
KOCHI: Director Shafi, who was admitted to a private hospital in Kochi after suffering a stroke, passed away in the early hours of Sunday. He was 56. Having been on ventilator support from January 16, he breathed his last at 12.25am.
Shafi entered the Malayalam film industry in 1995 through Aadyathe Kanmani, assisting screenwriter duo Rafi-Meccartin and director Rajasenan. He worked as an assistant director for a few movies before becoming an independent director.
In the past three decades, he has written and directed more than 20 films. Shafi had a strong film background as his elder brother, Rafi, and uncle, Siddique, were in the film industry.
In 2001, he made his directorial debut through the film One man Show starring Jayaram, Lal, and Samyukta Varma.
Shafi (Rasheed), who is best known for directing entertainers, never failed to make his audience laugh and came up with films which have repeat value. Borne of his craft, Ramankutty in Kalyanaraman (2002), Shiva and Sathyan in Thommanum Makkalum (2005), and Ullas and Laya in Two Countries were all characters with innocence and goodness. The scriptwriter for most of his films was Benny P Nayarambalam.
Most of his films were set in villages, with several characters. With action sequences and humorous dialogues, his characters, Dashamoolam Damu of Chattambinadu (2009), Manavalan and Dharmendran of Pulivaal Kalyanam (2003), Jose of Marykkundoru Kunjaadu (2010) are still celebrated on social media for the humour they delivered. He gifted Malayalis a slew of films that could be watched again and evoked laughter. He also directed a Tamil movie, Maja, in 2005, with Vikram in the lead.
With Venicile Vyapari with Mammootty and Kavya Madhavan in the lead in 2011, he also tried his hands at an action-romantic film. Anandam Paramanandam, starring Sharaf U Dheen, released in 2022, was his last Malayalam film.
Shafi is survived by wife Shameela and children Ameela Sherin and Salma Sherin.
Major films
1. One Man Show (2001)
2. Kalyanaraman (2002)
3. Pulival Kalyanam (2003)
4. Thommanum Makkalum (2005)
5. Mayavi (2007)
6. Chattambinadu (2009)
7. Marykkundoru Kunjaadu (2010)
8. Makeup Man (2011)
9. Venicile Vyapaari (2011)
10. Two Countries (2015)