Raja Krishna Menon

Summary

Raja Krishna Menon is an Indian film writer, director and producer. He started as an advertisement director and later moved to feature films. He has directed five Bollywood films. His film Chef[1][2][3][4] was released on 7 October 2017.[citation needed]

Raja Krishna Menon
Menon, IFFI (2008)
Born
NationalityIndian
EducationBachelor of Science (Chemistry)
Alma mater
Occupations
Parents

Early life and background edit

Menon was born in Thrissur, Kerala and brought up in Bangalore. He is the son of Malayalam actor T. P. Madhavan. He spent a major part of his childhood in Kerala. He studied at The Valley School and finished a Bachelors in Science (BSc) degree with a Chemistry Major from Christ College, Bangalore. Although a science student, Menon was involved in creative pursuits throughout college. He was a debater, quizzer, and writer and won many college festival competitions[which?].

Career edit

On receiving his degree, Menon assisted D. Radhakrishnan, an ad film director and still photographer. He moved to Mumbai in 1993 and by 1996, was managing the business for writer/director Sanjeev Khamgaonkar. Towards the end of 1996, Menon went independent, working out of an office that director Mukul Anand gave him. He started editing commercials and got into the business of creating trailers for Bollywood films, shooting and creating trailers that were not just an edit of the film footage. His early films included Raja Hindustani, Army and Loafer. Menon then moved on to advertisement commercials and has made over 300 commercials till date.

In 2003, Menon wrote, directed and produced his first feature film titled Bas Yun Hi starring Purab Kohli and Nandita Das. He continued with advertising from 2003 – 2008. In 2009 he wrote, produced and directed his second feature film Barah Aana starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Raaz, and Italian actress Violante Placido. The film was a critical success.[citation needed] Barah Aana was selected in international film festivals, including the Chicago International Film Festival.

Post these films he continued to produce commercials and documentaries for Oglivy, JWT, Creative Land Asia, BBH, and Ulka in partnership with Janani Ravichandran under their banner ‘Bandra West Pictures’.[citation needed]

Menon's third film Airlift was released on 22 January, 2016 starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrit Kaur in the lead. The film received critical acclaim and box office success.[5]

He is committed to direct Shahid Kapoor in the yet untitled Dingko Singh's biopic.[6]

Filmography edit

Year Film Director Writer Producer Notes
2003 Bas Yun Hi Yes Yes Yes
2009 Barah Aana Yes Yes Yes
2016 Airlift Yes Yes
2017 Chef Yes Yes
2023 Pippa Yes Yes Completed[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "Raja Krishna Menon: Akshay Kumar would call me at 5 am for narrations". mid-day. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. ^ Anuj Kumar (24 January 2016). "The force behind the lift". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Airlift: Review; Akshay Kumar superlative as action hero, but Raja Krishna Menon outdoes all - The Financial Express". The Financial Express. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Airlift box office collections: Akshay Kumar starrer's total take rises to Rs 138.15 cr, but film hit by slowdown - The Financial Express". The Financial Express. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  5. ^ Mike McCahill (25 January 2016). "Airlift review – India's historic Kuwait evacuation retold as a one-man mission". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. ^ Coutinho, Natasha (20 February 2019). "Shahid Kapoor turns producer with Dingko Singh biopic". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  7. ^ "First Look At Ishaan Khatter In Indo-Pakistan War Pic 'Pippa'". Deadline.com. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.

External links edit

  • Raja Krishna Menon at IMDb
  • Raja Krishna Menon on ‘Airlift’, Akshay Kumar and the biggest human evacuation in history