Shaji Kumar

On or about 8 November 2026 Shaji Kumar fell ill while shooting an upcoming film starring Dileep in Alappuzha. He received initial treatment near the location and was then moved to a private hospital in Kochi, reported as Ernakulam Medical Trust Hospital. He was first admitted to intensive care and later moved to a room as his condition improved. Around midnight he collapsed while walking to the washroom, and he died in the early hours of Tuesday 10 November 2026. He was 57.

Some early reports described a heart attack, but no official cause of death was published. His death was reported by Mathrubhumi, Manorama, the Times of India, PTI and other outlets. His body was brought to a friend's flat in Kochi on the morning of 10 November so that colleagues and well wishers could pay their respects. His death came weeks before the release of his last film, Athimanoharam.

Shaji Kumar was from Kerala and was 57 at the time of his death in 2026. Little has been published about his family background or schooling. He entered the film industry as a disciple of the cinematographer Vipin Mohan, working under him on a number of films and learning his craft in the era of celluloid before he began to shoot films of his own.

His debut as an independent cinematographer was Uthaman in 2001, directed by Anil Babu. He followed it with Valkannadi, Pakalpooram and Kanmashi in 2002, Pattanathil Sundaran in 2003, and Vellinakshatram, Sathyam and Vesham in 2004. In 2005 he shot the Mohanlal drama Naran and the fantasy Athbhutha Dweepu, and later Baba Kalyani, Nasrani, Veruthe Oru Bharya, Robinhood and the Mammootty action film Pokkiri Raja.

In Tamil cinema he worked often with Prashanth. His photography for the period film Ponnar Shankar in 2011 was critically praised, and he also shot Mambattiyan in 2011 and Saahasam in 2016. Back in Malayalam he shot Mallu Singh, The King and the Commissioner, Ring Master and Cousins.

His best known work was Pulimurugan (2016), directed by Vysakh and starring Mohanlal, which became the first Malayalam film to gross 100 crore rupees. Its action scenes and forest location filming were widely admired, and he won the Best Cinematographer award at the 2016 Asiavision Awards. He went on to shoot Ramaleela (2017), Odiyan (2018), Madhura Raja and Ittymaani: Made in China (2019), Night Drive and Pathonpatham Noottandu (2022), Bandra and Kaathikan (2023), and Thudarum (2025).

He was a preferred cameraman for directors across generations, among them Joshiy, Shaji Kailas, V. M. Vinu, M. Padmakumar, Vysakh and Tharun Moorthy. Over his career he shot more than 50 feature films, including work in Hindi.

Shaji Kumar kept his private life largely out of the public eye, and reports of his death gave few details about his family. Colleagues described him as a craftsman who treated large and small productions with equal dedication, and who kept renewing his technique as the industry moved from film to digital cameras.

Shaji Kumar is remembered as the cinematographer who gave Malayalam mass entertainers a large scale visual style, above all in Pulimurugan, a landmark of the industry's commercial growth. His career bridged the film and digital eras, and his work in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi spanned 25 years. His final films, Athimanoharam and Ottakkomban, were completed before his death and were due for release after it.