Malayalam cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language, which is widely spoken in the state of Kerala and Lakshadweep islands of india. It is the fourth biggest film industry in India, following Bollywood, Tollywood, and Kollywood. Malayalam cinema includes the commercial film industry, sometimes known as Mollywood, as well as independent cinema made in Malayalam.
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music and a cultural icon of Kerala. Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 50,000 songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades. He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan. Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has appeared in more than 420 films, predominantly in lead roles. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, eleven Kerala State Film Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and fifteen Filmfare Awards South. He was honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1998, for his contributions to cinema. He was also honored with the Kerala Prabha Award by the Government of Kerala in 2022.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film Swayamvaram (1972), Gopalakrishnan pioneered the new wave in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. In a career spanning over five decades, Gopalakrishnan has made only 12 feature films to date. His films are made in the Malayalam language and often depict the society and culture of his native state Kerala. Nearly all of his films premiered at Venice, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festival. Along with Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, Gopalakrishnan is one of the most recognized Indian film directors in world cinema.
Kamaluddin Mohammed Majeed, mononymously known as Kamal, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He was the former chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. Kamal made his directorial debut with the 1986 film Mizhineerppoovukal. In a career spanning over three decades, Kamal has directed over forty films. His films have won various National Film Awards and Kerala State Film Awards, including for films such as Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal (1988), Ulladakkam (1991), Mazhayethum Munpe (1995), Niram (1999), Madhuranombarakkattu (2000), Meghamalhar (2001), Nammal (2002), Perumazhakkalam (2004), Karutha Pakshikal (2006), and Celluloid (2013).
Thanmathra is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Blessy, based on Padmarajan's short story "Orma". It portrays the effects of Alzheimer's disease on the life of Ramesan Nair (Mohanlal) and his family. The film collected three times its budget at the box-office and completed 150 days run. Thanmathra won five Kerala State Film Awards, which includes the Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and a Special Mention Award for the debutant actor Arjun Lal. It also won the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 53rd National Film Awards.
Blessy Ipe Thomas, best known mononymously as Blessy, is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He has won one National Film Awards and six Kerala State Film Awards for his feature films Kaazhcha (2004), Thanmathra (2005), and Pranayam (2011). His documentary film 100 Years of Chrysostom (2018) received the Guinness World Record for the longest documentary in the world, with a runtime of 48 hours and 10 minutes. His most recent release was his dream project, Aadujeevitham (2024).
The International Film Festival of Kerala is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy on behalf of Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. The festival is held in November or December every year and is acknowledged as one of the leading cultural events in India.
Ore Kadal is a 2007 Malayalam-language film written and directed by Shyamaprasad. The film is based on Sunil Gangopadhyay’s Bengali novel Hirak Deepthi. The film examines the extra-marital relationship between an intellectual economist and a housewife. It stars Mammootty, Meera Jasmine, Narain and Ramya Krishnan.
Shyamaprasad is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor from Kerala.
Kalpana Ranjani, better known mononymously as Kalpana, was an Indian actress who appeared in South Indian films, predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil. Kalpana has acted in over 300 films in various South Indian languages. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Thanichalla Njan (2012) at the 60th National Film Awards. Kalpana started her career as a child artist in the late 1970s. Although she came into the industry with the intention of being a lead actress, she turned out to be popular among the audiences for her comic roles.
Venkiteswaran Chittur Subramanian is an Indian film critic, professor, documentary filmmaker, writer and occasional subtitler from Chalakudi, Kerala, India, who writes predominantly in English and Malayalam. He won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2009 and shared the National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film with M.R. Rajan for directing the documentary film, Pakarnattam in 1995.
Aashiq Abu is an Indian film director, producer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema. He is best known for his films such as Daddy Cool (2009), Salt N' Pepper (2011), 22 Female Kottayam (2012), Idukki Gold (2013), Mayaanadhi (2017) and Virus (2019). Abu is often known for his collaboration with screenwriters Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair.
Celluloid is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language biographical film co-produced, written, and directed by Kamal, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sreenivasan, Mamta Mohandas, and Chandni in the lead roles. The film is a biopic based on the life story of J.C. Daniel, the father of Malayalam cinema, the making of his film Vigathakumaran, and the story of Vigathakumaran's heroine P. K. Rosie. The film is particularly based on Life of J. C. Daniel, a biography of J. C. Daniel written by Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan. The filming started in November 2012, and the online posters were done by a 16-year-old boy, Aswin, which went viral on social media. It was released in February 2013. The film opened with positive reviews and received seven Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor (Prithviraj). The movie received many awards and much appreciation with the support of All Lights Film Services (ALFS), a leading film festival consultancy. The film was a blockbuster at the box office.
Sidhartha Siva is an Indian film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist, who works in Malayalam cinema.
Cherian Joseph, popularly known as Prem Prakash is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam television serials and a renowned producer in Malayalam movies. He is mainly known for supporting roles and character roles. He has produced 19 Malayalam films. He is known as Kariachan amongst his family, friends and cinema circles.
Minon John is an Indian actor and artist, from Kerala, who works in Malayalam films.
Tom George Kolath better known as Tom George, is a film producer, director, actor and scriptwriter in the Malayalam Film Industry. He first came to attention for his performance in mini-screen Anna television serial directed by Alagappan. Akale, a film produced by him won the National Film Award and the Kerala State Film Award for best Malayalam feature film.
Farook Abdul Rahiman is an Indian filmmaker and writer. Farook was born into a Rowther family. Starting his career as an Assistant Director in television films of Dooradarshan, Farook was drawn into independent film making after his debut feature film
Dileesh Philip, also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film Maheshinte Prathikaaram, starring Fahadh Faasil. The film received the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 64th National Film Awards. Pothan also won the Best Director Award at the 64th Filmfare Awards South.
