Kavya Madhavan is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 1991 as a child artist in Pookkalam Varavayi. Her debut role as a lead actress was in Lal Jose's Chandranudikkunna Dikhil in 1999, when she was in the ninth grade. Its success established her status as a leading actress in the industry during the 2000s. She has acted in over 75 movies. She has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances in Perumazhakkalam (2004) and Gaddama (2010).
Paliyath Jayachandrakuttan is an Indian playback singer and actor from Kerala. Jayachandran is best known for his captivating voice which gave him the title Bhava Gayakan by the music fraternity of South India. He has worked with many composers including G. Devarajan, M. S. Baburaj, V. Dakshinamoorthy, K. Raghavan, M. K. Arjunan, M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, Koti, Shyam, A. R. Rahman, M. M. Keeravani and Vidyasagar. He has sung more than 10000 songs in total in different languages.He also acted in few films too.
Malabar Gopalan Sreekumar, better known as M.G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He has sung more than 2000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Sanskrit. He owns a music company named KMG Musics and the Saregama School of Music in Thiruvananthapuram. Sreekumar has won several awards, including two National Film Awards, three Kerala State Film Awards and 5 Filmfare Awards South. He was also honoured with the Harivarasanam Award by the Government of Kerala in 2016. His career as a singer spans over 44 years.
Harisree Ashokan is an Indian actor and director who is known for his comedy roles in Malayalam films. Ashokan has acted in more than 200 Malayalam films. He started his career as a mimicry artist in the troupe Harisree and then worked in Kalabhavan.
Mala Aravindan was an Indian actor. He was best known for his work as a comedian and character artist in Malayalam films. He has acted in over 500 films.
Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer. He has sung many songs in over 600 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages.
Thilakkam (transl. Glitter) is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Jayaraj and written by Rafi Mecartin. Dileep, Kavya Madhavan and Thiagarajan play the lead roles. The rest of the cast include 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.
Rashin Rahman is an Indian actor. He has worked in around 200 films, primarily in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil, Hindi and Telugu cinema, and has won several awards. In Tamil and Telugu cinema, he is also known by the screen names Raghuman and Raghu.
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.
Salim Kumar is an Indian actor, comedian, director and writer in Malayalam cinema. Mostly known for his comic and comedy roles, Salim Kumar is considered one of the best and most prominent comedians in the history of Malayalam cinema. In his later career, Salim Kumar also found success in playing character roles and won the National Film Award for Best Actor in 2010 for his role in Adaminte Makan Abu. His directorial film Karutha Joothan won the 2017 Kerala State Film Award for Best Story. He has also won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor for Achanurangatha Veedu (2005) and a Kerala State Television Award for Best Actor (2013).
Sundara Travels is a 2002 Tamil-language comedy film directed by Asokan. The film stars Murali, Radha, and Vadivelu. Vasu, Sabitha Anand, and Vinu Chakravarthy appear in supporting roles. Written by Govind Padman and Mahesh Mithra, it is a remake of their Malayalam film Ee Parakkum Thalika (2001). The music was composed by Bharani, with editing done by P. C. Mohanan. The film released on 30 August 2002.
Nadakkaparambil Francis Varghese was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film industry. He began his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, acting in minor roles, but later he turned to strong villain roles. Akashadoothu was his major break through in career. He has acted in more than 100 films. He died at the age of 53 when he suffered a heart attack and fell unconscious while driving his car. He lived along with his wife, three daughters and a son.
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, including four Kerala State Film Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.
Ee Parakkum Thalika is a 2001 Indian Malayalam-language slapstick comedy drama film starring Dileep, Harisree Asokan, Nithya Das and Cochin Haneefa. It was directed by Thaha and written by V. R. Gopalakrishnan, seems to have been inspired by Mouse Hunt. The film was also the debut film of actress Nithya Das. The story follows bus owner Unnikrishnan and his assistant Sundareshan who live and sleep in their bus. It is considered one of the best slapstick comedy movies in Malayalam cinema and was one of the highest grossing Malayalam movie in 2001. The bus known as Thamarakshan Pilla, which is a central figure in the movie eventually developed into a cult figure in Kerala.
Pulival Kalyanam is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Shafi and written by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas. The film stars Jayasurya and Kavya Madhavan, with Lal, Lalu Alex, Jagathy Sreekumar, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar and Cochin Haneefa in supporting roles. The plot follows Harikrishnan, a rustic whose star-crossed romance with a girl (Ganga) from a rich family brings inadvertent consequences on the lives of people around them. The music was composed by Berny-Ignatius.
Punjabi House is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin. It stars Dileep and Harisree Ashokan as comedy duo Unni and Ramanan with Mohini, Jomol, Lal, Cochin Haneefa, Thilakan, Janardhanan and N. F. Varghese in pivotal roles. The music was composed by Suresh Peters and S. P. Venkatesh, the former composing the songs, making his debut as a film composer and the latter composing the score. The film was released as an Onam release on 4 September 1998. The film was a blockbuster at release even though it clashed with Mammootty-Mohanlal starrer Harikrishnans. Many dialogues from the film turned into popular catchphrases. The character Ramanan played by Harishree Ashokan is considered one of the best comedy characters in Malayalam movies and has a cult status. The movie is considered one of the best slapstick comedy film in Malayalam cinema and it established Dileep as a leading star and catapulted him into stardom.
Meesha Madhavan is a 2002 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Lal Jose and written by Ranjan Pramod. The film stars Dileep in the title role, while Indrajith Sukumaran, Kavya Madhavan, Jagathy Sreekumar and Cochin Haneefa play supporting roles. It was the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. Meesha Madhavan raised Dileep's stardom to a whole new level and developed a cult following in Malayalam cinema. It was remade in Telugu as Dongodu (2003) starring Ravi Teja and in Kannada as Hori (2010) starring Vinod Prabhakar and in Tamil as Kollaikaran starring Vidharth.
Pandippada is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin. The film stars Dileep in the lead role while Navya Nair, Prakash Raj, Rajan P. Dev, Harisree Asokan, Salim Kumar, Cochin Haneefa, Ambika, Sukumari, and Indrans play supporting roles. The film was later remade in telugu as poola rangadu starring sunil(ranga) as hero 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.
M. L. Varghese, popularly known by stage name Machan Varghese, was a Malayalam film actor and mimicry artist. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan and debuted as an actor through Kabooliwala. Thereafter he played many notable roles in Malayalam films, mainly as a comedian. His association with Siddique-Lal, Rafi-Mecartin and Lal Jose are particularly noted. Within a career of nearly two decades, he acted in over 100 films. Varghese died on 3 February 2011 in Kozhikode of cancer. He was aged 50.
Narayanan Kutty or Kalabhavan Narayanankutty is a Malayalam film actor. He has acted in more than 300 films. He handles mainly comedy roles.
