Ousepachan Valakuzhy

Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy, Born on the 15th of January 1958 in Alappuzha district of Kerala, Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy is the youngest child of O.Eapen Valakuzhy (Founder, M.D of Seasia Bank) and Rosamma Eapen. Ousepachan's mother Rosamma Eapen belongs to Maliyil family Edathua. O.Eapen was the youngest brother of Joseph Mar Severios, who was a Bishop from 1933 and later became Archbishop of Thiruvalla (1950-55). He was the leader of the reunion movement of the Malankara Catholic Church.Seasia Bank was one of the first few banks in Alappuzha which later amalgamated with Eastern Midland Bank and became Seasia Midland Bank which later merged with Canara Bank.^[1]

Ousepachan did his schooling at Leo XIII High School, Alappuzha and graduated in Zoology from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram. Later he did his articleship in Chartered Accountancy. His introduction to the stage was at the young age of nine (1967) when he acted as a woman named Ponnamma in his first stage drama titled ‘Nee Velichamaanu’ (You are light) in Alappuzha. His performance was well received and was again roped into play another female character in the stage play named Sabarmathi Dooreyaanu(Sabarmathi is Far) in the following year.

Career

Ousepachan started his cinema career as an assistant director in the year 1983 for the movie Eettillam, directed by Fazil. In 1984 he jointly produced the Mohanlal starrer Nokketha Dhoorathu Kannum Nattu with Fazil for which the latter wielded the megaphone. Nadia Moidu made her debut in cinema with this movie. This film also featured Bollywood dancer/actress Padmini after a long gap. After running successfully for more than 200 days in Kerala, this film was remade in Tamil ‘Poove Poochooda Vaa’ in 1985 and in Telugu ‘MuddulaManavaraalu’. Selected in the Indian Panorama section in 1986 Nokketha Dhoorathu Kannum Nattu won the year’s State Award for ‘Aesthetic Quality and Popular Appeal’

In 1988, Ousepachan again teamed with Fazil to produce the evergreen Kakkothikkavile Appooppan Thaadikal with Revathi and Ambika in the lead roles. It was Kamal's second directorial venture. This movie introduced actress Kaveri who later gained popularity in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. The movie also marked a turning point in Revathy’s acting career. The very same year Ousepachan and Fazil produced their first Tamil movie Varusham Padhinaaru. This was a blockbuster and was the launch vehicle for Kushboo who went on to reign the Tamil film industry during the end of the 80s and 90s.

The Ousepachan-Fazil producer duo made ‘Ramjirao Speaking’ in 1989. The movie marked the directorial debut of Siddique–Lal who went on to become trendsetters in Malayalam film industry. Later, this movie was remade in Hindi as Hera Pheri by Priyadarshan. Over the years it has become a cult classic. It was voted as the best Bollywood comedy film of all time in an online poll conducted by The Indian Express. Paresh Rawal won the best comedian award in Filmfare, IIFA, and Star Screen Awards. The same movie was remade in Tamil as ‘Arangetra Velai’ by Fazil. Later Siddique became a busy director in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. In 2013 he directed Salman Khan's Body Guard. Lal later changed to becoming an actor/director. Sai Kumar debuted through this film and it was Rekhas first entry into Malayalam. This film ran for more than 300 days in Kerala which was a record in the Malayalam film industry.

He went on to produce ‘Ee Kanni Koodi’ in 1990 which was directed by KG George. This was the second movie of Rajan P Dev where he got his first full-length role. In 1991, Ousepachan produced ‘Swadhwanam’ which was special in many ways as it marked the debut of actress Meena in Malayalam Film Industry. It starred Suresh Gopi in the lead and was directed by Siby Malayil. Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, wife of Kannada superstar Vishnuvardhan, made her Malayalam debut with this film.

Actress Sukanya stepped into the Malayalam films with his next film ‘Sagaram Sakshi’ (1994) starring Mammootty, directed by Siby Malayil. In 1996 he produced the Mammootty starrer Hitler with Lal and Siddique in the director’s chair. This movie went on to break many collection records and is one of the highest grosser of all times. Ousepachan’s next was Karunyam, a family drama starring Jayaram, Murali in the year 1997. The film tasted success and was critically acclaimed. This is considered as one of the best films written & directed by Lohithadas. In 1998 he went on to produce ‘Ormacheppu’ and introduced Lal as the hero and Dilip as co-actor. This was Lohithadas’ third directorial movie.

‘Life is Beautiful’, a 2000 release and a Mohanlal starrer, was a family drama written & directed by Fazil. Actress/ director Geetu Mohandas was introduced through this film. This movie was co-produced and distributed by Ousepachan and Fazil. Ousepachan was active as a film distributor as well from the year 1998-2005 with ‘Passion of Christ’ (Mel Gibson movie) and ‘Friends’(co-producer) being a noted few. Friends were one of the highest grossing Malayalam movies of 1999. It was later remade into Tamil with Vijay and Surya in the lead with the same title. This was later remade into Telugu as Snehamante Idera (2001) and Odia as Dosti. In the year 2006, he produced and distributed Jayasurya starrer ‘Kerala House Udan Vilpanakku’, a comedy-drama directed by Thaha.

In 2016, he produced the magnum opus ‘King Liar’ starring Dilip under his production banner 'Ousepachan Movie House' The film also marked the return of writer-director duo Siddique-Lal after 23years.^[2] The upcoming film of Ousepachan Movie House is ‘Oru Adaar Love’, directed by Omar Lulu and is slated for release in 2018.^[3][4]

Personal life

Married to Mini Ousepachan alias Bindu Joseph, daughter of Thomas Mathew, Pullukattu family, Changanassery and Kunjujamma Mathew. Ousepachan and Mini were married on 4 June 1989 during the shoot of Ramjirao Speaking. Mini is a diamond jewelry designer who is the owner of Maria D Designs a diamond and antique jewelry firm. The couple has three children - Eapen Joseph, a professional at DXC Technology, Melbourne, Australia, Mathew Joseph alias Mathew Ousepachan and Thomas Joseph. Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy resides with his family in Palarivattom, Kochi, Kerala, India.

Positions Held

1.Vice President The Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce(2000-2002)

2.Secretary Kerala Film Producers association (2001-2003)

3.Founder Member & 1st Executive Director Dawn International School, Kochi

4. Executive Member Film Distributors Association (Kerala)2010-2013

References

External links

• Ousepachan Valakuzhy on IMDb