Renjilal Damodaran


Renjilal Damodaran is an Indian filmmaker, scriptwriter, and producer. He has made films with contemporary social issues. He made his directorial debut in 2007 with his first Malayalam feature film  Ennittum. His second film was bilingual Naval Enna Jewel in Malayalam and Nawal the Jewel in English. For the film, N.G. Roshan was awarded Kerala State Award 2016 for the best makeup artist. The film received three Kerala State Film Critics Award 2017 for Best Makeup, Best Sound Design for Ranganath Ravee and Best Costume Design for S.B. Satheesh.

Early life

Renjilal Damodaran was born in a small village known as S.N.Puram, near Kottarakara, Kollam, in the state of Kerala, India. He was born to a teacher couple, Mr. R.Damodaran and  Mrs. K. Sarojini. He was educated in S.N.Puram Welfare School up to his fourth grade. He was also educated in Puthoor Government School and Kottarakara town U.P. School. He attended Sri Vidhyadhiraja Memorial Model High School, Vendar. He took part as an actor and performer in dramatics in his schools. He did his pre-graduation in D.B. College Sasthamkotta. He had won the titles of the best actor and performer, best story writer, best director and many awards for dramatics. In 1986 he was the best actor in Kerala University Intercollegiate level. In 1989 he was elected as the editor for the then published college magazine named ‘Sadhana 1989’. He was elected as the University Union Counsellor of D.B.College.
He completed his masters in Malayalam literature from S.N.College, Kollam with first class in 1992. In 1993 he completed journalism from public relations of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram. He wrote a column about Cinema in ‘Janayugam’ weekly. In 1995, he completed Mphil from the University of Madras, Department of Malayalam and his thesis was the first thesis subject about cinema in India.
In 1995 he started his film career as an assistant director, under Bhadran the leading director of the time. In 1996, he joined C.T.M.A College, Guindy, Chennai as a lecturer in the Malayalam language. Soon, he resigned his job and started his work as an associate director. He worked with Thampi Kannanthanam in 1996, then with director and cameraman Venu for the film Daya scripted by M.T.Vasudevan Nair, and starring Manju  Varrier in both male and female roles. It received four national awards.
In 1998, he worked with Bhadran for the film Olympian Antony Adam starring Mohanlal and Meena. Then he took a break from the film industry to establish his business firm Damu and Sons Sales Corporation, Kottarakkara, Kerala.
In 2006 he made his debut as a director with his feature film Ennittum starring Kaniha, Siddharth Bharathan, Swarnamalya, and Dinu Dennis. He was inactive in the film industry for some time until his second film Naval Enna Jewel which was bilingual starring Adhil Hussain, Shwetha Menon, Reem Khadem and Anu Sithara.

Personal life

In 1998, he married Rani Babu who is working as a lecturer in VHSE in D.V.V.H.S.S. Thalavoor. The couple have two children S.R.Kavyamayi who is a lyricist and R.D.Devamayan. He is an established businessman and film maker.

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer
2007EnnittumYesNoNo
2017Naval Enna JewelYesYesYes
2018Nawal the JewelYesYesYes

Awards
List of awards and nominations received by Renjilal Damodaran for the movie ‘Nawal the Jewel’.
Amsterdam International Film Makers Festival 2018Best ActressBest Music Score
Milan International Film Festival 2019Best FilmBest ActressBest Supporting Actress
Shimla International Film Festival 2018Best Film-Special Jury Award
Delhi International Film Festival 2018Best Festival Audience Choice FilmBest Actress
World Cinema of London 2019Best Film
Fusion International Film Festival 2019, LondonBest Music Score
Boston International Film Festival 2019, Boston, USABest FilmBest Actress
Webdance Film Festival 2018 USABest Photography
Universal Multicultural Film Festival 2019, Palos Verdes, Los AngelesBest FilmBest Actress
North Europe International Film Festival 2019, SpainBest Supporting Actress
Calcutta International Film Festival 2019Best Outstanding performance