Syam Pushkaran

Syam Pushkaran (born 6 September 1984) is an Indian scriptwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He is known for his collaboration with directors Aashiq Abu and Dileesh Pothan. He made his debut with Salt N' Pepper (2011), co-written with Dileesh Nair. He has written screenplays for popular films such as 22 Female Kottayam (2012), Da Thadiya (2012), Idukki Gold (2013), Iyobinte Pusthakam (2014), Rani Padmini (2015), Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016),Mayaanadhi (2017), and Kumbalangi Nights (2019). He also served as co-director and wrote the dialogues for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017). Pushkaran won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Maheshinte Prathikaram at the 64th National Film Awards (2016).

Syam Pushkaran was born as the second child to Geetha Devi P.L and N. Pushkaran on 6 September 1984 in Thuravoor town at Alappuzha district. Pushkaran did his schooling at Government U.P School and T.D Higher Secondary School, Thuravoor. He completed graduation in Fashion Designing from Mangalore University. Due to his keen interest in cinema, he followed up with Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Film Making from DC Film School at Trivandrum. He then totally followed his passion and initially landed up being an Assistant Director after which the idea of the film 'Salt N Pepper' was given birth marking his path towards screen writing.

He is married to Architect Ms. Unnimaya Prasad from 2012. Unnimaya made her acting debut with the film ‘Sethulakshmi’ in the anthology film ‘Anju Sundarikal’. She played the character of Sara in ‘Maheshinte Prathikaaram’, Maya teacher in the film ‘Parava (film)’ and acted as the assistant director in Mayaanadhi. And also she was the assistant director and the casting director for Maheshinte Prathikaram, Thondimuthalum Drikshakshiyum and 5 Sundarikal .She also appeared in Varathan, Oru Kuprasidha Payyan, French Viplavam, Virus etc.

Syam Pushkaran penned the script for Salt N' Pepper along with Dileesh Nair. In 2012, he wrote the script for Da Thadiya (2012); another film directed by Aashiq Abu, along with Dileesh Nair and Abhilash S Kumar. He wrote Sethulakshmi (Segment) in the anthology film 5 Sundarikal. He was also the writer for another Aashiq Abu film Idukki Gold (2012). He wrote dialogues for Iyobinte Pusthakam directed by Amal Neerad. He has penned the script for Rani Padmini which starred Manju Warrier and Rima Kallingal in the lead roles.

Syam Pushkaran turned producer launching the film production company called Working Class Hero by partnering with Dileesh Pothan. The company's first production was Kumbalangi Nights, which was written by Syam.

On Kerala Piravi day, Kochi Music Foundation organised the musical event 'Karuna' at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Kadavanthra in Kochi promising that the proceedings from the event will be donated to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) to help flood victims. The organisers of this fest included filmmaker Aashiq Abu, singer Shahabaz Aman, and music director Bijibal. However, an RTI document shared by state Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha secretary Sandeep G Varier on Facebook last week revealed that the Chief Minister's office was yet to receive the funds, sparking a controversy. Other members of the Kochi Music Foundation also included Aashiq Abu’s wife and actress Rima Kallingal, writer Syam Pushkaran and singer Sithara (Singer). They were widely critisied in social media.

Following the controversy, Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, through a Facebook post, demanded that Aashiq Abu should make it public whether he has made payment to the government. Following this, Aasiq Abu posted the image of the cheque for an amount of Rs 6.22 lakh to the Principal Secretary (Finance), CMDRF.The date of the cheque is 14.02.2020. It clearly shows that Rs 6.22 lakh was handed over to CMDRF only after the issue has become a controversy.