
Kerala bids adieu to filmmaker Shaji N Karun
Shaji N Karun
, one of its most celebrated filmmakers whose poetic visual storytelling earned him a revered place in the history of
Indian cinema
.
The cremation took place at Shanthi Kavadam in Thycaud,
Thiruvananthapuram
, with full state honours. The state's political, cultural, and
film fraternity
came together to pay their last respects.
From early morning, crowds gathered at Kalabhavan in Vazhuthacaud, where the late director's body was placed for public homage. Minister V Sivankutty offered condolences on behalf of the state govt. Film icons, politicians, writers, and fans were also present.
At 12.30 pm, the body was taken to his residence 'Piravi', named after his debut film, on Udara Shiromani road. The cremation was held at 5 pm.
On May 4, a remembrance event titled 'Sneha Sangamam' will be held at his residence. Among the dignitaries who paid homage were CPM state secretary MV Govindan, LDF convener TP Ramakrishnan, ministers Saji Cherian, R Bindu, Chinchu Rani, KB Ganesh Kumar, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, veteran Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, MPs Adoor Prakash and K Muraleedharan, and filmmakers Hariharan, Blessy, TK Rajeev Kumar, and Madhu Pal.
Tributes also came from cultural icons including poet V Madhusoodanan Nair, artist Pattam Rasheed, and former chief secretary K Jayakumar.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
6 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Those things should look after themselves: Root on chasing Tendulkar's feat
Born in December 1990, more than a year after Sachin Tendulkar made his iconic Test debut in Karachi, England's Joe Root grew up doing what most cricket-loving kids of his generation did -- trying to copy the Little Master. More than three decades on, Root now finds himself second only to Tendulkar in the list of all-time Test run-getters as he reflected on the Indian maestro's legacy his own journey as a youngster inspired by the Indian icon. "He's one of the greats the game has seen, hasn't he? I mean, all the things that he managed to achieve with the pressures that he had to shoulder and burden were incredible, Root said during a conversation with Harsha Bhogle on Sony Liv. The Yorkshireman surpassed Ricky Ponting's tally of 13,378 runs on Friday, day three of the fourth Test against India, and now sits at 13,409 runs from 157 Tests -- behind only Tendulkar's towering 15,921. Root made his Test debut in the 2012 Nagpur Test, a series that marked the twilight of Tendulkar's career. Recalling the surreal moment, Root said: "There's someone, again, that you watched play as a young kid and you wanted to copy and emulate and then to get the opportunity to play against him as well. "I mean, he made his Test debut before I was born and then you find yourself playing in a Test match against him. "It was an incredible experience to go to India. The whole crowd cheers because Sachin's coming into bat. It was bizarre to witness but just shows the greatness of the man and the legend that he is. Asked about chasing Tendulkar's record, Root told BBC Test Match Special: "It's not something that I will focus on. Those sort of things should look after themselves." In the all time most Test run-scores' list, Root has since gone on to eclipse the likes of Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis too. Ricky's someone that I grew up admiring, watching, trying to emulate, copy in the garden and at my local club trying to play the pull shot that he's obviously world famous for. "So even just to be spoken about in the same sentence as those guys, the people that you grew up wanting to emulate and pretending to be is pretty cool," added Root. Much of his success in recent years, Root credits to honest self-reflection during the pandemic and some crucial advice from former England skipper Nasser Hussain. I actually spoke to Nass quite a bit, Root told Sky Sports. "I said, 'can I get some footage?' and just look at modes of dismissal and if there were any trends and seeing the different ways I was getting out at different points in my innings. "One thing I've done within that period is actually try and look at the game slightly differently. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


India.com
6 minutes ago
- India.com
Salman Khan was once set to play Lord Ram for this movie, Sonali Bendre was given role of Sita, but the movie never released due to...
While fans are eagerly waiting for Ranbir Kapoor's big-screen transformation into Lord Ram in Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming Ramayan, few know that Bollywood's original 'Bhaijaan' was once meant to step into those very divine shoes. Back in the 1990s, Sohail Khan had envisioned a grand cinematic take on the Ramayan, casting his superstar brother Salman Khan as Ram and Sonali Bendre as Sita. The film had even started shooting, and about 40% of it was already completed. What went wrong with this ambitious project? As per a report by Mid-Day, things were running smoothly until personal dynamics started interfering with professional plans. Actress and producer Pooja Bhatt joined the project midway. That's when the buzz began, rumours of a relationship between Sohail Khan and Pooja Bhatt started making the rounds. This didn't sit well with Salim Khan, the head of the Khan family. According to reports, he disapproved of their growing closeness and advised Sohail to end the relationship. Did Pooja Bhatt walk out? Despite Salman Khan trying to manage the situation calmly, Pooja Bhatt eventually exited the film due to what seemed like emotional fallout and discomfort with the family's stance. Her exit marked the beginning of the end. Without her, the film lost momentum and was quietly shelved—never to be completed. The forgotten Ramayan before Ranbir Kapoor's Interestingly, this untitled film was being planned decades before today's multi-part Ramayan, backed by Nitesh Tiwari. The upcoming version is scheduled to be released in two parts, Part 1 during Diwali 2025 and Part 2 during Diwali 2026, with Sai Pallavi as Sita. But had things gone as planned in the 90s, Salman Khan might've already been immortalised as Lord Ram in Indian cinema, long before Ranbir picked up the bow and arrow.


NDTV
14 minutes ago
- NDTV
Joe Root's Blunt Take On Possibility Of Overtaking Sachin Tendulkar In Highest Test Run-Scorers' List: "Not..."
Born in December 1990, more than a year after Sachin Tendulkar made his iconic Test debut in Karachi, England's Joe Root grew up doing what most cricket-loving kids of his generation did - trying to copy the Little Master. More than three decades on, Root now finds himself second only to Tendulkar in the list of all-time Test run-getters as he reflected on the Indian maestro's legacy his own journey as a youngster inspired by the Indian icon. "He's one of the greats the game has seen, hasn't he? I mean, all the things that he managed to achieve with the pressures that he had to shoulder and burden were incredible,' Root said during a conversation with Harsha Bhogle on Sony Liv. The Yorkshireman surpassed Ricky Ponting 's tally of 13,378 runs on Friday, day three of the fourth Test against India, and now sits at 13,409 runs from 157 Tests -- behind only Tendulkar's towering 15,921. Root made his Test debut in the 2012 Nagpur Test, a series that marked the twilight of Tendulkar's career. Recalling the surreal moment, Root said: "There's someone, again, that you watched play as a young kid and you wanted to copy and emulate and then to get the opportunity to play against him as well. "I mean, he made his Test debut before I was born and then you find yourself playing in a Test match against him. It was an incredible experience to go to India. The whole crowd cheers because Sachin's coming into bat. It was bizarre to witness but just shows the greatness of the man and the legend that he is.' Asked about chasing Tendulkar's record, Root told BBC Test Match Special: "It's not something that I will focus on. Those sort of things should look after themselves." In the all time most Test run-scores' list, Root has since gone on to eclipse the likes of Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis too. 'Ricky's someone that I grew up admiring, watching, trying to emulate, copy in the garden and at my local club — trying to play the pull shot that he's obviously world famous for. "So even just to be spoken about in the same sentence as those guys, the people that you grew up wanting to emulate and pretending to be is pretty cool," added Root. Much of his success in recent years, Root credits to honest self-reflection during the pandemic and some crucial advice from former England skipper Nasser Hussain. 'I actually spoke to Nass quite a bit,' Root told Sky Sports. "I said, 'can I get some footage?' and just look at modes of dismissal and if there were any trends and seeing the different ways I was getting out at different points in my innings. "One thing I've done within that period is actually try and look at the game slightly differently. "For that start of my career, a lot of it was based on my technique: where my hands are, where my head is, am I lined up, is my trigger right? "Whereas in this second phase of things, it's been more about managing risk and thinking how can I eliminate as many modes of dismissal as possible with the highest output?"