Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Malayalam and Hindi cinema. He was one of the first directors in India to introduce rich color grading, clear sound and quality dubbing through his early Malayalam films. Priyadarshan began his career in Malayalam cinema in the early 1980s and was active throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Towards 2000s, he moved to Bollywood (Hindi-language cinema) and remained active throughout the decade. In 2013, he announced that Rangrezz would be his last Hindi film for a while and shifted focus to Malayalam cinema. His most notable films include Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, Thalavattam, Vellanakalude Nadu, Chithram, Vandanam, Kilukkam, Abhimanyu, Mithunam, Thenmavin Kombath, Kala Pani, and Chandralekha. He is known for adapting Malayalam films into Hindi, from his own work as well as from other films. Most notable such Bollywood films include Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala, Bhagam Bhag, Chup Chup Ke, De Dana Dan and Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Early life Priyadarshan received his early education at Government Model School, Trivandrum and obtained a Master of Arts in Philosophy from University College Trivandrum. His father was a college librarian, it helped Priyadarshan to develop interest in books. He was a voracious reader during his teenage years, and during his study in college he started writing short plays and skits for All India Radio. He was influenced by the films of director P. Venu. His friends in those days included Mohanlal, M. G. Sreekumar, Suresh Kumar, Sanal Kumar, Jagadish, Maniyanpilla Raju and Ashok Kumar. It was then that Mohanlal entered in films. His friends followed him to Chennai, looking for a chance in films. Priyadarshan, with the help of Mohanlal, got a few chances to work as an assistant scriptwriter in a couple of films and started writing scripts, with some turning into success. Eventually, he had to come back to Kerala. Film career Priyadarshan has been working since 40 years in Indian cinema as a director and screenwriter. He has directed over 95 Films in 4 Indian languages mainly, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. 1984-1987 In 1984, Priyadarshan, along with his close friends Suresh Kumar and Sanal Kumar, decided to produce a film as Shankar, the saleable hero, helped them in arranging finance from Thiruvenkadam, a top film financier. Mohanlal, who was by then a popular star, was selected as the parallel hero along with Shankar.