V. A. Shrikumar
Born
V. A. Shrikumar Menon

Palakkad, Kerala, India[1]
Occupations
Years active1993–present
SpouseSharmila[1]
Children1 [1]

V. A. Shrikumar is an Indian ad film, feature film director and businessman.[2][3] He has directed more than 400 commercials for various brands. He is the chairman and managing director of Push Integrated Communications, a marketing company.[1] He directed his debut feature film Odiyan in 2018. Despite mixed reviews, it was a major commercial success at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.[4][5][3] Before the arrival of K.G.F: Chapter 2, Odiyan was the holder of the first day's highest box office opener in Kerala, by collecting more than 7 crores.[6][7][8]

Family

V. A. Shrikumar was born in Puthur, Palakkad in Kerala, India. He studied bachelor of commerce (B.Com.) from Government Victoria College, Palakkad and master of commerce (M.Com.) from NSS College, Ottapalam. He married his college junior Sharmila.[1] They have a daughter, Lakshmi Shrikumar, born in 1995.[9]

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 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.[10] When the brand began making its mark outside Kerala, Shrikumar shot ads with Prabhu in Tamil Nadu, Nagarjuna in Andhra Pradesh and Shiva Rajkumar in Karnataka.[11][12] 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.[13][14][15]

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.[16] Of the lot, four were shot by Director Priyadarsan and the rest by Shrikumar. He has also worked with Priyadarsan for the promotional video of the Kerala IPL team, Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Shrikumar has worked with Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for Prime Meridian, a luxury property developer based in Kochi.[17]

His clients include Wrangler Jeans,[18] Sobha Ltd., Nilgiris 1905, Malayala Manorama,[19] Prime Meridian, Meriiboy,[20] 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 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.[21] The film was to be produced by B. R. Shetty on a budget of ₹10 billion (US$150 million), making it the costliest film ever made in India. Made in two parts and to be shot in multiple languages including English, filming was planned to start by September 2018 for a release in early 2020.[22][23][24][25][26] However, due to the creative differences, Shrikumar and M. T. Vasudevan Nair parted ways.

In 2017, he announced that his directorial debut would be Odiyan starring Mohanlal.[27] Odiyans are a legend in Kerala folklore, who can assume animal form by shapeshifting.[28][29] It was scripted by Harikrishnan and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas, released in 2018.[30] Despite mixed reviews, it was a major commercial success at the box office which was to be one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.[4] Before the arrival of K.G.F: Chapter 2, Odiyan was the holder of the first day's highest box office opener in Kerala for more than 3 years, by collecting more than ₹ 7 crores.[6][7][8]

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 ₹1 billion in production and distribution of films in four South Indian languages in 2018. The consortium also aims at building multiplex theatres in selected cities.[31][32]

Filmography

In the media

Odiyan backlash

Odiyan was a much awaited movie by Mohanlal fans. The movie had a huge hype with the with Mohanlal having a makeover for the movie. But the hype didn't translate into success for the movie, which did not live up to the expectations of the audience. With this, many on social media came out against director Sreekumar Menon. What he said in a way that created a lot of hype before the film was released became a troll on social media. With this, he came on the scene saying that there was an organized attack[33] on Odiyan and that he was trying to destroy the film by making fake IDs.[34]

V A Shrikumar and Manju Warrier

The controversy between actress Manju Warrier and Shrikumar Menon happened in late 2019. Manju, who has been out of cinema for 14 years, made her acting debut in 2013 with VA Shrikumar Menon, who ran an advertising agency called Push Integrated Communications Pvt. Manju also starred in several commercials made by him. But when Odiyan did not gain the acceptance of the audience, Shrikumar came up with the allegation that Manju did not stand by him. Manju Warrier said that she was facing threats from Shrikumar[35] and that he was using the letterhead and documents she had signed for of1ficial purposes without her knowledge or consent and was spreading slanderous propaganda against her on social media.[36] A complaint was lodged against Shrikumar. Following Manju's complaint, a raid was carried out on Shrikumar's house in Palakkad.[37] Director Shrikumar Menon was then arrested but released on bail soon.[38][39]

M T Vasudevan and Shrikumar

In 2014, M.T.Vasudevan Nair and Shrikumar signed an agreement to make Randamoozham. The agreement was to complete the film within three years. However, Sreekumar Menon had approached the MT court seeking an injunction restraining him from making the movie as the it did not materialize even after the deadline. The Supreme Court ruled that the script should be returned to MT himself and Shrikumar Menon's advance of Rs 1.25 crore should be returned.[40][41][42]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 M., Athira (3 October 2012). "In the big league". The Hindu.
  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 "Randamoozham: Mohanlal to play Bhima in Rs 1000 cr film on The Mahabharata". Hindustan Times. 18 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 Narayanan, Nirmal (27 December 2018). "Mollywood 2018: List of top 5 blockbusters that stormed box office". International Business Times. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  5. ↑ Sethi, Nidhi (17 April 2017). "1,000 Crores For India's Priciest Film. Funded By Indian in Middle East". NDTV.
  6. 1 2 "'KGF: Chapter 2' - 7.48 crores". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. 1 2 "IMDB : Top 10 First Day Collections In Kerala". IMDb. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Top 10 Highest First Day Collection Records In Kerala Boxoffice!". topmovierankings.com. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  9. ↑ തങ്ങൾ, ശിഹാബുദ്ദീൻ. "അച്ഛന്റെ സിനിമയ്ക്ക് പാട്ടെഴുതിയ ലക്ഷ്മി; ഹിറ്റ് ഗാനങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് പിറകിലെ കോളേജ്‌ വിദ്യാര്‍ഥിനി". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "Kalyan Jewellers chalks out Rs. 1,000-cr expansion plans".
  11. ↑ "Nagarjuna is brand ambassador for Kalyan Jewellers".
  12. ↑ "Nagarjuna opens Kalyan Jewellers showroom today".
  13. ↑ "Sushmita Sen, Kalyan's brand ambassador".
  14. ↑ "Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prabhu, Manju Warrier Inaugurate Jewellery Showrooms in Kerala".
  15. ↑ "Sonam Kapoor replaces Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the new face of Kalyan Jewellers".
  16. ↑ "Manappuram Finance to spend Rs. 100 cr on ad campaign".
  17. ↑ "Property developer Prime Meridian ropes in Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador".
  18. ↑ "Push Integrated bags Wrangler's creative duties". Campaign India. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  19. ↑ "Push Integrated Communications wins creative mandate for Malayala Manorama TV channels". bestmediaifo.com. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  20. ↑ "An Ice Cream Stick that is Trending Online". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  21. ↑ "Randamoozham: Mohanlal to play Bhima in Rs 1000 cr film on The Mahabharata". Hindustan Times. 18 April 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  22. ↑ Suri, Manveena (19 April 2017). "'Randamoozham': India to produce its most expensive film ever". CNN.
  23. ↑ Mumford, Gwilym (19 April 2017). "Mahabharata epic set to become India's most expensive movie ever". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ "India's Most Expensive Film, 'Randamoozham ', Is Being Produced by a UAE Businessman". HuffPost. Press Trust of India. 17 April 2017.
  25. ↑ "V A Shrikumar Menon to direct 'Mahabharata' film".
  26. ↑ "Mohanlal's Mahabharatha to be most expensive Indian movie at Rs 1,000 crore".
  27. ↑ Suresh, Meera (26 March 2017). "Odiyan will be a landmark in Mohanlal's illustrious career". The New Indian Express.
  28. ↑ Misra, Tishya (29 March 2017). "Odiyan: Mohanlal To Share Screen Space With Prakash Raj After 20 Years". NDTV.
  29. ↑ "Odiyan: Mohanlal to team up with Manju Warrier for Odiyan".
  30. ↑ "Most expensive Malayalam film 'Odiyan' to tell untold story". The New Indian Express. Press Trust of India. 29 March 2017.
  31. ↑ Kumar, V. Sajeev (18 January 2018). "Push Comm, AEON team up to make, distribute films". Business Line. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  32. ↑ "Joint Venture firm to invest Rs 100 crore in entertainment sector in South India". The Economic Times. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  33. ↑ "Odiyan director VA Shrikumar Menon on negative reviews: Many are targeting us". India Today. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  34. ↑ "Paid gang behind criticism: 'Odiyan' director VA Shrikumar alleges conspiracy". The News Minute. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  35. ↑ "Shrikumar Menon had issued threats to me: Manju Warrier's statement to police". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  36. ↑ "Manju Warrier files complaint against Shrikumar Menon alleging danger to life". The News Minute. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  37. ↑ "Manju Warrier's complaint: Crime Branch raids VA Shrikumar's office, house". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  38. ↑ "Director VA Shrikumar arrested, let off on bail after Manju Warrier's complaint". The News Minute. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  39. ↑ "Shrikumar Menon held, released". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  40. ↑ "'Randamoozham': Shrikumar Menon won't make movie, MT to retain movie rights". The News Minute. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  41. ↑ Kumar, P. k Ajith (12 October 2020). "Legal battle over, MT gets Randamoozham script back". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  42. ↑ Kumar, P. k Ajith (18 September 2020). "End in sight to Randamoozham's legal issues". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
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