Dennis Joseph

Dennis was born on 20 October 1957 in Ettumanoor, Kottayam district to M. N. Joseph and Eliyamma Joseph.^[3] His father worked in the Indian Air Force, while his mother worked as a local teacher.^[4] However, he was also born into a film-making family, being a nephew of actors Jose Prakash and Prem Prakash.^[5] He was also the nephew to Francis Prakash, who would go on to be a producer of the 1974 film Shapamoksham.^[4] He attended the Ettumanoor Government High School, followed by Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad, where he studied for a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry.^[3][4]

Dennis' career began at the Malayalam-language film magazine Cut Cut, where he worked as a sub-editor to the cartoonist B. M. Gafoor. During his stint at the magazine, he interviewed prominent actors in the Malayalam film industry, as well as spending time at filming locations.^[4] Dennis made his debut into cinema in 1985, as the scriptwriter for the Jeassy film Eeran Sandhya, a film which saw Mammootty star alongside Shobana, Rahman and Joseph's uncle Jose Prakash.^[4][5] He followed this by writing the screenplay for Nirakkoottu, also in 1985.^[3] Directed by Joshiy, Nirakkoottu, whose cast included Mammootty, Urvashi, Lizzy and Sumalatha, told the story of a prisoner who seeks revenge for his wife's murder.^[6]

Nirakkoottu was a success, leading Dennis to write a series of other films in the subsequent years. This included Rajavinte Makan, loosely adapted from Rage of Angels, a novel by Sidney Sheldon, which was released in 1986. Directed by Thampi Kannanthanam, this film was a huge success at the box office. Appearing as Vincent Gomas, a crime boss, Mohanlal successfully mesmerized the moviegoers and the film raised his stardom.^[7] Similarly, after around many flops, Mammootty was in the darkest days of his career in the period 1986–87, when Dennis scripted New Delhi.^[8] Directed by Joshiy, this film was also a loose adaptation of an English novel, Irving Wallace's The Almighty. Completely shot in and around Delhi, and went on to become the comeback film of Mammootty.^[9]

In 1988, Dennis made his directorial debut with critically acclaimed Manu Uncle starring Mammootty,^{[citation needed]} and the film featured a comedic police officer played by Suresh Gopi.^[10] It won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film in 1988 and the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Children's Film in 1989.^{[citation needed]}

Dennis continued writing scripts throughout the 1990s and 2000s; his last released film to date being 2013's Geethanjali, directed by Priyadarshan. He then took a hiatus from writing until 2020 when he announced a collaboration with director Omar Lulu on a film called Power Star.^[11]

Dennis was married to Leena and had three children – Elizabeth, Rossy, and Jose.^[4]

He died on 10 May 2021, in Kottayam from COVID-19.^{[12][3][13][5][14][15]}

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• Dennis Joseph at IMDb