Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema.

[3] He is best known for his action films with mainly focusing on political thriller and crime genres such as Thalastaanam (1992), Sthalathe Pradhana Payyans (1993), Ekalavyan (1993), Mafia (1993), Commissioner (1994), The King (1995), Aaraam Thampuran (1997), Narasimham (2000), Valliettan (2000), Kaduva and Kaapa (2022).

[4] Shaji was born to Shivaraman Nair who was an executive engineer in the Kerala Public Works Department and Janakiyamma on 8 February 1965.

This film also marked the beginning of Shaji Kailas- Renji Panicker combo, which later went into making of several super hits.

But, the success of Dr. Pashupathy was followed by Souhrudam, a romantic comedy starring Mukesh and Sai Kumar in the leading roles.

In the same year, Ekalavyan completed a run of 150 days in the theatres & played a crucial role in elevating lead actor Suresh Gopi to superstardom.

[2][6] Again in the same year, the Shaji Kailas-Renji Panicker-Suresh Gopi team returned with Mafia, a gangster film completely shot in Bangalore.

[2] In 1994 Commissioner, (again with Suresh Gopi in title role) broke several box office records and went on to become the highest grossing film of the year.

In the next year, in 1997 Shaji Kailas again joined with Ranjith for a low-budget action film titled Asuravamsam, with Manoj K. Jayan, Siddique and Biju Menon in leading roles.

In 1999, he directed F. I. R, another action flick with his friend Suresh Gopi as the lead actor scripted by Dennis Joseph.

Alibhai, was a big budget film with all leading stars in a row appeasing, but still bombed at box office.

Beginning of 2011 showcased his attempt to reclaim his position within Malayalam industry with the sequel of yesteryear mega hit "August 1", 15 August which garnered heavy negative reviews from critics and audiences alike and was finally declared as another flop by Shaji Kailas.

On 16 October 2019, it was announced that Shaji Kailas will be coming back from his hiatus with Kaduva starring Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead.

His next directorial project, Alone, starring Mohanlal in the lead role was released to mixed reviews and turned out to be a box-office-failure.