Anoop Menon (born 3 August 1976) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and lyricist. He worked in television before acting in Malayalam films.
Menon won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and also the Filmfare Award for his performance as the fictional movie star Ajayachandran in Thirakkatha. He wrote the screenplay and dialogue for films such as Pakal Nakshatrangal (2008), Cocktail (2010), Beautiful (2011), Trivandrum Lodge (2012), and Hotel California (2013). He became a director with his debut King Fish Malayalam movie in 2021. He directed a film named Padma released in 2022.
Menon was born on 3 August 1976 in Kozhikode to Gangadharan Nair and Indira Menon. He grew up in Thiruvananthapuram. He studied at Christ Nagar School, Thiruvananthapuram. He then completed his Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) from the Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram (1994-99), and was the first-rank holder from Kerala University.
While pursuing education at college, he used to do compering for Kairali TV and Surya TV. He met fellow filmmaker and screenplay writer Shankar Ramakrishnan during this time. Both of them were under the tutelage of renowned Malayalam movie director Ranjith.
Menon married Shema Alexander on 27 December 2014. This was Shema's second marriage. Her first husband died of a heart attack in 2006. She has a daughter born in 2002. Film actress Shwetha Menon is his cousin.
He began his acting career in Malayalam television serials. He was in two series on Asianet called Swapnam and Megham, the former one directed by K. K. Rajeev. Anoop made his debut as a screenwriter in Pakal Nakshatrangal with Mohanlal playing father and Anoop playing his son.
He also played main character in Thirakkatha by Ranjith, portraying different stages in the life of film star Ajay Chandran, loosely based on the personal life of Kamal Haasan. His co-stars were Priyamani and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
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