Balachandra Menon is an Indian actor, director and script writer. He made a number of films in the 1980s and 1990s. He has directed 40 films and has acted in over 100. He won two National Film Awards including the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as station master Ismail the 1998 film Samaantharangal, which was also directed by him. He has also worked as a distributor, editor, composer, singer and producer in the Malayalam film industry. He has found space in the Limca Book of Records for the maximum number of films directed, scripted and acted in.
Kilukkam (transl. Jingle) is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language musical romantic comedy film directed by Priyadarshan and written by Venu Nagavalli. The story set in Ooty revolves around tourist guide Joji (Mohanlal) and photographer Nishchal. They happen to meet a lavish tourist Nandini (Revathi), whom they bet their fortunes on. It also stars Thilakan, Innocent, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Sukumari, and Sharat Saxena, with Murali and Jagadish making cameo appearances. The music was composed by S. P. Venkatesh. Kilukkam was released on 15 August 1991. The film was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at that time and ran for more than 365-days at the theaters. Kilukkam won five Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Actor for Mohanlal, Second Best Actor for Jagathy Sreekumar, Best Editor for N. Gopalakrishnan, and Best Cinematographer for S. Kumar. The film is regarded as one of the best comedy films of Malayalam cinema. It was remade in Telugu as Allari Pilla and in Hindi as Muskurahat by Priyadarshan himself. Later, the film had a sequel Kilukkam Kilukilukkam (2006).
Biju Menon is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil and Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film Puthran. In a career spanning over two decades, he has appeared in over 150 films, and has won one National film award for Best Supporting Actor, three Kerala State Film Awards including one best actor, two Filmfare Awards South and nine Asianet Film Awards.He got the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in 2021 for the film Aarkkariyam.
Prem Kumar is an Indian actor known for his roles in Malayalam films. He has acted more than 100 films, and played lead roles in 18 films. In 2022 he was appointed as vice-chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
K. Surendran, better known by his stage name Indrans, is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough in 1994 with the comedy movie CID Unnikrishnan B.A., B.Ed. Indrans was popular for his comedy roles in the 1990s and 2000s.
Sudheer Kumar, better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju, is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry. His debut film was Mohiniyaattam in 1976. He has played a variety of roles as a character actor, appearing in over 400 films. His stage name was derived from the character he played in the film Maniyanpilla Adhava Maniyanpilla (1981), his break-through role.
Anoop Menon is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and lyricist. He worked in television before acting in Malayalam films and has acted in more than 75 films.
Venu Nagavally was an Indian actor, screenwriter and director best known for his work in Malayalam film industry. He has directed 12 films. Son of writer, commentator, and broadcaster Nagavally R. S. Kurup, Venu has acted in about fifty films, directed films such as Sukhamo Devi (1986), Sarvakalashala (1987), Lal Salam (1990), and Aye Auto (1990), Aayirappara (1993) and scripted the commercially successful Kilukkam (1991). Venu Nagavally died at Thiruvananthapuram on 9 September 2010.
Sanusha Santhosh is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
Ee Adutha Kaalathu is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy crime film written by Murali Gopy and directed by Arun Kumar Aravind. The film marks the second directorial venture by Arun Kumar Aravind, after his notable directorial debut Cocktail (2010). Kerala State Award winning cinematographer Shehnad Jalal handled the camera.
Raveendran (Ravindher), popularly known as Disco Raveendran is an Indian actor, primarily concentrating in Malayalam and Tamil films and he was a very busy actor of both these languages in the 1980s. A multi-faceted personality, Raveendran is also a screenwriter, interior designer, anchor, a film scholar, an acting coach, social activist and director of film festivals like Kochi Metro (Malayalam) Short Film Fest. He is an alumnus of the Adayar film school, Chennai.
Sivabalan, better known as Appukutty, is an Indian actor and comedian, who mainly appears in Tamil films. He became recognized following his performance in Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu. His role as Azhagarsami in Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai was praised by film critics and fetched him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Regina Cassandra is an Indian actress who primarily works in Tamil and Telugu films. She made her acting debut with the Tamil film Kanda Naal Mudhal (2005) and made her Telugu film debut with Siva Manasulo Sruthi (2012), for which she won the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut - Telugu. She made her Hindi film debut with Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019).
Namitha Pramod is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Malayalam films She made her acting debut in the Malayalam film Puthiya Theerangal.
Lakshmi Menon is an Indian actress, who mainly appears in Tamil films. After making her acting debut in a supporting role in the Malayalam film Raghuvinte Swantham Raziya (2011), she played the female lead in her debut Tamil film Kumki in 2012.
Maniyan Pilla Adhava Maniyan Pilla is a 1981 Indian Malayalam-language comedy film written, directed and scripted by Balachandra Menon. The film stars Sudheer Kumar, Venu Nagavally, Jose Prakash and Ambika. The film revolves around Maniyanpilla, an illiterate man from a poor household, who goes to the city to make a living. The film was produced and distributed by E. J. Peter under the banner of St. Martin Films. The producer had signed Kamal Haasan for the film as the lead actor, but due to circumstances, Menon replaced Haasan with his real life friend Sudheer Kumar as the lead actor. The film has a musical score by G. Devarajan. The cinematography was handled by Ramachandra Babu. The film was release on 1 May 1981 and was a commercial success and was a breakthrough for Sudheer Kumar, who adopted the hypocorism Maniyanpilla Raju after the success of the film.
Enai Noki Paayum Thota is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film features Dhanush, Megha Akash, Sasikumar and Sunaina.
Krrish is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Malayalam cinema. He made his debut in the commercially successful Yennai Arindhaal directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon starring Ajith Kumar in 2015. Then went on to play one of the antagonists in the Tamil hit Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada also directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon in 2016. He made his Malayalam debut with Kinavalli directed by Sugeeth in 2018 for which he won the Asiavision Awards for most promising actor. Kinavalli garnered positive reviews from critics and the audiences alike. His latest release is the comic caper web series "What's up Velakkari" which has released in Zee 5 in December 2018. He plays a funny Cop called Rakesh. The web series has been released in 7 languages in India. His latest Tamil film is ‘Hostel’ directed by Sumanth Radhakrishnan starring Ashok Selvan, Priya Bhavani Shankar and comedian Sathish.
Uriyadi is a Malayalam-language thriller comedy-drama film directed by A.J Varghese. The film stars Sreenivasan, Siddique, Vineeth Mohan, Baiju Santhosh, Aju Varghese and others, where Karthik Jogesh is the editor, the cinematography is by Jemin J Ayyaneth, while the original score and soundtrack are composed by Ishaan Dev. The film was released on 17 January 2020.
G. Suresh Kumar is an Indian film producer and actor known for Poochakkorumookuthi and Araam Thamburan. He produces films under the banner Revathy Kalamandhir an Indian film production company based in Thiruvananthapuram which is founded in 1993 by him and he produced more than 32 Malayalam films under this banner.
