John Paul, the veteran Malayalam scenarist, died at a private hospital in Kochi on Saturday. He was 71.
According to reports, Paul was undergoing treatment over the last few months for undisclosed health issues. Despite initial signs of improvement, his condition deteriorated on Friday and he breathed his last on Saturday afternoon around 1 pm.
Paul was born on October 29, 1950, in Kerala. In his initial years, he was an active member in film societies and also worked as a freelance journalist. In addition to this, he wrote screenplays for short films and advertisements. In 1972, he joined Canara bank as an employee. Later, in 1983, he quit his banking profession to focus fully on films.
Having written nearly 100 films over the course of his career, Paul was best known for his work in the 1980s and early 1990s. Some of his popular films include Chamaram (1980), Marmaram (1981), Vida Parayum Munpe (1981), Ormakkayi (1981), Asthram (1983), Yathra (1985), Chamayam (1993), Aksharam (1995) and Vellathooval (2009).
Paul was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Bharathan.
Apart from writing screenplays, Paul also produced the film Oru Cheru Punchiri (2000), which was directed by MT Vasudevan Nair. The film went on to win state, national, and international awards.
Paul acted alongside Manju Warrier in the film C/O Sairabanu (2017) and with Mammootty in Gangster (2014). He also founded MACTA, an association for film technicians.
Many actors and technicians from the Malayalam film industry, including actors Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathy Thiruvothu, and Navya Nair, took to social media to pay tribute to the late writer.
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In an Instagram post, actor Kunchacko Boban wrote, “Your voice and words will be sorely missed…but your creations will speak volumes for what you have done for the film fraternity and literature!” He also recalled Paul’s love for his (Boban’s) father and their family production house Udaya.
Condoling the writer’s demise, actor Manju Warrier mentioned in a social media post that she had recently visited Paul at the hospital.
Paul’s body will be kept at Ernakulam town hall and Chavara cultural centre on Sunday morning for the public to pay their homage. His funeral will be held on Sunday evening at Elamkulam church.
Paul is survived by his wife Aisha Elizabeth and daughter Jisha Jibi.