Update: ‘Sufiyum Sujatayum’ director Naranipuzha Shanavas passed away on Wednesday night. Many have expressed grief at his passing. Read here

Naranipuzha Shanavas, director of Sufiyum Sujatayum, was declared brain dead on Wednesday morning, after he went into cardiogenic shock on Monday. He was on the sets of a film when his health took a turn for the worse. He was admitted at the KG Hospital in Coimbatore. Shanavas is in his 40s. He is currently on ventilator support and the family has to take a call if they want him to remain so.

There has been no improvement in Shanavas's health since he was admitted on Saturday night at the Internal Care Unit, said a source at the hospital. Cardiogenic shock stops the heart from being able to pump enough blood needed for the body. It mostly follows a heart attack.

Shanavas was shooting a film in Palakkad's Attapadi, when he suffered the heart attack.

Though he made his first feature film — a critically acclaimed one called Karie — five years ago, he received more attention for making Sufiyum Sujatayum, which is the first Malayalam film that directly released on an OTT platform. It was released on Amazon Prime Video in July, months after the coronavirus lockdown put a halt to movie releases in theatres in Kerala. The film stars Jayasurya, Aditi Rao Hydari and newcomer Dev Mohan in the lead. It has a fairytale-like quality to it and concerns a triangular romance among the three main characters. It also touches on inter-religious love.

Shanavas's first film Karie is on the topic of caste discrimination. It revolves around a man belonging to an oppressed caste playing Karinkali (God), whom people from the dominant caste bow to in reverence. In the movie you observe the relation of a dominant caste man who hesitates to mingle closely with the artist playing Karinkali even as he wants the latter's service.

Shanavas had started as an editor and short filmmaker before becoming a feature filmmaker. He hails from Naranippuzha in Malappuram.