Priyadarshan Soman Nair is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning almost three decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi languages, besides making five films in Tamil and two in Telugu. Though Priyadarshan began his career in Malayalam cinema in 1984, he has been mainly active in Bollywood (Hindi cinema) during 2001-2010. He has done about 31 films in Hindi alone, the highest number of films done by a Bollywood director after David Dhawan. In 2013, he announced Rangrezz would be his last Hindi film for a while, and he is shifting focus to Malayalam cinema. Best known for his comedy films, Priyadrshan has also experimented with action and thriller films frequently. His collaborations with Mohanlal were highly popular in Malayalam cinema during the 1980s and 1990s, with films such as Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu, Thalavattam, Vellanakalude Nadu, Chithram, Vandanam, Kilukkam, Abhimanyu, Mithunam, Thenmavin Kombath, and Kala Pani. Actors he has worked with over several films include Kuthiravattam Pappu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Nedumudi Venu, Sreenivasan, Sukumari, Mukesh and Mammukoya.