PremiumMalayalam director Siddique passes away, mortal remains to be kept at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium for public homage
Siddique had directed superhits in Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil and worked with stars such as Mohanlal, Mammootty, Salman Khan, Suriya and Vijay in his stellar career
Last Updated: 09.59 PM, Aug 08, 2023
Renowned Malayalam filmmaker Siddique Ismail, known for popular films such as Ramji Rao Speaking, Vietnam Colony, Godfather, Bodyguard and Friends, passed away in Kochi on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack. The filmmaker, who was undergoing treatment for pneumonia and liver-related ailments at a private hospital in Kochi, had a heart attack on Monday and was in ECMO support for a day.
Several filmmakers and people from the Malayalam film industry including Siddique’s long-time friend and collaborator had paid a visit to the hospital on Tuesday, after hearing that the filmmaker was in critical condition, following the heart attack.
The filmmaker’s body will be kept for public homage at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi on Wednesday morning and will then be moved to his residence in Kakkanad. The funeral will be held on Wednesday evening at the Ernakulam Central Juma Masjid, as per reports.
Siddique made his debut as a scriptwriter along with Lal for Pappan Priyappetta Pappan and also wrote the story for the popular hit Nadodikattu, featuring Mohanlal and Sreenivasan. The duo, who worked closely with director Fazil, made their directorial debut with Ramji Rao Speaking in 1989. The movie along with several of his directorials including Bodyguard, Friends and Bhaskar The Rascal have spawned remakes in multiple languages.
Though Siddique and Lal parted ways after their blockbusters including In Harihar Nagar, Godfather and Vietnam Colony, success didn’t desert either of them. Siddique, in fact, went on to helm films such as Chronic Bachelor as well as Bodyguard in Hindi with Salman Khan and Kaavalan in Tamil with Thalapathy Vijay. He had also worked with Suriya, Nayanthara and Arvind Swami.
The filmmaker’s final film was Big Brother, starring Mohanlal and Arbaaz Khan. Though the movie didn’t do well theatrically, it raked up views over 20 million when its dubbed version released on YouTube. Siddique has also been part of several TV shows as judge and host including Cinema Chirima, Comedy Festival and Mammootty The Best Actor Award.
Siddique is survived by his wife Sajitha and children Soumya, Sara and Sukoon.