Renji Panicker

Renji Panicker’s journey? Wild ride, honestly. Dude started out hustling as a journalist, scribbling for magazines, chasing stories—typical newsroom grind. Then, boom, he bumps into director Shaji Kailas during an interview, and next thing you know, he’s elbows-deep in the Malayalam film scene. And not just another face in the crowd—he becomes this go-to scriptwriter everyone wants on their team. The Panicker-Kailas combo? Straight-up fire. They cranked out hits like Dr. Pasupathy, Thalastaanam, Ekalavyan, Mafia, Commissioner, and The King. Suresh Gopi owes them big time; those films basically turned him into Malayalam cinema’s tough-guy poster boy in the ‘90s. Renji’s scripts? Never shy of controversy. He’d toss in political drama like it was extra masala, mixing real-life politics with cinematic flair. Sometimes, it got him into hot water—people weren’t always thrilled with his takes. But hey, the dialogues? Legendary. Lelam’s lines are still quoted, and Commissioner’s jingoistic punchlines are kind of iconic for Mollywood fans. He didn’t stop at writing, either. In 2005, he jumped behind the camera with Bharatchandran IPS—yeah, he co-produced that one too. The movie crushed it at the box office, ran over 100 days, and pretty much revived Suresh Gopi’s career. Three years later, Renji dropped Roudram, bringing Mammootty front and center for yet another police drama. Another win. So yeah, Renji Panicker is that guy who made political thrillers cool, packed his movies with bold dialogues, and never backed down from stirring the pot.