Malayalam filmmaker Joseph Manu James, whose debut movie, Nancy Rani, will be released soon passed away in a hospital in Aluva, Kerala, aged 31. According to reports, the artiste was admitted after getting diagnosed with pneumonia and passed away due to hepatitis. His funeral was held in Ernakulam on Sunday. He is survived by his wife, Naina, and his siblings.
The Malayalam film industry was shocked by Joseph's unexpected death. Sources state that the film director passed suddenly in Rajagiri hospital, where he was receiving hepatitis treatment. On Sunday, he was buried at Kuravilangad's Major Archiepiscopal Marth Mariam Archdeacon Church.
He had just finished filming for Nancy Rani, and the post-production work for the project is still ongoing. The film stars Ahaana Krishna, Sunny Wayne, Aju Varghese, and Arjun Ashokan in important roles.
Ahaana took to her Instagram to share condolences for the late director, writing, “Rest in peace Manu! This shouldn't have happened to you!” Aju also took to his Instagram handle to share an image of Joseph. He captioned the post, “Gone too soon brother.”
Joseph had previously worked as a child actor in the 2004 film, I am Curious, which was helmed by Sabu James. He also worked as an assistant director for many projects spanning Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi film industries.