Meena Durairaj, known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in South Indian films as well as Hindi cinema. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films She is one of the most sought after actresses in the South Indian film industry. In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Nandi Award for Best Actress and Cinema Express Awards. In 1998, she was honoured with the Kalaimamani Award by Government of Tamil Nadu.
Devaasuram is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by Ranjith. It stars Mohanlal, Revathi, and Napoleon, with Innocent, V. K. Sreeraman, Maniyanpilla Raju, and Augustine in supporting roles. The songs featured in the film were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan, while S. P. Venkatesh composed the background score. It was Mohanlal's 200th film.
Summer in Bethlehem is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Sibi Malayil and written by Ranjith. It was produced by Siyad Koker under the company Kokers Films. The film stars Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Manju Warrier, and Kalabhavan Mani while Mohanlal makes a cameo appearance. The music was composed by Vidyasagar. It tells the story of Ravishankar (Jayaram), the bumbling friend of a successful landowner, Dennis, and the vacation visit by Ravishankar's relatives in Dennis' estate known as Bethlehem Estates in a fictional town of Chandragiri in the Nilgiris.
Rajamanikyam is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Anwar Rasheed and written by T. A. Shahid. It stars Mammootty as the titular businessman, along with Rahman, Manoj K Jayan, Cochin Haneefa, Ranjith, Salim Kumar, Sai Kumar, Bheeman Raghu, Sindhu Menon, and Padmapriya in supporting roles. The music is composed by Alex Paul.
Thilakkam (transl. Glitter) is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film directed by Jayaraj and written by Rafi Mecartin. Dileep, Kavya Madhavan, and Thiagarajan play the lead roles. The rest of the cast includes Nedumudi Venu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Nishanth Sagar, Jagathy Sreekumar, Cochin Haneefa, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar, and Bindu Panicker. It was remade in Kannada as Nandeesha in 2012, starring Komal.
Ali Bhai is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Shaji Kailas, written by T. A. Shahid, and produced by Antony Perumbavoor through the company Aashirvad Cinemas. It stars Mohanlal as Anwar Ali alias Ali Bhai, an undisputed leader in Kozhikode Palayam market and the savior of the poor. The character is based on the real-life person Ali Bappu, who lived in Kondotty a decade ago. The film also features Gopika, Navya Nair and Shamna Kasim in Female roles. The plot is set in Kozhikode market and people whose livelihood depends on it, and also shows the culture of the traditional Barami Muslim community, who migrated from Yemen to Kozhikode centuries ago for trading and are known for making Urus. The plot follows Anwar Ali, a member of a Barami family, who flees home when he is wrongly accused of a theft. He moves to Kozhikode market and grew up as Ali Bhai, the protector of the market.
Harikrishnans is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language mystery comedy film written and directed by Fazil. The film was produced and distributed by Suchitra Mohanlal under the production company Pranavam Arts, starring Mohanlal and Mammootty in the title roles. Juhi Chawla, Innocent, Shamili, Nedumudi Venu, Cochin Haneefa, Jagadish, Maniyanpilla Raju and Kunchacko Boban play the supporting cast. The film received a great pre-release hype due to the combined screen presence of Mohanlal and Mammootty and was the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. It was later dubbed into Tamil with the same name.
Kochi Rajavu is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Johny Antony and written by the Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas duo. It stars Dileep in the lead role with Kavya Madhavan, Rambha, Harisree Ashokan, Murali and Jagathy Sreekumar in supporting roles.
Rock N' Roll is a 2007 Malayalam musical comedy film written and directed by Ranjith, starring Mohanlal, Lakshmi Rai, Siddique, Lal, Mukesh, Manoj K.Jayan, Rahman,Anoop Menon,Harisree Ashokan, and Jagathy Sreekumar. The film tells the story of seven musicians in Chennai, the major centre of film production in South India. It was released on 9 November coinciding with Deepavali. It received negative reviews and was considered a commercial disaster at the time of release. Over the years, the movie along with Mohanlal's performance has attained a cult status. Suraj Venjaramoodu's cameo role as a fraud musician was widely acclaimed and is often considered one of his early breakthroughs.
Twenty:20 is a 2008 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas, directed by Joshiy, produced and distributed by Dileep through Graand Production and Manjunatha Release. The film stars Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram and Dileep. The film was produced on behalf of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) as a fundraiser to financially support actors who are struggling in the Malayalam cinema. All the actors in AMMA worked without payment in order to raise funds for their welfare schemes.
No. 20 Madras Mail is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film directed by Joshiy and written by Dennis Joseph from a story by Harikumar. The film stars Mohanlal in lead role and Jagadish, Maniyanpilla Raju, M. G. Soman, Ashokan, and Suchitra Murali in supporting roles, while Mammootty appears in an extended cameo as himself. The background score was composed by S. P. Venkatesh while the song was composed by Ouseppachan. The plot follows three youngsters who are embroiled in the murder mystery of a young woman in a train journey from Thiruvananthapuram to Madras. No.20 Madras Mail was released on 16 February 1990 and received positive reviews. Almost half of the film was shot inside a train. Four years later, the film was remade in Hindi as Teesra Kaun by Partho Ghosh.
Azhakiya Ravanan is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Kamal and written by Sreenivasan. The film has an ensemble cast of Mammootty, Bhanupriya, Sreenivasan, Innocent, Biju Menon, Rajan P. Dev, and Cochin Haneefa. Kavya Madhavan portrayed Anuradha's younger self. The movie was produced by V. P. Madhavan Nair under the banner of Murali Films, while the music was composed by Vidyasagar as his debut in Malayalam. The 2015 film Chirakodinja Kinavukal is a spin-off to this film.
Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Amal Neerad. It is the sequel of 1987 film Irupatham Noottandu. The film was written by S. N. Swamy and produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the company Aashirvad Cinemas. the film stars Mohanlal in the title role, with an ensemble cast of Suman, Shobana, Bhavana, Sampath Raj, Manoj K. Jayan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Rahul Dev, Nedumudi Venu, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Vinayakan, Shereveer Vakil, Sumeet Naval, Sona Nair, V.K Sreeraman, Jinu Joseph and Bala in other pivotal roles.
Kilichundan Mampazham is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan from a story by Sreenivasan. It was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the company Aashirvad Cinemas. The film stars Mohanlal, Soundarya, Sreenivasan and Salim Kumar. Vineeth Sreenivasan debuted as a singer in the film.
Mayavi is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Shafi and written by the Rafi Mecartin duo, starring Mammootty in the title role with Gopika, Sai Kumar, Manoj K. Jayan, Salim Kumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vijayaraghavan and Santhosh Jogi in supporting roles. It was a commercial success and was remade in Tamil as Vallakottai in 2010. The film was a major commercial success and was the highest grossing malayalam movie of the year.
Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Kamal and written by Ranjith from a story by Kamal. It was produced by Castle Productions. The film stars Jayaram as Sivasankaran, who arrives in Peruvannapuram village to join as the new peon in a college, and Parvathy as Kunjulakshmi, a student and an arrogant girl from a wealthy aristocratic family who owns the college. Mohanlal has a cameo role as Achutha Kurup. The music was composed by Johnson.
Mambazhakkalam is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed by Joshiy, written by T. A. Shahid and produced by M. Mani. It stars Mohanlal and Shobana, alongside a large supporting cast. The film features original songs composed by M. Jayachandran and background score by S. P. Venkatesh. It was a box office hit.
Pandippada is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin. The film stars Dileep in the lead role while Prakash Raj, Navya Nair, Rajan P. Dev, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar, Cochin Haneefa, and Indrans play supporting roles. The film was produced by Dileep and Anoop under the company Graand Production. The film was commercially successful at box office, it was one of the highest-grossing film in 2005 and developed a cult following.
Aattakalasam is a 1983 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed by J. Sasikumar, written by Salim Cherthala, and produced by Joy Thomas. The film stars Mohanlal, Prem Nazir, and Lakshmi. The film features music composed by Raveendran. Aattakalasam was a blockbuster at the box office.
Drama is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Ranjith. The cast was led by Mohanlal, Arundathi Nag, and Asha Sharath, while Kaniha, Shyamaprasad, Subi Suresh, Suresh Krishna, Tini Tom, Niranj S., Johny Antony, Dileesh Pothan, Baiju Santhosh, Shaalin Zoya, and Renji Panicker played supporting roles. The background score of the film was composed by Bijibal, and Vinu Thomas composed a song. Alagappan N. was in charge of the cinematography.
