Often he chose a narrative interpersed with long silences and pauses that conveyed so much better than loud frames and ponderous dialogues. His stories were subtle yet tinged with prophetic vision.

In his directorial debut, Piravi, which tracks the gruelling pain of a father’s wait, the compelling narrative left the audience speechless and overcome with an ache that defied description. The movie serves to be a caustic pointer to the disturbing saga of custodial deaths.

Swaham too depicts waiting, but of a different kind. Vanaprastham, which elicited one of the career-best performaces from Mohanlal, too was another sketch of yearning – this time that of a Kathakali artist, who goes through the myriad hues of love, life, isolation amidst a complex societal structure.

Shaji was an extremely selective filmmaker when it came to his cinematic creations. He was immune to the glitter of the industry. Even the well-established norms of arthouse movies failed to woo him. He was someone who refused to remain stagnant. “I tend to forget a film, once it’s done. If not, I would have to carry its baggage,” was his motto.

Beginning his career as a cinematographer, Shaji quickly established himself as a master of visual story-telling. He blossomed well in thr company of masters with whom he joined hands – be it G Aravindan, KG George or MT Vasudevan Nair, with whom he worked for films like Manju. That he successfully wielded the camera for the widely-popular, yet artisically brilliant KG George movies too, showed his multiple talents.