Rahul Riji Nair

Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, is where Rahul Riji Nair worked, first as a software engineer and later as a marketing manager, before entering cinema as a self-taught filmmaker. Born in Kollam on 21 March 1988, the Malayalam director, writer, producer and actor went to SN Trusts Central School in the same town and finished an engineering degree at Amrita School of Engineering in 2009. In 2011 he set up First Print Studios, where he is CEO. Early independent work included the documentary The Human Boundaries (2012) and Mounam Sollum Varthaigal, a Tamil music video that crossed 25 million views. His debut feature, Ottamuri Velicham, which he also scripted and produced, took four Kerala State Film Awards in 2017, Best Feature Film among them. His third feature, Kalla Nottam, was named Best Malayalam Film at the 67th National Film Awards. The 26th Kolkata International Film Festival gave his work its Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award, and the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart honoured him with its German Star of India Award. His mainstream films are Kho-Kho (2021), Keedam (2022) and Jai Mahendran (2024), and he was behind some of the earliest Malayalam originals on Disney+ Hotstar and Sony LIV. His company distributes films under the name FPS Box office. On Kappi Squad, a 2026 Malayalam series, he is one of the producers and also plays Joy Pallipuram.