V. A. Shrikumar Menon

V. A. Shrikumar Menon
Born 1964
Palakkad, Kerala, India[1]
Nationality Indian
Occupation
  • Film director
  • businessman
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s) Sharmila[1]
Children Lakshmi[1]

V. A. Shrikumar Menon is an Indian advertisement and feature film director.[2][3] He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Push Integrated Communications, a company that provides services such as business consulting, branding, advertisement, corporate events, and public relations among others. He has directed more than 400 ad films for various brands.[1] He is making his feature film directorial debut with the upcoming Malayalam film Odiyan, to be released in 2018. He is set to direct India's most expensive film based on the novel Randamoozham, to be released in 2020.[4][3]

Personal life

V. A. Shrikumar Menon was born in a well-known family at Puthur, Palakkad in Kerala, India, in 1963. He studied B.com and MA Advertising Practice from Bath Spa University. He married his college time junior, Sharmila.[1] They have a daughter named Lakshmi, born in 1995.

Career

In 1993 Shrikumar ventured into the field of entrepreneurship by starting an advertising agency, Colours of the World. But within one year, a big client of him got into trouble with the law and he was left with debts running to the tune of crores of rupees. It took him nearly 13 years to get out of it. Shrikumar's meeting with Ramesh Kalyanaraman, executive director, Kalyan Jewellers, to sponsor a programme at the Devi temple in Puthur, was a turning point. With Ramesh Kalyanaraman's father T.S. Kalyanaraman, also the chairman and managing director of Kalyan Jewellers’ support, Shrikumar got back to advertising.

Shrikumar Menon started Push Integrated Communications Pvt Ltd in the year 2000. Mammootty was the Kalyan Jewellers brand ambassador for a campaign about the (BIS) mark in gold jewellery, Shrikumar made the BIS hallmark focus of several other brands within a few years.[5] When the brand began making its mark outside Kerala, Shrikumar shot ads with Prabhu in Tamil Nadu, Akkineni Nagarjuna in Andhra Pradesh and Shiva Rajkumar in Karnataka.[6][7] The ads about price tag featuring Cochin Haneefa and the ‘Trust’ campaign “Vishwasam Athalle Ellam” series, which was chosen the TV Campaign of the Year at the Retail Jeweller India Awards 2012, got him noticed. Messages against malpractice in purchase of gold were addressed across all markets in the South through regional ambassadors. The one in Malayalam featured Dileep. When it came to focusing on products, the brand chose Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and recently Sonam Kapoor.[8][9][10]

Directing ads for Manappuram Finance and Kalyan Jewellers made Shrikumar Popular. He created advertisements with Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Manju Warrier and many other popular actors. It was the first time that four South Indian actors – Nagarjuna, Shivarajkumar, Prabhu and Dileep – came together for one television commercial shot in four languages, with Mr.Bachchan as the common factor in all the four. The ad shot for Manappuram Finance was made in 12 languages with eight brand ambassadors – Mohanlal, Akshay Kumar, Vikram, Daggubati Venkatesh, Puneeth Rajkumar, Uttam Mohanty, Mithun Chakraborthy and Sachin Khedekar.[11] Of the lot, four were shot by Director Priyadarsan and the rest by Shrikumar Menon. He has also worked with Priyadarsan for the promotional video of the Kerala IPL team, Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Shrikumar Menon has worked with Sachin Tendulkar for Prime Meridian, a Luxury property developer based in Kochi.[12]

His clients include Wrangler Jeans, Sobha Ltd., Nilgiris 1905, Prime Meridian, Meriiboy, Kalanikethan, A 1, Kaleeswari Refineries, AVT, Annapoorna, Amrita institutions, Kalyan Developers, Cellcom, Eazi Pens and Trinity Eye Care among others.

Feature films

In 2017, it was announced that Menon would be directing the film adaptation of M. T. Vasudevan Nair's novel Randamoozham, which is based on the Indian epic Mahabharata, starring Mohanlal in the lead role of Bhima.[3] The film is being produced by UAE-based businessman and philanthropist B. R. Shetty on an investment of ₹1000 crore (USD 150 million), making it the costliest film ever made in India. It will be made in two parts with filming scheduled to start by September 2018 for a release in early 2020. The second part will be released within 90 days after the first. The film will be shot in English as well as in other regional Indian languages and will be dubbed into other foreign languages.[13][14][15][16][17]

Later in 2017, he announced that his directorial debut would be Odiyan starring Mohanlal in the lead role.[18][2] Odiyans are a legend in Kerala folklore, who can assume animal form by shapeshifting. The film is set against the backdrop of the Odiyan community and the myth around them. The film also stars Manju Warrier and Prakash Raj.[19][20] It is scripted by Harikrishnan and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas, which is expected to release in 2018.[21] In January 2018, Push Integrated Communications joined with Aeon Infrastructure to launch Push Aeon Consortium, a consortium joining newly formed Push Motion Picture Company and Aeon Entertainment. Together, they aims at investing ₹100 crore in production and distribution of films in four South Indian languages in 2018. The consortium also aims at building multiplex theatres in selected cities.[22][23]

Filmography

Year Title Language(s) Notes
2018 Odiyan Malayalam

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 M., Athira (3 October 2012). "In the big league". The Hindu.
  2. 1 2 U. R., Arya (30 March 2017). "Odiyan will be the finest film in Mohanlal's acting career: VA Shrikumar Menon". The Times of India.
  3. 1 2 3 Menon, Vishal (17 April 2017). "Mohanlal will be Bheema in 'Mahabharatha'". The Hindu.
  4. ↑ Sethi, Nidhi (17 April 2017). "1,000 Crores For India's Priciest Film. Funded By Indian In Middle East". NDTV.
  5. ↑ "Kalyan Jewellers chalks out Rs. 1,000-cr expansion plans".
  6. ↑ "Nagarjuna is brand ambassador for Kalyan Jewellers".
  7. ↑ "Nagarjuna opens Kalyan Jewellers showroom today".
  8. ↑ "Sushmita Sen, Kalyan's brand ambassador".
  9. ↑ "Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prabhu, Manju Warrier Inaugurate Jewellery Showrooms in Kerala".
  10. ↑ "Sonam Kapoor replaces Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the new face of Kalyan Jewellers".
  11. ↑ "Manappuram Finance to spend Rs. 100 cr on ad campaign".
  12. ↑ "Property developer Prime Meridian ropes in Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador".
  13. ↑ Suri, Manveena (19 April 2017). "'Randamoozham': India to produce its most expensive film ever". CNN.
  14. ↑ Mumford, Gwilym (19 April 2017). "Mahabharata epic set to become India's most expensive movie ever". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ "India's Most Expensive Film, 'Randamoozham ', Is Being Produced By A UAE Businessman". Huffington post. Press Trust of India. 17 April 2017.
  16. ↑ "V A Shrikumar Menon to direct 'Mahabharata' film".
  17. ↑ "Mohanlal's Mahabharatha to be most expensive Indian movie at Rs 1,000 crore".
  18. ↑ Suresh, Meera (26 March 2017). "Odiyan will be a landmark in Mohanlal's illustrious career". The New Indian Express.
  19. ↑ Misra, Tishya (29 March 2017). "Odiyan: Mohanlal To Share Screen Space With Prakash Raj After 20 Years". NDTV.
  20. ↑ "Odiyan: Mohanlal to team up with Manju Warrier for Odiyan".
  21. ↑ "Most expensive Malayalam film 'Odiyan' to tell untold story". The New Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 29 March 2017.
  22. ↑ Kumar, V. Sajeev (18 January 2018). "Push Comm, AEON team up to make, distribute films". Business Line. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  23. ↑ "Joint Venture firm to invest Rs 100 crore in entertainment sector in South India". The Economic Times. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.