His directorial debut won him the prestigious Camera d'Or - Mention d'honneur at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989.

Since then every film by Shaji has hogged international attention and this is the fifth full length feature film of Shaji.

Talking about 'Kutty Srank', Shaji said: 'Set in the mid fifties in Kerala, the story is about the association of the sailors from the point of view of three woman - an aristocratic woman (Padmapriya), a local danseuse (Kamilina Mukharjee) and a mute girl (Sri Lankan actress Meena Kumari).'

For the film, Shaji teamed up with Anjuli Shukla, the first women cinematographer in the Malayalam film industry. 'Kutty Srank' is expected to hit screens in September or October.