Writer and director of many popular comedies in Malayalam cinema, Siddique, suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday, August 6, at a private hospital in Kochi, where he has been admitted since July 10, for treatment of pneumonia and respiratory difficulties. He is now in the Intensive Care Unit on life support, and his condition remains critical. 

Hailing from Kerala’s Kochi, Siddique, now 60, had begun like many artistes in Malayalam cinema, at the mimicry troupe run by Kalabhavan, a prestigious centre for performing arts. Along with his friend and colleague Lal, he forayed into the film industry in the last half of the 80s, to write comedies that had an element of melancholy in them. 

They began directing films in the late 1980s. A number of popular comedies in Malayalam cinema, like Ramji Rao Speaking, In Harihar Nagar, and Godfather, came from Siddique and Lal. While these movies aged well, their later works like Vietnam Colony and Kabooliwala did not have the same following as the previous films. 

In 1996, the director duo decided to split ways. Siddique continued to write and direct films, while Lal ventured into acting. Siddique made comedies like Friends (which got remade in Tamil). His film Bodyguard was remade in Tamil with Vijay and in Hindi with Salman Khan. Another remake was Mammootty's Bhaskar the Rascal into Tamil with Arvind Swamy. He also made a Telugu film called Maaro. In Malayalam, Siddique continued to make several movies with the superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty, the last one being Big Brother, which released three years ago.