Veteran Malayalam screenwriter and director Dennis Joseph passed away in a hospital in Kottayam after a heart attack. He made his debut as a screenwriter with the film Eeran Sandhya starring Mammootty, Shobhana, Rahman and Jose Prakash in the lead roles. He also penned the stories for many of Mammootty's highly successful films like Nirakkoottu, Shyama, and Nyayavidhi.
As a screenwriter, he is credited for some of Malayalam cinema's biggest hits like New Delhi, and Mohanlal starrer Rajavinte Makan. While the latter is one of Mohanlal's most popular films, New Delhi essentially re-launched Mammootty after a series of films that failed to impress.
The conspiracy thriller boasts of an ensemble cast also consisting of Sumalatha, Urvashi, Mohan Jose, Devan, and Jagannatha Varma. Released in 1987, the film was the highest grosser of the year. The last film Dennis worked on was the 2013 Mohanlal starrer Geethaanjali. He was supposed to make a comeback with the upcoming film Powerstar directed by Babu Antony.
Reacting to his demise, Mohanlal said, "Take any character that I played, I owe it to him. And the big films of yesteryears were also made in other languages just because of the power of his script. The dialogues of ‘Rajavinte Makhan’ continue to reverberate even now and that says everything. Never felt he would go this fast."
Dennis made his directorial debut in 1988 with the comedy-drama titled Manu Uncle. The movie revolves around the story of some kids on vacation who stumble upon a plan to rob the nearby museum. A chase to nab the suspects and a murder investigation follows. All this while, the children are helped by Manu, played by Mammootty.
He is survived by wife Leena and children Elizabeth, Rossy, and Jose.
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