titled Kutty Srank with Mammootty playing the lead role. The film was released theatrically in Kerala in July 2010.Swapaanam with Jayaram and Kadambari has premiered at Dubai International Film Festival on 8 December 2013, a rare recognition for Malayalam Cinema as the World premiere screening outside India. Olu, his latest film, under 'fantasy perception' and narrative, had chosen the inaugural film of Indian Panorama film selections presented in International Film Festival of India Goa-2018. OLU has also been chosen as the "OPENING FILMS" of TWO major International film festivals- International film festival of INNSBRUCK 2019.AUSTRIA, ISOLA Cinema International film festival 2019, SLOVENIA. Olu also won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography (2018) award in the 66th National Film Awards. He has also made around a dozen short films and documentaries. Besides making films, Shaji Karun has been active as a juror at many international film festivals and an active participant in governmental and academic arenas. He was the Premiere Chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the first academy for film and TV in India and was also the Executive Chairman of International Film Festival of Kerala from 1998 to 2001. Upcoming projects As of January 2018 Shaji is completing the post-production of a new movie titled Olu with Shane Nigam and Esther Anil playing the lead roles. In a recent interview, Shaji revealed that Olu is the tale of a girl who gets gang raped and sunk to the bottom of the backwaters where she can mysteriously survive and live for the next nine months -until she delivers her ‘baby from rape’. The film will attempt to convey her perception of innocent feminine desires – spiritual and transcendental feelings." His project Gaadha was announced in September 2012. Though was expected to commence shooting by November 2014, it has been postponed until further notice. Music was to be composed by the Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner. In May 2022 Shaji N Karun announced his next project based on the life of Amrita Sher-Gil, pioneer of Indian modern art. In an interview with Jisha Surya of News9Live The cinematographer-director said that the multilingual movie will be based on the biographical writings of Sher-Gil. Conceived as an Indo-French-US collaborative project, the movie will have international actors and technicians. Karun has approached a Mexican actor to play the lead role of the Hungarian-Indian painter. Awards and milestones National and international honors Life Time