Shaji made his directorial debut with the Malayalam film "Piravi" ("The Birth", 1988), which won him the prestigious "Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur" at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. While "Piravi" was about the grief of a father who loses his son, Shaji's second film, "Swaham" (1994) continued with the theme of grief. "Swaham" was selected to compete at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. "Vaanaprastham" ("The Final Dance", 1999) dealt with the identity crisis faced by an actor. Mohanlal played the lead role in this film. He directed the film "Nishad", made in Hindi, which was completed in May 2002, and premiered in the Fukuoka International Film Festival held in September 2002 in Japan. His latest film is titled Kutty Srank with Mammootty playing the lead role. The film was released theatrically in Kerala on July 2010.Swapaanam with Jayaram and Kadambari in lead roles has premiered at Dubai International Film Festival on 8 December 2013, a rare recognition for Malayalam Cinema as the World premier screening outside India. "Olu", his latest film, under 'fantasy perception' and narrative, had chosen the inaugural film of Indian Panorama film selections presented in International Film Festival of India Goa-2018. OLU has also been chosen as the "OPENING FILMS" of TWO major International film festivals- International film festival of INNSBRUCK 2019.AUSTRIA, ISOLA Cinema International film festival 2019, SLOVENIA. "Olu" also won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography (2018) award in the 66th National Film Awards.