Veteran scenarist John Paul is no more

Noted scriptwriter and producer John Paul passed away at a private hospital in Kochi on Saturday. The prolific onscreen writer, who was also a gifted orator, was 71. He is survived by his wife Aisha Elizabeth and daughters Jisha and Jibi.

Started out his career as a banker, John Paul became a scenarist with the Bharathan-directed ‘Chamaram’ in 1980. He has written screenplays for more than 100 movies. His association with Bharathan led to the birth of some of the path-breaking movies in Malayalam.

John Paul has worked with the leading filmmakers of the industry, including IV Sasi, Kamal, Mohan, Joshiy, KS Sethumadhavan, PN Menon, Sathyan Anthikad, PG Viswambharan, Jesy, Bharath Gopi and Viji Thampi et. al. His major films as a writer are ‘Kathodu Kathoram’, ‘Kaattathe Kilikkoodu’, ‘Yathra’, ‘Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam’, ‘Eeran Sandhya’, ‘Keli’, ‘Purappadu’, ‘Chamayam’, ‘Utsavappittennu’, ‘Unnikale Oru Kadhaparayam’, ‘Ormakkayi’, ‘Athirathram’, and ‘Ina’.

His last film was ‘Pranayameenukalude Kadal’, directed by Kamal. John Paul was the producer of MT Vasudevan Nair-directed ‘Oru Cheru Punjiri’, which bagged a host of awards. An author of a number of books, John Paul was the founder General Secretary of Malayalam Cine Technicians Association (MACTA).

Despite churning out a string of novel scripts in his cinema career, John Paul has not been conferred with the honours he deserved. Truly, he was the encyclopaedia of Malayalam Cinema.