"A film is like a mirror, which reflects the viewer. It is not my function to hold speeches or make propaganda. I believe in the long run that is not the function of a film producer and should not also be", Murali Nair

Murali Nair is the new face of Malayalam cinema. He achieved a debut every filmmaker would dream of, recognition at Cannes. His first feature film Marana Simhasanam (Throne of Death), running under 60 minutes, won the coveted best first film award at Cannes, Camera d'Or honour. He is one of the rare Indian filmmakers who have more than one film shown at Cannes, the mother of all film festivals.

But recognition at Cannes did not bring accolades back home for Murali Nair. His work of art was lambasted by the Marxist ideologue, PG Govinda Pillai by terming it as an "anti-communist" work. But Murali thinks that the politics of every movie is the politics that the viewer attributes to it.

He was even attacked by the film fraternity who could not digest the fact that he made such wonderful movies by employing only non-professionals. Shabana Azmi also took strong exception to the fact that all the actors/actresses in his movies were non-professionals. But Murali has his own reasons, "If I engage professionals, I will have to waste more time on making them act naturally".

Maranasimhasanam lampooned the World Bank and American aid to third world countries by portraying the tragic plight of a farm labourer who is caught stealing coconuts and soon finds himself framed for murder and is sentenced to death, in an electric chair, imported from America with the aid from World Bank. Murali exposes the corruption and political opportunism with dry wit through this movie.

It won six international awards and was screened in more than 50 international film festivals. Its success saw Murali getting offers from many major film companies including the Twentieth Century Fox for his next production. But, Murali refused to accept the offers. He will do TV serials for London's Channel 5 to raise funds for his projects.

A geologist by profession, he gave up a secure job in an oil rig to do a filmmaking course at the Xavier's Institute of Communication in Mumbai. Later, he served as the assistant director to Pavan Kaul, Nandan Kudhiyadi and Mani Kaul.

In 1993, he made a short film, The Tragedy of an Indian Farmer, based on Malayalam poet Changampuzha's poem Ôru Vazhakula. His second short film 'Coronations' explored the impact of advanced military technology in a third world town. Murali's third short film, A Long Journey, premiered at Cannes in 1996 in the short film competition section. It was really with this short film, Murali began to get noticed.

His second feature film- Oru Pattiyude Divasam - A Dog's Day is described as a political fairy tale. It is an indictment of globalisation and privatisation. To quote him, "The increasing tendency of the USA to interfere in the affairs of the second and third world for its own interests of war and trade made me think of a second film."

Following the Camera d'Or, Murali, who is now London based, directed a 13 part series called First Taste exploring the life of teenagers in various countries and cultures and a 10 part series Miracles of Faith examining the effects of miracles in people's lives in different countries all over the world, both for Channel 5 in UK.

For him, TV is a source of income. It brings the money which helps translate his ideas into film. TV is the slog that makes the films possible says the 33 year-old Murali.

Nair has been an instant success in the world of British television where success doesn't come easy. He has just finished producing and directing a 26-part series titled My Story for Channel 5 on the life of teenagers in Britain. He's now been asked to do another 13-part serial on relationships among teenagers to be called My Kiss. This will be followed up with another 13-part serial on relationships between different religious beliefs.