The music of Kerala has a complex history. It is not the same as Malayalam poetry, although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it.
Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor and screenwriter Sreenivasan.
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.
Rekhitha R. Kurup, better known by her stage name Bhamaa, is an Indian former actress who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Kannada-language films. She made her cinematic debut in 2007 with the Malayalam film Nivedyam, directed by A. K. Lohithadas and had acted in over 42 films.
Traffic is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language road action thriller film written by brothers Bobby and Sanjay and directed by Rajesh Pillai. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Sreenivasan, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Rahman, Anoop Menon, Sandhya, Roma, Remya Nambeesan, Namitha Pramod, Lena, Jose Prakash and Krishna. The film has its narrative in a hyperlink format. The film opened on 7 January 2011, to a positive reception. It is widely regarded as one of the defining movies of the Malayalam New Wave. A multi-narrative thriller that intertwines multiple stories around one particular incident, Traffic is inspired from an actual event that happened in Chennai. Owing to its critical and commercial success, Traffic was remade into Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal, in Kannada as Crazy Star and is also remade in Hindi, with the same name. This was also the last film of the veteran actor Jose Prakash. The film has a cult status.
Gopi Sundar C.S. is an Indian music director, programmer, playback singer, songwriter, actor and performer who works in the Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil film industries.
Rachana is a 1983 Indian Malayalam film, directed by Mohan and produced by Sivan Kunnampilly. The film stars Srividya, Nedumudi Venu, Bharath Gopi and Mammootty in the lead roles. The film has musical score by M. B. Sreenivasan. Bharath Gopi won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor and the Kerala Film Critics’ Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film. Srividya won the Kerala State Film award for Best Actress for her performance in the same movie.
Ratheesh Vega is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. He debuted as a film music composer in the 2010 hit film Cocktail.
Shaan Rahman is an Indian composer and singer, best known for his compositions in the Malayalam cinema. Shaan made his debut as a music director in the 2009 film Ee Pattanathil Bhootham directed by Johny Antony. He got the chance to work in the film after the wide acceptance and popularity of his 2008 music album "Coffee at MG Road" which he did along with his friend, singer, and director Vineeth Sreenivasan.
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.
Amrutha Suresh is an Indian singer, composer, songwriter, and radio jockey. She attained popularity after her stint at the reality television singing competition Idea Star Singer on Asianet in 2007. Since then, she has sung and composed for several films and music albums. She has been a celebrity radio jockey on Radio Suno 91.7 with the music show Suno Melodies. In 2014, she founded the music band Amrutam Gamay
Ormayundo Ee Mukham is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language romantic musical film written and directed by Anvar Sadik, starring Vineeth Sreenivasan and Namitha Pramod. The film features musical score by Shaan Rahman. The film released on 14 November 2014. It is inspired by the 2004 American film 50 First Dates.
Jacobinte Swargarajyam is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. The film stars Nivin Pauly and Renji Panicker. It revolves around a wealthy businessman and the struggles faced by his son to clear his father's debts after a business associate cheats him. The film was released on 8 April 2016 in India and later in foreign countries.
Kavya Ajit is an Indian singer, violinist and a live performer born in Kozhikode, Kerala. Apart from Malayalam, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Having trained in Carnatic Classical Music and Western classical style of Violin, she has performed in concerts and stage shows across the world.
Aravindante Athidhikal is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by M. Mohanan and produced by Pradeep Kumar Pathiyara and co-produced by Noble Babu Thomas under the studios Pathiyara Entertainments and Big Bang Entertainments, respectively. The film stars Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sreenivasan, Nikhila Vimal, Shanthi Krishna and Urvashi. This film is credited as the 200th film of Sreenivasan.
Helen is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language survival thriller film directed by Mathukutty Xavier and produced by Vineeth Sreenivasan under the companies Habit of Life and Big Bang Entertainments. The film stars Anna Ben in the title role, while Lal, Noble Babu Thomas, Aju Varghese, Rony David and Binu Pappu appears in supporting roles. It was written by Alfred Kurian Joseph, Noble Babu Thomas and Mathukutty Xavier. Its soundtrack was composed by Shaan Rahman.
Kailas Menon is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in Malayalam films and commercials. After working as a composer for television commercials for more than a decade, he debuted as a composer in feature films with director Jayaraj's Pakarnnatam. His first mainstream release happened much later with Theevandi, for which he earned his first Filmfare Award.
Hridayam (transl. Heart) is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age romantic drama film written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. It was produced by Visakh Subramaniam through Merryland Cinemas and co-produced by Noble Babu Thomas through Big Bang Entertainments. The film stars Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Darshana Rajendran. The film's songs and background score was composed by Hesham Abdul Wahab.
Sara's is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Jude Anthany Joseph and written by Akshay Hareesh, starring Anna Ben and Sunny Wayne in lead roles. The film features music composed by Shaan Rahman, cinematography handled by Nimish Ravi, and editing done by Riyas K. Badhar. The film released directly through Amazon Prime Video on 5 July 2021.
Hridayam is the soundtrack album for the 2022 Malayalam film of the same name directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan, starring Pranav Mohanlal, Kalyani Priyadarshan, and Darshana Rajendran in the lead roles. The music and background score is composed by playback singer-composer Hesham Abdul Wahab. The soundtrack album features 15 songs with lyrics written by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, Arun Alat, Guna Balasubramanian and Sreenivasan. It was purchased and marketed by Think Music.
