Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in international cinema. He is a recipient of six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, and eighteen Filmfare Awards South. In 2010, the Government of India conferred him with the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian award.
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.
Ranjith Balakrishnan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor who works in Malayalam cinema. Ranjith made his directorial debut in 2001 with Ravanaprabhu, the sequel to Devaasuram. He has won three National Film Awards, including one for his film Spirit, which received the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues. His films Thirakkatha and Indian Rupee won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam in 2008 and 2011, respectively. He has also received six Kerala State Film Awards.
Jayasurya is an Indian actor, distributor, sponsor, model, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist who works in Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a National Film Award, three Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South for acting and Best Actor at the Cincinnati Film Festival held in Cincinnati, US. Jayasurya has also appeared in a few Tamil films.
Chathikkatha Chanthu is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin and produced by Lal under the banner of Lal Creations. It stars Jayasurya in the title role, along with Vineeth, Lal, Navya Nair, and Bhavana in other major roles. The film features original songs composed by Alex Paul, while Berny-Ignatius did the scoring. In the film to spurn his landlord's daughter Indira, Chanthu writes love letters to an imaginary Vasumathi. However, things go awry when the letters reach a real Vasumathi and she falls for him.
Samvritha Sunil is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 2004 through the film Rasikan directed by Lal Jose.
Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer. He has sung many songs in over 600 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages.
Lal Jose is an Indian director, actor, producer, and distributor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He started his career as an Assistant director in the Malayalam cinema. His directorial debut was with the 1998 film Oru Maravathoor Kanavu.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language epic period drama film based on the life of Pazhassi Raja, a king who fought against the East India Company in the 18th century. The film was directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It stars Mammootty in lead role with an ensemble supporting cast. The music score and soundtrack were created by Ilaiyaraaja, while its sound design is by Resul Pookutty.
M. P. Michael, better known by his stage name Lal, is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, producer and distributor who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and in a few Telugu films. Lal has won several awards, including a National Film Award – Special Mention for acting (2012), two Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor, and a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam (2008). He is the owner of Lal Media Arts, a post-production studio.
Stephen Devassy is an Indian musician hailing from Palakkad, Kerala. He started his career at a very early age, and has performed on stage around the world. Stephen is the founder of Musik Lounge, an audio technology school and studio in Chennai.
Berny and Ignatius is an Indian musical duo consisting of brothers Berny and Ignatius Puthenveettil. Primarily working in the Malayalam film industry, they are best known for their work in films such as Thenmavin Kombath, Chandralekha, Kottaram Veettile Apputtan, Kalyanaraman, Chess, and Kaaryasthan. Thenmavin Kombath earned them the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director in 1994.
Bijibal Maniyil is an Indian music composer and playback singer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. In a career spanning more than twenty years, he has composed for more than 150 feature films, several television commercials and a few documentaries.His work on the movie "KALIYACHAN" earned him the National film award in 2012.
Vinayakan is an Indian actor, former dancer, and composer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil language films. He started his career with a cameo appearance in the 1995 film Maanthrikam.
Rafi and Mecartin are a screenwriter and director duo best known for comedy films in Malayalam cinema. Raffi's younger brother Shafi is also a well-known film director. Raffi is also the nephew of director Siddique from the Siddique–Lal duo. He has scripted and directed successful films such as Puthukkottayile Puthumanavalan (1995), Superman (1997), Punjabi House (1998), Thenkasipattanam (2000), Chathikkatha Chanthu (2004), Pandippada (2005), and Hallo (2007). The duo has also written the scripts for Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava (1995), Aadyathe Kanmani (1995), Dilliwala Rajakumaran (1996), Kusruthi Kuruppu (1998), One Man Show (2001), Thilakkam (2003), and Mayavi (2007) among others, for other directors.
Pazhassi Raja is a 1964 Malayalam biographical film, directed and produced by Kunchako. It is written by well known playwright Thikkodiyan and is based on the life of warrior king Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja. It stars Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair in the title role, with Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Satyapal, S. P. Pillai, Rajashree and Pankajavalli in other important roles.
Vidyasagar is an Indian composer, musician and singer who works predominantly in the Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu film industries. After working with several composers as assistant and conductor, Vidyasagar made his debut as a film composer in the 1989 Tamil film Poo Manam and is nicknamed as "Melody King". Working for over 225 feature films, he is the recipient of one National Award, multiple State Awards and five Filmfare Awards. He is widely regarded as one of the finest and most acclaimed composers in the history of Indian cinema.
Shaan Rahman is an Indian composer and singer, best known for his compositions in the Malayalam cinema. Shaan made his debut as a music director in the 2009 film Ee Pattanathil Bhootham directed by Johny Antony. He got the chance to work in the film after the wide acceptance and popularity of his 2008 music album "Coffee at MG Road" which he did along with his friend, singer and director Vineeth Sreenivasan.
John P. Varkey was an Indian guitarist, songwriter and composer. He began his career as a session guitarist. He brought out three albums with Jigsaw Puzzle by the label BMG Crescendo which were innovative and well accepted by the new generation and led to the formation of band Avial. John discontinued from Avial and independently directed music for many Indian big time feature films with prominent productions and directors. His ideas and innovative sound textures made many films come to life. Varkey first came to prominence as a member of the Malayalam rock band Avial, which itself evolved out of a band called Jigsaw Puzzle. Varkey was the guitarist and songwriter for the Thrissur-based band, Slowpedalers.
Saloo George is an Indian cinematographer in Malayalam cinema. Saloo George graduated in cinematography from Adyar Film Institute, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
