Malayalam cinema is the Indian film industry based in the southern state of Kerala, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language. It is also known by the sobriquet Mollywood in various print and online media. Malayalam film industry is the fourth biggest film industry in India. The films produced here are known for their cinematography and story-driven realistic plots. Works such as Marana Simhasanam and Vanaprastham were screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Marana Simhasanam garnered the coveted Caméra d'Or for that year.
P. Padmarajan was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his landmark work in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. Padmarajan was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Bharathan and K. G. George, in the 1980s, which created groundbreaking films that were widely received while also being critically acclaimed. Known for his classic works, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest film makers of Indian Cinema of all time. He is known for the mastery in screenwriting in Malayalam Cinema.
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.
Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. She has recorded more than 25,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tulu, Rajasthani, Urdu, Sanskrit, and Badaga as well as foreign languages such as Malay, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, English and French. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration in the songs with Music Composers A.R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, Hamsalekha, M. M. Keeravani and with the playback singers KJ Yesudas and SP Balasubramaniyam over the years. She is also known mostly for her sweet and melodious voice for which she is fondly called as Melody Queen and Nightingale of South India.
Thiruvalla, alternately spelled Tiruvalla, is a Municipality in Kerala and also the headquarters of the Taluk of same name located in Pathanamthitta district in the State of Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of 27.94 km . It lies on the banks of the river Pamba and river Manimala, and is a land-locked region surrounded by irrigating streams and rivers. Thiruvalla is regarded as the "Land of Non resident Indians ". Due to the increasing migration of young people, it is now battling a decline in its population. The age group above 60 makes up almost 54% of the town's population. Also due to declining fertility levels in Thiruvalla, many schools are being forced to shut down due to the lack of children. Thiruvalla is also famous for the dance of Kathakali, which is hosted in the Sreevallabha temple almost every day in a year.
John Abraham was a Malayali Indian filmmaker, short story writer and screenwriter. John is ranked among the greatest Indian film directors. His film Amma Ariyan (1986) was the only south Indian feature film to make the list of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time by British Film Institute. Agraharathil Kazhuthai was listed among the "100 Greatest Indian Films" of all time by IBN Live's 2013 poll.
Madhavan Nair, commonly known by his stage name Madhu, is an Indian film actor, director, producer, and former film studio owner, who works in Malayalam cinema.
Blessy is an Indian film director and screenwriter who has made several critically acclaimed Malayalam films. His popular films include Kaazhcha (2004), Thanmathra (2005), Palunku (2006), Bhramaram (2009), and Pranayam (2011).
Pulloottupadathu Bhaskaran alias as P. Bhaskaran, was a Malayalam poet, lyricist of Malayalam film songs and filmmaker. He penned more than 3000 songs for about 250 films. He also directed 44 Malayalam feature films and 3 documentaries, produced 6 feature films and acted in several movies. For his overall contributions to Malayalam cinema, he was awarded J. C. Daniel Award by the Government of Kerala.
Aleksa Muhammed Fazil, known mononymously as Fazil, is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor who works in Malayalam cinema, in addition to directing a handful of Tamil films and a Telugu film. He made his directional debut with the 1980 film Manjil Virinja Pookkal. His popular films include Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku (1983), Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu (1984), Poovinu Puthiya Poonthennal (1986), Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal (1987), Ente Sooryaputhrikku (1991), Pappayude Swantham Appoos (1992), Manichitrathazhu (1993), Aniyathipraavu (1997), Harikrishnans (1998). His 1993 film Manichitrathazhu won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. He won the Best Director award at the 13th Kerala State Film Awards for his 1983 film Ente Mamattukkuttiyammakku.
T. V. Varkey is an Indian writer, professor and literary activist. He writes novels and short stories both in Malayalam and English. He lives in Tripunithura, close to Kochi. Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Dostoevsky, García Márquez and Günter Grass have influenced his writing.
Kalpana Ranjani, better known mononymously as Kalpana, was an Indian film actress who has appeared in South Indian films, predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. Kalpana has acted in over 300 films in various South Indian languages.
Anjukandy Thalakkal Ummer Malayalam: അഞ്ചുകണ്ടി തളയ്ക്കൽഉമ്മർ) was a noted Malayalam music composer from Kerala, India. He is known for composing many soft melodies for Malayalam movies.
Rajeev Ravi is an Indian cinematographer, director, and producer from Kochi, Kerala. He's best known for his 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 an independent cinematographer with the film Chandni Bar (2001) directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. Ravi is known for his collaboration with director Anurag Kashyap. They have collaborated in several commercial and art films in Hindi cinema. In 2012, he co-produced the Hindi feature film ID. The film premiered in the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. Ravi won the 2010 Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography for Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D. In 2013, he received the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for Liar's Dice directed by his wife Geetu Mohandas.
Babu Thiruvalla is an Indian film producer, director, and scriptwriter who works in Malayalam films. He produced films such as Oru Minnaminunginte Nurungu Vettam (1987) and Amaram (1991) under the banner Symphony Creations. Most of the films he produced got either State(Kerala) or National(India) award in some category. His first directorial venture 'Thaniyae' bagged more than 20 Awards including State Award and Indian Panorama.His directorial venture Thanichalla Njan (2012) won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. He was a Jury member for selecting Indian film for the Oscar award 2016. Latest venture in film field was with doing a segment for Crossroad in directorial role.jury member of IFFK 2019.
Vijay Babu is an Indian film producer, actor, and businessman, who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is the founder of the film production company Friday Film House,.
Thanichalla Njan is a 2012 Malayalam language film that was directed by Babu Thiruvalla. It is based on the true story of Chellamma Antharjanam, a suicidal woman that was rescued by a Muslim social worker, Razia Beevi. The movie performed well at the 60th National Film Awards, where it won the award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. Actress Kalpana also received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Razia Beevi. Kalpana later remarked that she had not initially wanted to take on the role of Razia, as it was so different from what she had done up to that point in her career, and had urged Thiruvalla to hire Urvashi in her stead.
Anwar Ali also known Anvar Ali is an Indian poet, lyricist, translator, and documentary filmmaker, he has been contributing poems and poetic studies in leading literary journals and periodicals of Kerala since 1984; Mazhakkalam, 1999, his first collection of poems established him as one of the prominent voices in contemporary Malayalam poetry; his poems have been translated into various Indian and foreign languages and are included in several anthologies of Malayalam as well as Indian poetry of the post-modern phase. His other important works include Atiyaati Alanja Marangale, collection of poems, 2009, Eternal Sculptures, Poetry Collection in English, 2007, and, I Rappai, Novella, 1995.
Nikhila Vimal is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry and in the Tamil and Telugu film industries. She began her acting career in television with a documentary on Saint Alphonsa aired on Shalom TV. Her feature film debut was in 2009 with the Malayalam film Bhagyadevatha (2009). She debuted in Tamil with the film Vetrivel (2016), playing the role of Latha.
Njan Marykutty is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Ranjith Sankar and co-produced with Jayasurya. The film stars Jayasurya as a trans woman named Marykutty, with Innocent, Jewel Mary, Jins Baskar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Aju Varghese and Joju George in other prominent roles. The music for the film was composed by Anand Madhusoodhanan. The film was released on 15 June 2018 on the eve of Ramadan.
India 