Shyamaprasad was born on 7th November 1960 in
Palakkad,
Kerala, as the younger son of politician
O. Rajagopal and Dr. Shantha Kumari. He was named after
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of
Bharatiya Jan Sangh. Shyamaprasad studied at the
Basel Evangelical Mission School, Palakkad. After completing his degree in Theatre Arts from the
School of Drama and Fine Arts, Thrissur, he received the
Commonwealth Scholarship in 1989 and did his
Masters in Media Production at the
University of Hull. Shyamaprasad worked as an intern at the
BBC and
Channel 4, to Indian television and redefined the parameters of telefilms and documentaries in Malayalam Television with
Doordarshan. He serves as the President (Programming) at
Amrita TV. His features for TV and cinema have won him several national and state awards namely
Agnisakshi and
Akale, produced by
Tom George Kolath, had been adjudged the best regional cinema films of the nation in 1998 and 2004. For television, he has adapted the works of
Anton Chekhov (
Vivahalochana);
Albert Camus (
The Just);
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (
Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku);
Madhavikkutty (
Venalinte Ozhivu); N Mohanan (
Peruvazhiyile Kariyilakal); Sarah Joseph (
Nilavariyunnu),
N. P. Mohammed (Ullurukkam) and K. Radhakrishnan (
Shamanathalam). He was awarded the Best Television Director prize for the year 1993, 1994 and 1996. Shyamaprasad had been invited to serve twice as the jury of the
National Film Awards. His 2007 production
Ore Kadal, based on a
Bengali novel by
Sunil Gangopadhyay, was chosen as the inaugural film of the Indian Panorama at the
International Film Festival of India 2007. His film
Ritu (
Seasons), released in early August 2009 is seen by one reporter as the 'coming of age' of
Malayalam cinema. He won the Best Director prize of the fiercely contested Kerala State Film Awards 5 times- namely for his films Agnisakshi, Akale, Elektra, Artist and Oru Njayarazhcha. ==Personal life==