Abhinav Sunder Nayak
Indian film director & editor
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Abhinav Sunder Nayak is an Indian film director and editor. He has worked in Malayalam and Tamil language films.[1] He is best known for directing, co-writing & co-editing the Malayalam film Mukundan Unni Associates.[2]
Early life
A native of Kozhikode, Abhinav attended Kendriya Vidyalaya before graduating in Visual Communication from Dr G R Damodaran College of Science, Coimbatore.[3][1][4]
Career
Abhinav edited and directed several short films before serving as an assistant director to Vineeth Sreenivasan for the Malayalam film Thira (2013).[5][6] His feature film debut came with Tamil-Malayalam bilingual Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014), as the editor.[1] The film, which was Dulquer Salmaan's first Tamil release, received positive reviews and was a success.[3] S.Rajasekar of Cinemalead, in his review wrote "Debut editor Abhinav Sundar Nayak's editing is flawless and he is a welcome addition to the promising feature film editors of Kollywood".[7]
He subsequently went on to work as the editor in Malayalam and Tamil films including You too Brutus (2015), Uriyadi (2016), Aanandam (2016), Kurangu Bommai (2017) and Godha (2017).[8]
Aside from editing, he has cut the trailers for numerous films, notably Thira (2013), Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2015), Kunjiramayanam (2015), Jacobinte Swargarajyam (2016), Njandukalude Naattil Oridavela (2017) and Aravindante Athidhikal (2018).[9][8]
In 2022, he made his film directorial debut with Mukundan Unni Associates. He also co-wrote and co-edited the film with Vimal Gopalakrishnan and Nidhin Raj Arol respectively. The film starred his longtime collaborator Vineeth Sreenivasan, as the lead with a supporting cast of Suraj Venjaramoodu, Aarsha Chandini Baiju, Sudhi Koppa and Tanvi Ram. It premiered on 11 November 2022, to a positive response from audiences and critics alike and was a moderate box-office success.[10] Princy Alexander of OnManorama wrote "Mukundan Unni is delightfully deceptive.The director and writer Abhinav Sunder Nayak and co-writer Vimal Gopalakrishnan have to be credited."[11] Jose K George of The Week praised the film, saying "It is refreshing to see filmmakers not falling into the trap of shouldering the moral responsibility to make a movie the monolith of morality."[12]
In 2023, Abhinav expressed his interest in developing a sequel to Mukundan Unni Associates.[13] He is presently working on Althaf Salim's sophomore film Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira as its editor.[14] In May 2024, he announced his next film called Mollywood Times, with a quirky tagline - 'A hate letter to cinema', produced by Aashiq Usman, set to release in 2025.[15]
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Mukundan Unni Associates | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Vimal Gopalakrishnan also editor, Co-edited with Nidhin Raj Arol |
|
| 2026 | Mollywood Times † | Yes | Yes | [16] | |
Editor
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Vaayai Moodi Pesavum | Tamil film simultaneously shot in Malayalam called Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram | |
| 2015 | You Too Brutus | ||
| 2016 | Uriyadi | Tamil film | |
| Aanandam | |||
| 2017 | Godha | ||
| Kurangu Bommai | Tamil film | ||
| 2022 | Mukundan Unni Associates | Also director and writer | |
| 2025 | The Pet Detective | ||
Short films
| Year | Title | Credited as | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editor | Writer | ||
| 2017 | Touch | Yes | No |
| 2015 | Raah | Yes | No |
| 2013 | Ghazal (The Music of Redemption) | Yes | No |
| Muktibodh | Yes | No | |
| Kuttimaa | Yes | No | |
| 2012 | Dharmam | Yes | No |
| Inbox | Yes | No | |
| Karai | Yes | No | |
| 2011 | Unakkagavey Piranthaen | Yes | No |
| Cat Story | Yes | Yes | |
| Oorukku 4 Peru | Yes | No | |
| 2010 | Maranthittiya | Yes | No |
| Status Updated | Yes | Yes | |
| 2008 | Kuppi | Yes | Yes |