B. Unnikrishnan

Unnikrishnan Bhaskaran (born 14 August 1970) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and distributor|exhibitor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He completed post-graduation in English literature and took M. Phil from Mahatma Gandhi University with first rank . He started publishing his writings on literature, politics and culture during early 1990s. Unnikrishnan along with V C Harris edited a series of books on postmodernism titled ‘Navasidhandangal’ published by DC Books. Later he started publishing writings on contemporary politics.
He began his film career by screenwriting "Jalamarmaram" in 1999, which won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay. In 2005, he scripted, directed and produced the telefilm "Annum Mazhayaayirunnu", which won six Kerala State Television Awards, including Best Telefilm and Best Screenplay writer for him. In the same year, "The Tiger", a thriller written by him was a major commercial success. It is generally considered as one of the best suspense thrillers in Malayalam. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2006 with the film "Smart City". His most notable directorial works include "Madambi" (2008) and "Grandmaster" (2012). In 2017, he directed the crime drama "Villain", India's first film completely shot in 8K resolution. The film was also noted for its subtle political undercurrents which strongly critique arbitrary individual cantered justice. In 2019, he wrote and directed, “Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel, the first Malayalam film produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures in Malayalam, a thriller laced with comedy. In 2019, he along with Anto Joseph produced Stand Up, a film directed by Vidhu Vincent. In 2020, he produced again with Anto Joseph The Priest, a thriller which brought together Mammootty and Manju Warrier for the first time. The film turned out to be a super hit. He is currently producing and directing a huge mass masala entertainer titled Aaraattu, his fifth outing with the legendary Mohanlal.
Unnikrishnan is involved in organisational activities in film industry. He is the general secretary of Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) since 2008 and All India Film Employees Confederation (AIFEC) since 2014. His initiatives to support the workers in the film industry all over India, especially in Kerala, during the lay off due to COVID-19 are appreciated widely. He is a member in the advisory committee of Cine Workers' Welfare Board and director of Saamskaarika Kshemanidhi. He owns the production/distribution company RD Illuminations. He also owns a state of the art theatre complex, RD Cinemas in Mundakkayam.
Early life.
B. Unnikrishnan was born on 14 August 1970 in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India as the only child of Bhaskaran Pillai, a former college principal and Ponnamma, a homemaker. He took his graduation in English literature at the University College Thiruvananthapuram during early 1980s and later did post-graduation in English Literature at CMS College Kottayam, after which he obtained Master of Philosophy (M. Phil) from the School of Letters, Mahatma Gandhi University with a first rank . during 1989 – 90. Before foraying into film industry, he worked as a lecturer in different colleges. He admires Alfred Hitchcock and cites writer Agatha Christie as his "life-long inspiration".
Career.
He began his film career in 1999 by writing the screenplay of "Jalamarmaram" directed by T. K. Rajeev Kumar, which won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay that year. The film dealt with the politics of water and environmentalism. Its narrative was unique in that it narrated a richly layered story with strong political nuances from the point of view of a five-year-old boy. In 2000, his screenplay "Cover Story" directed by G. S. Vijayan was released.It was a box office failure. He was the screenwriter of the hugely successful thriller "Black and White", a television serial telecast in Asianet in 2004, which won two Kerala State Television Awards. The serial directed by Viji Thampi is the best investigative thriller in Malayalam television till date. in 2004, he wrote and directed a telefilm titled Antharangal, which won the Kerala state television award for the best telefilm. In 2005, he wrote, produced and directed a telefilm, "Annum Mazhayayirunnu" which was aired by Amrita TV. It was filmed in eight days with a small cost of over 5 lakh, Siddique and Jyothirmayi played the lead roles. "The Hindu" wrote "The suspense that is maintained throughout the short movie, despite it being set in a domestic, sylvan setting, goes to the credit of the carefully crafted script". The telefilm won six Kerala State Television Awards, including Best Telefilm and Best screenplay for Unnikrishnan.
He scripted Shaji Kailas-directorial action film "Shivam" in 2002 and the thriller film "The Tiger" in 2005, the latter starring Suresh Gopi was a major commercial success.. According to Unnikrishnan, it was financial necessity that made him a screenwriter and passion made him a filmmaker. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2006 with the action film "Smart City". His second directorial "Madampi" starring Mohanlal was a blockbuster . Unlike his previous films, "Madampi" was a family drama that told the story of a money lender in a village. In 2009, he scripted and directed the action police story "I. G. – Inspector General" starring Suresh Gopi. The film talked issues like terrorism and communal politics. In the same year, he wrote and directed the segment "Aviramam" in the anthology film "Kerala Cafe". In 2010, he scripted and directed the political satire "Pramani" starring Mammootty as a corrupt panchayat president, which was a box office failure. It was followed by the action film "The Thriller", an investigative story starring Prithviraj Sukumaran as a cop.
His directorial crime thriller "Grandmaster" released in 2012 was written by himself starring Mohanlal as a loner cop who is challenged to investigate a crime. Not only that it was a financial success, but it showed Mohanlal in a totally different look and style. "Grandmaster" was the first Malayalam film produced by UTV and it is also the first Malayalam film to be released in Netflix, apart from its theatrical release. It was followed by "I Love Me", a romantic thriller written by Sethu, that revolves around a group of youngsters. In 2015, he written and directed the heist film "Mr. Fraud" starring Mohanlal. Unnikrishnan forayed into the production/distribution sector with his company RD Illuminations, which released "Yodhavu" in 2016, the Malayalam dubbed version of the Telugu film "Sarrainodu". Followed by "Dhruvaraja Jagannadh" and "Fidaa" and Bhaagamathie in 2017. He joined again with Mohanlal in 2017 for the crime thriller "Villain". It is also the first Indian film to be completely shot in 8K resolution. The film has a great cast including Vishal, Manju Warrier, Hansika, Meka Srikanth, and Rashi Khanna. The film was noted for its subtle engagement with the idea of individual centric/ mob justice and the brilliant performance of Mohanlal. After this film, he coproduced and his company distributed the film "Swathandriam Ardharathriyil" in 2018, produced by B. C. Joshy, Lijo Jose Pellissery, and Chemban Vinod Jose and it was a great success at the Boxoffice. In 2019, he wrote and directed the first Malayalam film produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures titled Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel. The film, which was distributed by RD Illuminations, has turned out to be a great success in the box office.
Other work.
He is the general secretary of Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) since 2008, he was re-elected to the position three times2010, 2013 and 2017. In 2014, he was elected as the general secretary of All India Film Employees Confederation (AIFEC). He is a member in the advisory committee of Cine Workers' Welfare Board and director of Saamskaarika Kshemanidhi in Kerala. In 2016, he opened the multi-cuisine restaurant named Grandmaster's Kitchen in Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram, the restaurant was named after his film "Grandmaster". He owns the film distribution company RD Illuminations, that debuted in 2016 by releasing "Yodhavu" in Kerala. He was the Managing Director of the film post-production studio Vismayas Max and also the multiplex Aries Plex SL Cinemas, a Double-4K 64-channel Dolby Atmos theatre in Thiruvananthapuram. It is the first theatre with Double-4K facility in South India. Presently he owns the state of the art theatre complex, RD Cinemas in Mundakayam.