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 based in Kochi.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.
Mohanlal Viswanathan ), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Mohanlal has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 400 films. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2001, and Padma Bhushan in 2019, India's fourth and third highest civilian honours, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2009, he became the first actor in India to be awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army. Mohanlal was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN.
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. Mammootty was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN.
Shanthakumari Nambiar, known by her stage name Seema, is an Indian actress. known for her work in Malayalam cinema. Actor Vijayan gave her the screen name : Seema.
Nizhalkuthu is a 2002 Indian film in Malayalam directed, written and co-produced by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The film explores the recesses of the human consciousness. It stars Oduvil Unnikrishnan in the lead with actors Narain, Murali, Sukumari, Reeja, Nedumudi Venu, Vijayaraghavan, Jagathi Sreekumar and Tara Kalyan in supporting roles. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti section and received critical acclaim. The film was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize at the festival.
Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry.
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, comedian and entrepreneur who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada films. He has won several awards, including Kerala State Film Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.
Rajeev Ravi is an Indian cinematographer, director, and producer from Kochi, Kerala. He's best known for his work in Hindi and Malayalam films. After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 1997, he started his career by assisting in the Malayalam film, Pranayavarnangal (1998) shot by Santosh Thundiyil. He debuted as a cinematographer with the film Chandni Bar (2001), when he was launched by producer R. Mohan when the original cinematographer Venu had date clashes. The film was directed by Madhur Bhandarkar.
Nivin Pauly is an Indian actor and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He is the recipient of two Kerala State Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South, two Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, and six SIIMA Awards. He auditioned for and was cast in one of the main roles in Vineeth Sreenivasan's directorial debut, Malarvaadi Arts Club, in 2010 and got his breakthrough in the romantic film Thattathin Marayathu (2012).
Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which includes three Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Kalidas Jayaram is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. The son of film actors Jayaram and Parvathy, Kalidas made his debut in the Malayalam film Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal (2000) at the age of six. Later, he starred in Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum (2003), which won him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist.
Jalamarmaram is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by T. K. Rajeev Kumar and co-written with B. Unnikrishnan. The cast includes P. Balachandran and Aswin Thampy in the lead roles.
Dharmajan Bolgatty is an Indian actor, producer, comedian, politician and entrepreneur, who works in Malayalam films, television, and stage shows. He began his career as a comedian appearing in sketch comedies on stage, later forayed into such comedic television shows and into films in 2010s. Dharmajan entered active politics in 2021, ahead of the assembly elections in Kerala. He is a member of Indian National Congress and was the United Democratic Front candidate in Balusseri constituency.
Shane Nigam is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. Having made his debut in a credited role with the 2013 road film Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013), he went to receive wider attention for his performances in various successful drama films Kismath (2016), Parava (2017), Kumbalangi Nights (2019), Ishq (2019), Bhoothakaalam (2022), and RDX: Robert Dony Xavier (2023).
Nimisha Sajayan is an Indian actress who has been appearing in Malayalam and Tamil language movies in addition to a Marathi and an English language film. Nimisha made her acting debut with the film Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum directed by Dileesh Pothan. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress in 2018 for her performance in Oru Kuprasidha Payyan and Chola. She is also a recipient of three Filmfare Award South and three SIIMA Awards.
Eeda (transl. Here) is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language romance film written, edited and directed by B. Ajithkumar. The film is a modern take on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, set in the backdrops of political violence in Kannur, north Malabar. Shane Nigam and Nimisha Sajayan play the lead roles. Eeda was produced by Sharmila Rajaa through Delta Studio, in collaboration with Collective Phase One. The executive producers were TRS Muthukumaar, K.J. Ayyappan, and Sukumar Thekkepatt. The film won the John Abraham Award for Best Malayalam Film in 2017.
Mahesh Narayanan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, he has also worked in Tamil and Hindi films. He is a recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director (2017) and Kerala State Film Award for Best Director (2022).
Sudheesh Pappu, professionally credited mononymously as Pappu, was an Indian cinematographer who worked in Malayalam cinema.
Dawn Vincent is an Indian music composer and sound designer. He is a graduate from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He is also an accomplished pianist certified from Trinity College London. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
