Johnkutty – Film editor of Mohanlal’s biggest blockbusters, Pulimurugan and Odiyan

Johnkutty is one of the most sought film editors of Malayalam cinema at present. He is mostly associated with commercial and masala potboilers. He did the editing of Pulimurugan and Odiyan which are among the biggest blockbusters of Mohanlal’s career. He did the editing of all the directorial ventures of Nadirshah till now – Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan, Amar Akbar Anthony and Mera Naam Shaji. Masterpiece, Memories, Seconds, Seventh Day, Ormayundo Ee Mukham, Paavada etc are other major works.

Johnkutty hails from Karunagapally, Kollam. His career in the Malayalam entertainment industry began in 2000 when he worked as an editor of the popular political and social satire skit on Asianet, Munshi. In 2001 he joined Kerala State Film Development Corporation as a non-linear editor, and then continued editing for many TV shows like Sumangali and Jagapoga. While working with Chitranjali Studio, he turned an Associate Editor and worked in many films of 2000s before he turned a full-fledged editor with Mayamohini starring Dileep in 2012. After the film’s success, there was no turning back. One of the busy editors of Malayalam cinema, he has done around 25 films till 2019.

Johnkutty – Some interesting and unknown facts

1. There was one small time editor in his town named Christos Achayan, who inspired Johnkutty to join the art of editing.

2. Achuvinte Amma was his film as an assistant editor. Then he returned to television and worked for a short while before returning to film industry.

3. He did the editing work of all the three directorial ventures of well-known standup comedian, Nadirshah and all these films were commercially successful.

4. He has edited several hit films of Prithviraj in the recent times – Memories, 7^th Day, Paavada, Amar Akbar Antony etc to name a few.

5. He has edited a few documentaries for Kerala Public Relations Department and also 13 episodes of the popular show on Cartoon Network, Tenali Raman.

6. He received Asianet Film Awards for best editing for Pulimurugan and Prem Nazir award for a tele film named Thanal in 2007.

7. In his opinion Pulimurugan was the most challenging project he did till then.

8. He reads the film script long before he starts editing. It helps him to understand different characters and film situations better, and it’s one of the major reasons behind his success.

9. Though best known for commercial films, his second project as an independent editor was T. V. Chandran’s Bhoomiyude Avakashikal.