, produced by Ashiq Usman and written by Muhsin Parari and Ashraf Hamza. The film stars Tovino Thomas, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Shine Tom Chacko and ...

.''

Early life

He was born in

, Kerala. His father owned a movie theatre named '''Alankar in Ponnani. Hamza said his enthusiasm in movies were developed from there, as he spent much of his holidays within the theatre. Some of his childhood experiences with the movie theatre were included in the movie ''

.''

Career

He started his career by directing a short film based on U. P. Jayaraj's short story '''Bihar. Later he directed some documentaries, short films and ad films. It was his friendship with director

Muhsin Parari Muhsin Parari, known professionally as Mu.Ri is an Indian film director, writer, producer and lyricist who works in Malayalam films. Career He started his career by directing the music album ''Native Bapa'' (2012), in which actor Mamukkoya pl ...

that led to the possibility of doing a feature-length project. He was approached by Muhsin to write a movie after Muhsin's directorial debut '' KL 10 Patthu'' was failed to perform in box office, but the project was shelved (this was later turned out to be the 2022 movie ''

''). He was asked by

Lijo Jose Pellissery Lijo Jose Pellissery (born 18 September 1978) is an Indian filmmaker and actor who works in Malayalam cinema. His best works include ''Amen'' (2013), '' Angamaly Diaries'' (2017), '' Ee.Ma.Yau.'' (2018), ''Jallikattu'' (2019), '' Churuli'' (202 ...

and

Chemban Vinod Jose Chemban Vinod Jose (born 24 May 1976) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter, who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He is a physiotherapist by profession.Ondu Motteya Kathe ''Ondu Motteya Kathe'' () is a 2017 Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant Raj B. Shetty who also appears in the lead role, along with Usha Bhandary, Shailashree, Prakash Tuminadu, Amrutha Naik, Shreya Anchan, D ...

''. Ashraf Hamza approached

Sameer Thahir Sameer C. Thahir (born 7 November 1976) is an Indian cinematography, cinematographer, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and film director, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He is a graduate of Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, Mahar ...

and

Shyju Khalid Shyju Khalid is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who works in Malayalam films. Shyju Khalid made his debut as cinematographer with ''Traffic'' (2011). His notable works are '' 22 Female Kottayam'' (2012), '' Idukki Gold'' ...

with this project and they agreed to produce the movie along with Lijo Jose Pellissery and Chemban Vinod Jose. The project was conceived under the title ''

'' and Sameer Thahir handled the cinematography with

Vinay Forrt Vinay Kumar (born 13 January 1983), professionally credited as Vinay Forrt is an Indian film and stage actor. He is from Fort Kochi, Kerala and has a postgraduate in acting from Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, India. He made hi ...

and Chinnu Chandni in lead roles. The movie was released on 19 June 2019 to critical acclaim. His second directorial feature was ''

'', which was released in December 2021.

Chemban Vinod Jose Chemban Vinod Jose (born 24 May 1976) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter, who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He is a physiotherapist by profession.Kunchacko Boban Kunchacko Boban (born 2 November 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is referred to as Chackochan, and during the early 2000s, he was called "chocolate boy" because of his romantic image. He ...

as the lead. The movie was a moderate box office success and won critical acclaim. ''

'', his writing collaboration with

was released in August 2022 and turned out to be one of the

highest grossing Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is a part of Indian cinema, based in Kerala and dedicated to the production of films in the Malayalam-language. This ranking lists the highest-grossing Malayalam films based on conservative global box office estimates as report ...

. His third movie as a director is '' Sulaikha Manzil'' with

Lukman Avaran Lukman Avaran (born 22 May 1990) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Malayalam cinema. His debut film is '' Dayom Panthrandum'' (2013) was the first theatre-released film in his career. Lukman acted the lead role in the film '' Operation J ...

and

Anarkali Marikar Anarkali Marikar is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. Early life Anarkali was born to Nias Marikar and Lali P. M. Her father is a photographer and mother is an actress. She has an elder sister na ...

in lead roles. The movie was released in April 2023.

Filmography

Trivia

* Ashraf Hamza introduced

as a lyricist. Muhsin was asked to complete the lines of ''Paadi Njan'', an incomplete Mappilappaattu written by

Pulikkottil Hyder Pulath Pulikkottil Hyder (born in 1879 at Wandoor) was a popular poet who composed short songs in Arabi-Malayalam on topics of common interest, often attacking social evils. His simple lyrics on ordinary life of the Mappilas defied the traditional ...

into a full-length song for the movie ''

''. Later on Muhsin Parari wrote all the songs in all of Ashraf Hamza's movies. * All of Ashraf Hamza's movies were shot in and around his hometown

. Except for ''

'', the plots were also set in Ponnani. *

Chemban Vinod Jose Chemban Vinod Jose (born 24 May 1976) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter, who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He is a physiotherapist by profession.Khalid Rahman Khalid Rahman is an Indian film director and actor who works in the Malayalam film Industry. He made his debut directorial with the film '' Anuraga Karikkin Vellam''. His other works include '' Unda'', ''Love'' and ''Thallumaala''. Family No ...

and another person was arrested from an Apartment nearby Goshree Bridge, Kochi by Excise Department for possession of 1.63 grams of Hybrid Cannabis.

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, id=10622004, name=Ashraf Hamza Malayalam film directors Malayali people Film directors from Malappuram district Living people Indian Muslims Year of birth missing (living people) Artists from Kerala