Shanavas Naranipuzha dead

Special Correspondent

Filmmaker Shanavas Naranipuzha died in Kochi late on Wednesday night. He was in his mid-thirties.

The director, who was admitted to a hospital in Coimbatore after collapsing while working on a script of a new film at Attappady in Palakkad a few days ago, was brought to Kochi on Wednesday night for treatment at a private hospital here.

The maker of the critically acclaimed film Karie, which was a darkly humorous take on caste oppression, and more recently, of Sufiyum Sujathayum, which early this year became the first Malayalam film to be released directly on an OTT platform, reportedly suffered a cardiogenic shock following which he was declared brain dead. The friends of the filmmaker, however, remained hopeful and thought it would be better to shift him to Kochi for further treatment.

While being brought to Kochi, he suffered another heart attack and attempts made to revive him did not succeed. He died at 10.20 p.m., an official said.

While rumour was rife in the morning of Shanavas’s demise, producer of the film actor Vijay Babu made a Facebook post saying that his heart was still beating and requested all to pray for him. Shanavas is survived by wife and a child. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the premature departure of the promising filmmaker.