Kappi Squad director Belraj Kalarickal dies at 27

Malayalam cinema is mourning a filmmaker who was only getting started. Belraj Kalarickal, the director of the new web series Kappi Squad, passed away on Saturday. He was 27.

He was found in a hotel room in Kochi, and initial reports point to a possible heart attack. The family and friends around him are waiting for further details, but the grief is already clear across the industry.

A directorial debut cut short

Belraj’s first project as a director, Kappi Squad, began streaming on JioHotstar just days before his death. That timing has made the loss especially difficult for his peers: a debut is usually a beginning, and here it arrived almost alongside a goodbye.

Belraj had also recently begun a new personal chapter. He married Athira Bindu Sabu on 11 September 2026, after a six-year relationship.

First Print Studios loses a founding member

At First Print Studios, Belraj was not a hired gun. He was one of the banner’s founding members, and had helped build the creative team behind projects such as the award-winning feature Ottamuri Velicham and the web series Kerala Crime Files.

Filmmaker Rahul Riji Nair, who worked closely with him, remembered Belraj as a “visionary filmmaker” and a guiding light. In a tribute, he said Belraj’s “passion and dedication” shaped both the work and the identity of the production house, and that without him First Print Studios would remain incomplete.

The path to Kappi Squad

Before directing, Belraj learned the craft on set. He assisted on films including Nizhal, Madhuram and Dakini, and worked with Rahul Riji Nair on Dakini, Keedam and Kho Kho. That background made his first show feel like a natural next step, not a breakaway.

Why it matters to audiences

• His debut arrived on a major streaming platform, giving the series national reach.
• Malayalam web series have been gaining loyal viewers beyond Kerala, making the loss felt beyond one set.
• A 27-year-old with years of assistant-directing experience represented the next generation of Malayalam storytelling.

JioHotstar’s official tribute read: “Some goodbyes come far too soon. Rest in peace, Belraj Kalarickal.” The platform added that it wished there were more stories to share with him.

For the Kerala industry, this is also a reminder of how compressed time can be for young talent. Belraj’s profile was unusual: a founding producer who had spent years assisting before directing. Losing him at 27 removes not just one credit but a future slate of stories his collaborators assumed they would make with him.

For viewers, Kappi Squad now carries a bittersweet weight: it is both a first work and a final one. As the tributes make clear, Belraj’s influence on his colleagues will outlast a single credit.

Source: The Times of India