| Alias | John |
|---|---|
| Age | 80 years |
| Occupation | Story, Director |
| Language Worked in | Malayalam |
| Birth Place | Kunnamkulam, Kingdom of Cochin, British India |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Religion | Christianity |
John Abraham was born in Kunnamkulam in 1937.[1][2] He completed his studies in Kottayam staying with his grandfather. It was him who nurtured Abraham's talent in early days. After completing his degree in economics from Marthoma College, Thiruvalla, he worked as an insurance agent in Bellary. After that he joined the FTII, Pune and here he met filmmakers such as Ritwik Ghatak and Mani Kaul. Abraham graduated out of the FTII with gold medals in screenwriting and film direction. He entered the film industry working as an assistant director to Mani Kaul for the film Uski Roti (1969, Hindi). He has worked for some Hindi projects that was shot in Kerala, but none were released. Abraham's first attempt in direction came in 1967 named Vidyarthikale Ithile Ithile. It was the Tamil film Agraharathil Kazhuthai (1977) that elevated Abraham to fame.
The media called him Ottayana (The Lone Tusker). John Abraham attained mythical proportions even during his short life span, living a nomadic existence, who rebelled all the established ways. He was also an alcoholic, and died after falling from the rooftop in Calicut on 31 May 1987. John was a romantic artist, who believed that cinema could be used as an effective tool for social changes. He tried to by-pass the tyranny of market forces by establishing direct relationship with the people. No wonder that the man who made unparalleled films like Agraharathil Kazhuthai and Amma Ariyan was more acceptable among the illiterate villagers than the intelligentsia of Kerala. He has left behind a number of complete and incomplete scripts. A collection of his stories had been published under the title Nerchakkozhi. Another collection of his stories has been published posthumously under the title John Abrahaminte Kathakal by Pakshikkottam Books, Thiruvananthapuram in 1993.
On May 30, 1987 John was admitted to the Calicut Medical College hospital following his fall from a house top after a drinking session. He was not identified by the hospital authorities, and allegedly not given due attention, which caused his condition to deteriorate, leading to his death on May 31.[8] Following the allegations of medical negligence, a departmental inquiry was conducted into the incident. 26 years after John's death, social activist Dr. B. Ekbal who was a surgeon at the Calicut Medical College when John was admitted for treatment, revealed that the director could have been saved if his identity was known to the doctors at the time of admission. He said the doctors at the casualty didn’t know John and mistook him for a film representative when he said that he was a filmmaker. In a Facebook post, Ekbal said the doctors failed to diagnose internal bleeding suffered by John and to check his blood pressure which could have prevented him from slipping into a shock through a timely surgery.