Mohanlal Viswanathan 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. Mohanlal's contributions to the Malayalam cinema have been praised by his contemporaries in the Indian film industry. 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.
Prashanth Thiagarajan, known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor, businessman, playback singer and film producer known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films.
Madhoo Shah, also known formerly as Madhubala, is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. She was a part of Movies like Phool Aur Kaante (1991), Roja (1992), Allari Priyudu (1992), Yoddha (1992), and Gentleman (1993).
Madhavan Nair, commonly known by his stage name Madhu, is an Indian actor, director, producer, former college lecturer and former film studio owner, who works in Malayalam cinema and a certain number of Hindi and Tamil films. He was a prominent lead actor during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and has acted in more than 400 films. Madhu has also directed 12 films, produced 15 films and at one time owned the Uma Film Studio. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013 for his contributions towards the arts. He was honored with the J. C. Daniel Award by the Government of Kerala in 2004, for his outstanding contributions to Malayalam films. He is the president of Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) Kerala Unit.
Siddharth Suryanarayan, known mononymously as Siddharth, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi language films. Apart from acting, he has also been involved in films as a screenwriter, producer and playback singer. He has also been featured in many advertisements. He is a recipient of three Filmfare Awards South.
Jedara Bale is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language spy thriller film directed by Dorai–Bhagavan starring Rajkumar, Jayanthi, K. S. Ashwath, Narasimharaju and Udayakumar. The music of the film was composed by G. K. Venkatesh with Ilayaraja as the assistant.
Vineeth Radhakrishnan is an Indian actor, Bharatanatyam dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also appeared in a few Hindi and Kannada films. He has won several awards including 3 Kerala State Film Awards, Kalaimamani honour from Government of Tamil Nadu and Filmfare Award South nominations.
Rashin Rahman simply known as 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.
Siddique (born 1 October 1962) is an Indian actor and producer, who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. Along with appearing in over 350 Malayalam films, he has also acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi language films. He is known for having played a wide range of starring and supporting roles, including comic characters, romantic leads, anti-heroes and villains.
Sathuvachari Varadarajan Mudaliar, also known as Vardhabhai and Vardha, was an Indian crime boss. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, he was, along with Karim Lala and Haji Mastan, one of the most powerful mob bosses in Bombay. His origin is Sathuvachari in North Arcot district of Tamil Nadu, from where his father migrated to Tuticorin to work in shipping business. He was born in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.
Sachin Khedekar is an Indian actor and director known for his work in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and Malayalam language films. His well-known films include Kaksparsh, Astitva and Shyam Benegal's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero in which he portrayed Subhas Chandra Bose. Notable TV series include SailaabImtihaan and Samvidhaan in which he played B. R. Ambedkar.
Mumbai Police is a 2013 Indian Malayalam language neo-noir psychological thriller film written by Bobby-Sanjay and directed by Rosshan Andrrews. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Jayasurya, Rahman in the lead roles along with Kunchan, Aparna Nair, Deepa Vijayan, and debutant Hima Davis in supporting roles. Shweta Menon and Riyaz Khan appear in guest roles. The film is produced by Nisad Haneefa and co-produced by Nivas Haneef and Niyas Haneefa. The background score was composed by Gopi Sundar and the cinematography was handled by G. Diwakaran. The film was edited by Mahesh Narayanan.
Drishyam (transl. Visual) is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It stars Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Asha Sharath, Siddique, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Roshan Basheer and Neeraj Madhav. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under Aashirvad Cinemas. A sequel titled Drishyam 2 was released in 2021. The film follows the struggle of Georgekutty and his family, who come under suspicion when Varun Prabhakar, the son of the IG Geetha Prabhakar, goes missing.
Thira (transl. Wave) is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language mystery-thriller drama film directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan and scripted by his cousin Rakesh Mantodi. It stars Shobana alongside debutant Dhyan Sreenivasan in the lead roles. The film was produced by Manoj Menon under the banner ReelsMagic and distributed by LJ Films.
Abraham & Lincoln is a 2007 Indian Malayalam language action-thriller film directed by Pramod Pappan and written by Dennis Joseph. The film stars Kalabhavan Mani and Rahman starring in the titular roles, with Shweta Menon, Neha Pendse, Anoop Menon, Bineesh Kodiyeri, Rajan P. Dev, Salim Kumar, and Baburaj in supporting roles. The film was inspired from the 2004 Hindi film, Dhoom. It is the first Malayalam film to use the Bullet time effect for its action sequences.
Ganapathi S. Poduval is an Indian actor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is well-known for his roles as child artist in the films Vinodayathra (2007) and Pranchiyettan & The Saint (2010). He also played a major role in the film Chithrasalabhangalude Veedu (2008).
Veeram (transl. Valour) is a 2016 Indian historical drama film written and directed by Jayaraj. It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, and is the fifth installment in Jayaraj's Navarasa series. The film, which also takes inspirations from the Vadakkan Pattukal of North Malabar region in Kerala tells the story of Chandu Chekavar, an infamous warrior in the 13th century North Malabar.
Mahesh Anand was an Indian actor, dancer and martial artist who worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He is remembered for playing villainous roles in Hindi films. He was a black belt in Karate and was a model and a trained dancer before he started acting. His debut movie was Karishmaa 1984 while his last on-screen appearance was in the 2019 comedy-drama Rangeela Raja. Before acting in Karishmaa he performed for the opening sequence of Sanam Teri Kasam 1982 with his dance in silhouette.
Dinesh Panicker is an Indian film producer, actor and TV producer. He entered the film industry in 1989 by producing Kireedam, a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film. He went on to produce different genre films in Mollywood. Later, he started acting in Malayalam films and serials, and is now the general secretary of ATMA.
