Dennis was born on 20 October 1957 in Ettumanoor, Kottayam district to M. N. Joseph and Eliyamma Joseph.[3] His father worked in the Indian Air Force, while his mother worked as a local teacher.[4] However, he was also born into a film-making family, being a nephew of actors Jose Prakash and Prem Prakash.[5] He was also the nephew to Francis Prakash, who would go on to be a producer of the 1974 film Shapamoksham.[4] He attended the Ettumanoor Government High School, followed by Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad, where he studied for a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry.[3][4]
Career
Dennis' career began at the Malayalam-language film magazine Cut Cut, where he worked as a sub-editor to the cartoonist B. M. Gafoor. During his stint at the magazine, he interviewed prominent actors in the Malayalam film industry, as well as spending time at filming locations.[4] Dennis made his debut into cinema in 1985, as the scriptwriter for the Jeassy film Eeran Sandhya, a film which saw Mammootty star alongside Shobana, Rahman and Joseph's uncle Jose Prakash.[4][5] He followed this by writing the screenplay for Nirakkoottu, also in 1985.[3] Directed by Joshiy, Nirakkoottu, whose cast included Mammootty, Urvashi, Lizzy and Sumalatha, told the story of a prisoner who seeks revenge for his wife's murder.[6]
Nirakkoottu was a success, leading Dennis to write a series of other films in the subsequent years. This included Rajavinte Makan, loosely adapted from Rage of Angels, a novel by Sidney Sheldon, which was released in 1986. Directed by Thampi Kannanthanam, this film was a huge success at the box office. Appearing as Vincent Gomas, a crime boss, Mohanlal successfully mesmerized the moviegoers and the film raised his stardom.[7] Similarly, after around many flops, Mammootty was in the darkest days of his career in the period 1986–87, when Dennis scripted New Delhi.[8] Directed by Joshiy, this film was also a loose adaptation of an English novel, Irving Wallace's The Almighty. Completely shot in and around Delhi, and went on to become the comeback film of Mammootty.[9]
Dennis continued writing scripts throughout the 1990s and 2000s; his last released film to date being 2013's Geethanjali, directed by Priyadarshan. He then took a hiatus from writing until 2020 when he announced a collaboration with director Omar Lulu on a film called Power Star.[11]
Personal life and death
Dennis was married to Leena and had three children – Elizabeth, Rossy, and Jose.[4]
