Mammootty Times's video: Director Priyadarshan Talks about Mammootty Mammootty Times

Editing: Hadiq Rahman Program Cord: FAZAL RAHMAN, PRAVEEN KUMAR Studio: Proxima Entertainments Priyadarshan (born Priyadarshan Soman Nair; 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning over three decades, he has directed more than 95 films in various Indian languages, predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi, while also having done six films in Tamil and two in Telugu. He has done about 26 films in Hindi alone, the highest number of films done by any Bollywood director after David Dhawan.Priyadarshan was one of the first directors in India to introduce rich color grading, clear sound and quality dubbing through his early Malayalam films. Priyadarshan began his career in Malayalam cinema in the early 1980s and was active throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Towards 2000s, he moved to Bollywood (Hindi-language cinema) and remained active throughout the decade. In 2013, he announced that Rangrezz would be his last Hindi film for a while and shifted focus to Malayalam cinema. Best known for his comedy films, Priyadrshan has also experimented with some action, thriller and period films. His collaborations with Mohanlal were highly popular in Malayalam cinema during the 1980s and 1990s, with most notable films being Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, Thalavattam, Vellanakalude Nadu, Chithram, Vandanam, Kilukkam, Abhimanyu, Mithunam, Thenmavin Kombath, Kala Pani, and Chandralekha. Other Malayalam actors he frequently collaborated with are: Shankar, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Sankaradi, M.G. Soman, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Nedumudi Venu, Sreenivasan, Sukumari, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Shobhana, KPAC Lalitha, Revathi, Lissy, Cochin Haneefa, Maniyanpilla Raju, Mukesh, Jagadeesh, C.I. Paul, Vineeth, Ganesh and Mammukoya. He is known for adapting stories from Malayalam films into Bollywood, from his own work as well as other films. Most notable such Bollywood films include Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala, Bhagam Bhag, Chup Chup Ke, Dhol, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa. His multiple collaborations in Hindi include Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Pooja Batra, Amrish Puri, Johny Lever, Asrani, Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, Om Puri, Tinnu Anand, Shakti Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Sharat Saxena, Arbaaz Khan, Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty. In 2007, his Tamil film Kanchivaram won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. In 2012, the Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award for his contribution towards the arts. Priyadarshan has also directed many advertisement films. His most popular commercials are for Coca-Cola, American Express, Nokia, Parker Pens, Asian Paints, Kinley and Max New York Life Insurance. Personal life Priyadarshan is the elder one of the two children of late Soman Nair and late Rajamma, born at his mother's home in Ambalapuzha in Alappuzha district on 30 January 1957. He has a younger sister. He fell in love with popular actress Lissy and married her on 13 December 1990. The couple got divorced in 2016. Actress Kalyani Priyadarshan is their daughter. Film career Main article: Priyadarshan filmography Feature films Priyadarshan has been working since 40 years in Indian cinema as a director and screenwriter. He has directed over 90 Films in 4 Indian languages namely, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi & Telugu. Early work Born in Alleppy, Kerala, India on 30 January 1957 as the son of Soman Nair and Rajamma. His house was in Ambalappuzha, Alappuzha. Priyadarshan received his education at Government Model School, Trivandrum and obtained a Master of Arts in Philosophy from University College Trivandrum. His father was a college librarian, it helped Priyadarshan to develop interest in books. He was a voracious reader during his teenage years, and during his study in college he started writing short plays and skits for All India Radio. He was influenced by the films of director P. Venu. His friends in those days included Mohanlal, M. G. Sreekumar, Suresh Kumar, Sanal Kumar, Jagadish, Maniyanpilla Raju and Ashok Kumar. It was then that Mohanlal entered in films. His friends followed him to Chennai, looking for a chance in films. Priyadarshan, with the help of Mohanlal, got a few chances to work as an assistant scriptwriter in a couple of films and started writing scripts, with some turning into success. Eventually, he had to come back to Kerala.