He was 81. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.
Maliampurackal Chacko Punnoose, known as Navodaya Appachan, changed the face of the Malayalam film industry by producing the first 3D film in the country 'My dear Kuttichathan' and also the first 70mm film 'Padayottam'.
He was conferred with J C Daniel Award for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Appachan, a well known director and producer of film, had always thought about new technology and had shown courage to introduce new faces in the industry.
His early involvement with the film industry was with his brother Kunchako at Udaya Studio. His major films included My Dear Kuttichattan, Padayottam, Manjil Virinja Pookkal. His main films were based on Vadakkan Pattukal.
Founder of Navodaya Studio, he was also a creator of Bible ki Kahaniyan on Doordarsan from Kerala. Movies that he had produced included Manjil Virinja Pookkal and My Dear Kuttichathan. The latter was the first 3D movie made in India and was released as Chota Chetan in Hindi. He was founder of Navodaya Studio.