Don Max is an Indian film director and editor who works mainly in Malayalam cinema along with Tamil and Telugu language films. He is considered one of the leading contemporary film editors in the Malayalam film industry, and has introduced several new editing techniques into the regional films.[1]

Don Max
Born (1980-11-16) 16 November 1980 (age 44)
Occupations
  • Film editor
  • director

Early life

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Don Max was born on 16 November 1980 in Mundakayam, Kottayam District, Kerala, as the eldest child of K. L. Varghese, a former bank manager at SBT, and T. V. Chinamma, who was a teacher in Malayalam at St. Thomas High School in Anikkad. He was born on the same day the Malayalam action star Jayan died. After spending his first seven years in the Idukki district, his family shifted to Pallickathode, Anickad. He grew up in the town and studied at St. Thomas, Anickad. He later studied his pre-degree education at St. Dominic College in Kanjirapilly, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Thomas College, Palai. He later did a Diploma in Multimedia and Animation at Arena Animations, Bangalore and specialized in Compositing and Animation.

Career

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Beginning his career as an editor for ad films and television channels, Don initially focussed on animation, before realising that he would have a more fulfilling career as an editor the possibilities in editing. He joined Ketan Mehta’s Institute and then worked in the Prime Time channel in Dubai, before beginning working as an editor for the Malayalam channel, Kairali.

Don subsequently did trailers for more than fifty films, before debuting as a senior editor through Shaji Kailas’s The Tiger (2005). Don experimented with doing editing at the location, becoming one of the first Malayalam editors to do so, while he also did editing for V. K. Prakash’s Moonnamathoral (2006), the first digital cinema in Malayalam.[2]

He simultaneously worked on Tamil film projects and worked on big budget films such as Aadhavan (2009), Sura (2010) and Ponnar Shankar (2011). Don also garnered positive reviews for his work in Jilla (2014), with a critic from Indiaglitz.com noting "Don Max sure is a gifted editor" and "has a very rich taste, evidently shown through the methods he used to connect the scenes".[3] In late 2014, he began his first directorial venture with actor Anoop Menon in the lead role,[4] and released his debut movie 10 Kalpanakal in 25 November 2016.

Filmography

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Year Title Language Notes
2005 The Tiger Malayalam
2006 Baba Kalyani Malayalam
Chinthamani Kolacase Malayalam
2007 Time Malayalam
Chotta Mumbai Malayalam
Ali Bhai Malayalam
Moonnamathoral Malayalam
Hello Malayalam
Paradesi Malayalam
2008 Roudram Malayalam
Annan Thambi Malayalam
Kuruvi Tamil
Thalappavu Malayalam
Ellam Avan Seyal Tamil
Silambattam Tamil
2009 Satrumun Kidaitha Thagaval Tamil
Black Dalia Malayalam
Aadhavan Tamil
2010 Drona 2010 Malayalam
Jaggubhai Tamil
Sura Tamil
Inidhu Inidhu Tamil
3 Char Sau Bees Malayalam
Kanyakumari Express Malayalam
Best Actor Malayalam
Kandahar Malayalam
2011 China Town Malayalam
Sankarankovil Tamil
Manushyamrugam Malayalam
Ponnar Shankar Tamil
Chaappa Kurishu Malayalam
Uppukandam Brothers Back in Action Malayalam
Puli Vesham Tamil
Mambattiyan Tamil
2012 Simhasanam Malayalam
Chaarulatha Tamil/Kannada
Madirasi Malayalam
Karmayodha Malayalam
2013 Ente Malayalam
Entry Malayalam
ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi Malayalam
10:30 am Local Call Malayalam
Bangles Malayalam
2014 Jilla Tamil
Naa Bangaaru Talli Telugu/Malayalam
100 Degree Celsius Malayalam
2016 Monsoon Mangoes Malayalam
Saahasam Tamil
10 Kalpanakal Malayalam Directorial debut
2023 Alone Malayalam

References

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  1. ^ "Goodbye to the superstar era - The Hindu". The Hindu. 13 April 2013.
  2. ^ "A heartrending film - Don Max". Supergoodmovies. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  3. ^ "'Jilla' - User Review - Tamil News - IndiaGlitz.com". 13 January 2014.
  4. ^ "Sense of being - The Hindu". The Hindu. 27 November 2014.
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