Midhun Manuel Thomas is an immensely talented film director and screenwriter in Mollywood, with several hit films to his credit. He started his film journey as a screenwriter, co-scripting the coming-of-age romantic comedy ‘Ohm Shanthi Oshaana’ in 2014. Midhun marked his directorial debut with cult classic comedy starring Jayasurya, Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeeviyaanu, simply called Aadu in 2015.
It was followed by Ann Maria Kalippilaanu, Alamara and Aadu 2 – all receiving favourable reviews, and Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu. In 2020 investigation thriller Anjaam Pathiraa became a huge box office hit and the highest grosser of the year, following the pandemic and lockdown. His most recent release Abraham Ozler became the first box office hit of the megabuster year of Malayalam cinema in 2024.
Early life and career of Midhun Manuel Thomas
Midhun Manuel Thomas was born in 1983 in Paralikkunnu, Kambalakkad in Wayanad. After completing a Master of Social Work, he moved to Dubai where he worked for two years. He returned to hometown, and tried his luck in business and lost.
Initially lost in business, Midhun succeeded in the art of cinema
He turned to film scripting and wrote the story and co-scripted 2014 super hit film, Ohm Shanthi Oshaana. After the success of the movie, he directed 7 movies and scripted 5 of them. He announced the sequel of Kottayam Kunjachan after the success of Aadu 2. But he later directed the investigation thriller Anjaam Pathiraa starring Kunchakko Boban as the main lead. As a director, Anjaam Pathiraa became the biggest hit of his career. The film became the first 50 crore grosser of the director’s career.
Midhun Manuel Thomas completes 10 scripts with Aadu 3
Ohm Shanthi Oshaana – Midhun’s first work as a screenwriter
With the announcement of Aadu 3 in 2025, he completes 10 Malayalam scripts and most of them have been widely appreciated. Apart from his directorial ventures, he scripted Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, Garudan, Pheonix and Turbo. He began his career writing a sweet romantic film, Ohm Shanthi Oshaana. Yet Midhun later mostly focussed on action dramas and thrillers. His horror script, Pheonix was also widely appreciated, though the movie went unnoticed. Aadu movie franchise is a much-awaited series by Jayasurya fans.
He directed his first web series, Anali in 2024, based on infamous ‘Koodathayi cyanide killings’ case, with Leona Lishoy playing the central character with negative shades. Though the movie faced legal troubles, it was cleared for release. In 2025 May, Unni Mukundan of Marco fame announced his first project as a director. It’s a superhero film written by Midhun Manuel Thomas. The movie will go on floor in 2026.
All his films start with alphabet ‘A’
Sara Arjun of ‘Dhurandhar’ fame played the lead role in Annmariya Kalippilaanu
This Mollywood filmmaker’s debut film, Aadu was not a box office hit. But the movie still enjoys cult status and proved lucky for him. Maybe this is the reason why, right after Aadu, every film he directed starts with letter ‘A’ (അ, ആ). It was the same strange habit followed by legendary filmmaker I. V. Sasi too.
Midhun is married to Fibi Kochupurackal since 2018, and the couple have one son, born in 2020.
Midhun Manuel Thomas – Some interesting and less-known facts
1. Anjaam Pathiraa was the first investigation thriller in the career of Kunchakko Boban, whose career spans to more than two decades in Mollywood. It was also Midhun’s first movie belonging to this genre.
2. Midhun Manuel Thomas marked his film debut as a story writer and screenwriter through Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, starring Nazriya Nazim and Nivin Pauly. The movie also marked the directorial debut of Jude Anthany Joseph.
3. His debut comedy flick, Aadu (2015) is one of the rare Malayalam films with a goat playing the central character. The movie earned a cult classic status and also a lot of trolls. Yet the movie was not a commercial hit at box office. Owing to the big popularity of the film, Aadu was re-released in Kerala in 2018.
4. The central character Shaji Paappan played by Jayasurya and his looks in Aadu became immensely popular among Malayalis.
5. Actor Aju Varghese is almost a permanent fixture for all his films except Anjaam Pathiraa. In fact, the actor earned his first big break as a comedian through Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, playing Nazriya Nazim’s cousin. The movie was also scripted by Midhun.
6. His first film was Aadu, followed by Annmariya Kalippilaanu, Alamara, Aadu 2, Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu, Anjaam Pathiraa, and Abraham Ozler. All begin with the letter “A” (അ, ആ). His upcoming film is Aaraam Pathiraa and Aadu 3. Read more about similar Malayalam directors who have such strange habits.
7. Sara Arjun of ‘Dhurandhar’ fame played the lead role in Annmariya Kalippilaanu. It’s her single Malayalam film and she shared screen space with DQ and many others.
Further read: Wikipedia page of Midhun Manuel Thomas
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