Joshiy

Joshiy (born 18 July 1952) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and also directed Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada-language films. Joshiy is a pioneer of action thriller films in Malayalam cinema and his films are known for its stylized imagery, color grading and film noir.

Joshiy made his directorial debut in the 1978 film Tiger Salim, but it was the 1980 film Moorkhan that was his breakthrough in Malayalam cinema. In the following years, Joshiy directed a series of successful films, establishing himself as one of the major figures of the Malayalam cinema. Following the success of Moorkhan, Joshiy directed several films in the early 80's featuring Prem Nazir in the lead role. Some notable films from this period include Kaahalam (1981), Raktham (1981), Aarambham (1982) and Kodumkattu (1983). In 1984, Joshiy directed the Hindi remake of Aarambham as Dharm Aur Qanoon (1984), which was a major critical and commercial success.

In 1983, Joshiy directed Aa Raathri which starred Mammootty in the lead role, where he would continue to direct several successful films throughout the late 80's and the 90's. His most notable films include Sandarbham (1984), Nirakkoottu (1985), Shyama (1986), New Delhi (1987), Sangham (1988), Mahayanam (1989), No.20 Madras Mail (1990), Kauravar (1992), Dhruvam (1993), Sainyam (1994), Lelam (1997) and Pathram (1999). The 2000's and the early 2010's would see his career take a commercial downturn. After the failure of the 2015 film Lailaa O Lailaa, Joshiy took a four-year hiatus from direction and made a comeback with the 2019 film Porinju Mariam Jose and also directed the 2022 film Paappan.