Kottayam, is one of 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettumanoor, and Vaikom. It is the only district in Kerala that neither borders the Arabian Sea nor any other states.
Malayalam cinema, is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. Rajiv Anchal's Guru (1997), Salim Ahamed's Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) and Lijo Jose Pellissery's Jallikkattu (2019) were Malayalam films sent by India as its official entries for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards.
Paul Zacharia, popularly known mononymously as Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, essays, columns and children's books, Zacharia is a distinguished fellow of Kerala Sahitya Akademi. He is also a recipient of the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story.
Shaji Neelakantan Karun is an Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi (1988) won the Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the premiere chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the first academy for film and TV in India and was also the executive chairman of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) from 1998 to 2001. He is best known for his award-winning films Piravi (1988), Swaham (1994), Vanaprastham (1999) and Kutty Srank (2009). He won the National Award for Best Director for his debut film Piravi. He also won two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Director for his films Swaham and Vanaprastham. Currently, he is the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation.
Mundakayam, is a town in Kanjirappally Taluk in the Kottayam District of Kerala. It is the doorway to the high ranges of southern Kerala, and is at the border of Kottayam and Idukki districts. The next nearest town, Kanjirappally, is 14 km (8.7 mi) & Erumely is 12 km from Mundakayam. Mundakayam has rubber plantations, and greenery. The Manimala River runs through Mundakayam. It is located 48 km east of the district headquarters at Kottayam and 148 km from the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. The name Mundakayam is said to be derived from the Mundi cranes that used to be seen along the Manimala River banks.
Ranjith Balakrishnan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist, producer, and actor who works in Malayalam cinema. Ranjith made his directorial debut in 2001 with Ravanaprabhu, the sequel to Devaasuram. His films Thirakkatha and Indian Rupee won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam in 2008 and 2011 respectively. He is also the current chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer. He has sung many songs in over 600 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages.
Indrajith Sukumaran is an Indian actor and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Indrajith was born to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran and is the elder brother of Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Classmates is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lal Jose and written by James Albert. The film features an ensemble cast including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Narain, Jayasurya, Indrajith Sukumaran and Kavya Madhavan with Jagathy Sreekumar, Balachandra Menon and Radhika in supporting roles. The story revolves around the college graduate class of 1991. In 2006, working in different corners of the world, the friends get together for a class reunion to revive the joy and laughter of their student days. On the night of the reunion, one of the students is almost murdered and goes into a coma.
Shaji Kailas is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film Dr. Pasupathy (1990).
Chitra Shaji Kailas, better known by her former name Annie, is an Indian actress and television host from Kerala, who appears in Malayalam films and television. Her film career spanned three years from 1993 to 1996 with a total of 16 films in Malayalam cinema, she retired from acting post-marriage and returned as a television host in 2015.
Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 1999 with My Dear Karadi and having made more than 90 appearances, he received a major breakthrough in his career with Drishyam (2013), in which he played a negative role. He made his directorial debut with Brother's Day starring Prithviraj. As of June 2021, he has starred in more than 130 Malayalam films.
Paavada (transl. Skirt) is a 2016 Indian comedy drama film directed by G. Marthandan and written by Bipin Chandran, based on the story he co-wrote with Shibin Francis. The film is about the life of two alcoholics It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Anoop Menon in lead roles along with Miya, Asha Sarath, Nedumudi Venu and Maniyanpilla Raju in supporting roles. The film was produced by Maniyanpilla Raju. The music was composed by Aby Tom Cyriac and released under the label Muzik 247.
Sandeep Kurissery is an Indian film sound designer, sound editor and location sound recordist. He, along with Jiji P Joseph won the first ever award for location sound recording for the film Oraalppokkam in the 2014 Kerala State Film Awards. The duo won the award again in 2015 with Ozhivudivasathe Kali. Sandeep has worked with some of the leading filmmakers in South India like Girish Kasaravalli, Shaji N Karun, Vipin Vijay and Shyamaprasad.
Adam Joan is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Jinu V. Abraham, produced by Jairaj Motion Pictures and B Cinemas, distributed by Renji Panicker Entertainment. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran in the title role alongside an ensemble cast including Mishti, Narain, Rahul Madhav, Bhavana, Lena, Maniyanpilla Raju, Jaya Menon and Madhusudhan Rao. It was shot in Scotland and Kerala. Adam Joan was released in India on 1 September 2017 and was a major commercial success.
Shaji Chen is an Indian writer and actor. Shaji's main area of writing is music and cinema related. Shaji writes in Tamil, Malayalam, English languages and acts in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films.
Emil Mohammed also known as Farhan Roshan is an Indian music composer, mixing engineer and sound designer. He is a graduate from SAE School of audio engineering, Chennai. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema Industry. He is known for films such as Mera Naam Shaji directed by Nadirshah Dhairyam , Circus ,Nanda Loves Nanditha, Ragini IPS, Kidi (film) and Namo Bhootatma.
Simhasanam is a 2012 Malayalam action film written and directed by Shaji Kailas starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Sai Kumar with supporting cast including Siddique, Devan, Jayakrishnan, Biju Pappan, Thilakan, Vandana Menon and Aishwarya Devan. The music was composed by Ronnie Raphael.
Kaduva (transl. Tiger) is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Shaji Kailas, written by Jinu V. Abraham and produced by Prithviraj Productions and Magic Frames. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran in the title role alongside Vivek Oberoi and Samyuktha Menon.
Kaapa is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Shaji Kailas and written by G. R. Indugopan based on his novel Shankhumukhi. Produced by Fefka Writers Union, Theatre of Dream and Saregama India Limited, it stars Prithviraj Sukumaran along with Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali and Anna Ben.
