Major Ravi

Major A. K. Raveendran SM (born 13 June 1958) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, and retired major in the Indian Army and former National Security Guard commando. He was awarded the President's gallantry medal in 1991 and 1992 for his contributions in fighting terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir. After retiring from the army, he began his career in Indian cinema as a consultant for military-based films. He made his independent directorial debut in 2006 with Keerthi Chakra for which he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay.

Family
Major Ravi's father P. Kuttisankaran Nair was a soldier in the Indian Army. Major Ravi's mother is A. T. Satyabhama. Major Ravi is married to Anitha. The couple have a son Arjun Ravi.

Military career
He joined the army after his schooling and later pursued his studies within the army and graduated from the Army Cadet College to become an officer in Dec 1984. He was head of the mission code-named Operation One Eyed Jack to capture suspects of the Rajiv Gandhi murder case (the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by Thenmozhi Rajaratnam on 21 May 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu). His military tenure of four years in the National Security Guard as a commando inspired him to direct Keerthi Chakra (2006) and Mission 90 Days (2007).

Film career
After serving for about two decades in the Indian Army, he became a military consultant for Indian films. He has worked with Indian film makers Priyadarshan, Rajkumar Santoshi, Kamal Haasan, and Mani Ratnam. He made a children's film, Toofan in Hindi in 1999, starring Dileep and Saba Khan, which had a delayed release in 2010, due to censoring issues. It was dubbed into Malayalam as Oru Avadhikaalam. His first feature film was Keerti Chakra, a film on Kashmir militancy.

His second movie Mission 90 Days was his own experience of the mission to capture the suspects of Rajiv Gandhi murder case. His third project Kurukshetra based on the Kargil war starring Mohanlal was a sequel to Keerthi Chakra. The 2010 film Kandahar was a third installment to the Major Mahadevan film series.

In 2012, he directed Karma Yodha with Mohanlal. In 2015, Picket 43, starring Prithviraj and Javed Jaffery was made. It turned out to be a hit. He is now heading towards a fourth installment in the Major Mahadevan series. About the film he quoted: "The focus will be on the individuals rather than the war, and will portray the relationships that are forged during the war."

Awards

 * Sena Medal
 * Kerala State Film Awards


 * 2006: Best Screen Play - Keerthi Chakra


 * Asianet Film Awards
 * 2006:Best Director Award - Keerthi Chakra
 * 2008:Special Honour Jury Award - Kurukshetra
 * 2010:Best Feature Film on National Integration Award - Kandahar