KOCHI: Malayalam film director Siddique passed away in Kochi. He was 63. The legendary filmmaker was rushed to Hospital just days back after suffering from a major heart attack. It was directors Lal and B Unnikrishnan who informed the media about Siddique’s passing. The director was continuing in ECMO support when the death happened.

Siddique was admitted to Kochi’s Amrita Hospital on July 10 after his condition worsened with Pneumonia. He was also suffering from chronic liver disease. The burial will be conducted at Kochi's central Juma masjid on Wednesday. From tomorrow morning at 9 am, the director's mortal remains will be kept at Kadavanthra Indoor Stadium for public viewing.

Siddique Ismail was a luminary in the Malayalam film industry who climbed all ladders to reach the summit of acceptance among Malayali audiences. He started off his career being a second fiddle to director Fazil, who instantly roped Siddique into his team after watching his performance in Cochin Kalabhavan.

In later years, Siddique would collab with his man Friday Lal to work on movies that marked an epoch in Malayalam film history. Pappan Priyappetta Pappan (1986) with Mohanlal was his first entry into the film world as a scriptwriter. In the ensuing years, Siddique would script a mélange of movies, trying different genres. In 1989, Siddique-Lal created ‘Ramjirao Speaking’ to make a foray into direction.

In 1999, Siddique decided to split with Lal and go independent on amicable terms. When everyone thought this was the end of a legendary collab, Siddique wrote and directed the biggest hit of the year Friends(1999) which went on to be remade in many other regional languages.

In 2010, Siddique far from his halcyon days directed a Dileep movie which changed the fortunes of the director. The movie performed reasonably well in theatres but was far away from being declared a blockbuster. However, he decided to do a remake of the movie in Tamil and Hindi which made him an instant superstar director. Siddique directed Salman Khan in Bodyguard( 2011) which shattered all previous Box office records and garnered rave reviews.

Even while handling varied many genres of films, Humour was Siddique’s forte. Siddique is married to Sajitha. The couple has three daughters Sumaya, Sara, and Sukoon.