Malayalam filmmaker Ashokan (alias Raman Ashok Kumar) breathed his last on the night of Sunday, September 25. He was 60 years old. He was admitted to a private hospital in Kochi for nearly a month. Before making his independent directorial debut, Ashokan worked as an associate with director J Sasikumar, who has more than 130 films to his credit.
In 1989, Ashokan made his debut with Varnam, which is a psychological drama starring Suresh Gopi, Jayaram and Ranjini in lead roles. His second film was Acharyan, which was written by journalist-script writer, B Jayachandran. Ashokan had also collaborated with Thaha and together, they churned out two films, Sandram and Mookkilla Rajyathu. Post this, Ashokan took a small break from films. In 2003, he made his comeback with a telefilm titled Melody of Loneliness. The film was the recipient of the Kerala State Award.