Tharun Moorthy

Self-taught by his own description, Tharun Moorthy made his debut feature, Operation Java (2021), and saw it released in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, where it succeeded despite the slump in film revenue. Its story was prompted by the leak of Premam and the real investigation that followed, and he prepared by spending time with the police cybercrime division. The Malayalam director and screenwriter grew up performing in theatre and kathakali, worked as an assistant professor in computer science engineering and made television advertisements, which taught him how sets are built and how media production works. His father, he has said, was the first to push him towards writing scripts. Saudi Vellakka, his second film, looked at how hatred passed between people changes the way they see each other. It grew out of a real case he came across in a newspaper clipping, and he and his team attended court sessions for several weeks to shape the courtroom scenes. About 50 of its actors were new to film, which reflects his habit of deciding on his characters first and leaving the casting director to find the faces. The film was selected for the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2022. He then directed Mohanlal in Thudarum (2025).