KOCHI: Seven films, 15 years! The stats may not hallow him as a hit maker, but Diphan will be cherished forever for his successful movie- ‘Puthiya Mukham’ (2009) which elevated Prithviraj to the pedestal of a young superstar. There is more to him than meets the eye.
Diphan aka Deepan, who breathed his last on Monday at a private Hospital in Kochi, was celebrated as a person who handled action genre with elan.
Diphan took the plunge into Malayalam filmdom with his directorial debut ‘Leader’ (2003). The movie, however, failed to ring the cash registers. Disappointed, Diphan took a sabbatical.
He later resumed his career as an associate director to filmmaker Shaji Kailas. On his second outing in 2009, Diphan made a mighty comeback into Mollywood through ‘Puthiya Mukham’, an instant hit. Diphan joined hands with Prithviraj again for ‘Hero’ (2012) which received a lukewarm response.
In December 2016, Diphan completed shooting of his last movie- ‘Sathya’- with Jayaram in the lead. The film scripted by A K Sajan is a thriller that underlines Diphan’s penchant for handling action-based plots. However, soon after the completion of the dubbing, he was hospitalised.
“Even as the shoot was in progress, illness had started to take its toll on Diphan. But the entire crew helped him to complete the project. He was later hospitalised during post production,” writer/director A K Sajan told ‘Express’.
He belongs to the Shaji Kailas school of filmmaking, recalled Sajan, who knew Diphan from his stint as an assistant director.
“Later, he worked as the chief associate director in ‘Chinthamani Kolacase’ directed by Shaji Kailas, based on my script. I had committed to write a script for him and that is how ‘Sathya’ happened,” Sajan said.
The DI and mixing of the film are progressing and Sathya is expected to hit the screens by the end of this month.
Diphan - a sad fade-out
Malayalam film director Diphan, 46, passed away at a private hospital here on Monday following kidney failure. Diphan, son of dubbing artist Anandavally and Chandrasekhara Pillai was a chief associate of director Shaji Kailas.
His debut as a director was in 2003 with the film ‘Leader’. Though the film did not fare well in the box office, Diphan made a come back six years later with ‘Puthiya Mukham’ which was a bumper hit.
The film released in 2009 also played a major role in making Prithviraj a superstar.His last film ‘Dolphin’ penned by Anoop Menon was a box office failure.
Hero, Gangs of Vadakkunnathan(in D-Company an anthology of short films) and SIM are his other films. His upcoming film is Sathya. He is survived by wife Deepa and sons Madhavan and Mahadevan. The funeral will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.