Kamal Haasan is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter, social activist and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil, he has also appeared in some Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali films. He is one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema. Haasan is also known for introducing many new technologies and cosmetics to the Indian film industry. He has won numerous accolades, including Four National Film Awards, Nine Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, Four Nandi Awards, One Rashtrapati Award, Two Filmfare Awards and 17 Filmfare Awards South. He was awarded the Kalaimamani Award in 1984, the Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 2014 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) in 2016.
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-News18.
Tabassum Fatima Hashmi, credited as Tabu, is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi films, alongside Telugu, Tamil and English films. Regarded as one of the most accomplished actresses in Hindi cinema, she has often played troubled women, from fictional to literary, in both mainstream and independent cinema. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards, seven Filmfare Awards, and two Filmfare Awards South. In 2011, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian honour.
Vishal Veeru Devgan, known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. A leading actor of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over 100 films and has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. In 2016, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian honour.
Aditya Chopra is an Indian filmmaker, film distributor, film producer, writer and studio executive. He is the current Chairman of India's multi-national film, media, and entertainment conglomerate Yash Raj Films (YRF). The films he has produced make him the highest grossing Indian film producer of all time.
Shriya Saran Bhatnagar is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a well-known dancer, she became an actress and made her film debut with the Telugu film Ishtam (2001). Saran had her first commercial success with Santosham (2002). She is a recipient of one South Indian International Movie Award along with four Filmfare Awards South nominations.
Rajat Kapoor is an Indian actor, filmmaker and playwright who works in Hindi cinema.
Red Chillies Entertainment is an Indian visual effects, production and distribution company established by actor Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan in 2002. It was transformed from the defunct Dreamz Unlimited. Based in Mumbai, the studio's activities span across creative development, production, marketing, distribution, licensing, merchandising and syndication of films in India and worldwide. They are also a visual effects company. Throughout the last several years, Red Chillies has acquired the rights to several Hindi films.
Aashirvad Cinemas is an Indian film production company based in Kochi, Kerala. It was established in 2000 by Antony Perumbavoor, since then, it has produced over 30 Malayalam films, starring Mohanlal. Since 2009, the company co-operates with the distribution company Maxlab Cinemas and Entertainments co-founded by Mohanlal and Antony Perumbavoor for distributing films. It is one among the most active and leading production houses in the Malayalam film industry.
Malekudy Joseph Antony, better known as Antony Perumbavoor is an Indian film producer, distributor, cinema exhibitor and actor, who works in Malayalam film industry. He began his career as a chauffeur to Mohanlal in 1987 and started appearing in brief roles in Malayalam films in 1990s. In 2000, he established the film production house Aashirvad Cinemas, which exclusively produces Mohanlal films. Antony owns the multiplex theatre chain Aashirvad Cineplexx and co-owns the film distribution company Maxlab Cinemas and Entertainments. He is the president of Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK).
Jeethu Joseph is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also worked in a few Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. Jeethu made his directional debut with the 2007 police procedural, Detective. He is best known for creating the Drishyam franchise. Drishyam became the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, at its time of release. It was the first Malayalam film to cross the ₹50 crore mark, at the box office. Drishyam 2 was released directly through Amazon Prime Video, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the prequel, it was highly acclaimed and appreciated, worldwide.
Tovino Thomas is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film Prabhuvinte Makkal. His breakthrough roles were in the films ABCD (2013), 7th Day (2014) and Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015). He starred as the titular character in the Netflix superhero film Minnal Murali (2021).
Drishyam (transl. Visual) is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It stars Mohanlal and Meena, as well as Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Asha Sharath, Siddique, Roshan Basheer and Neeraj Madhav in supporting roles. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor for Aashirvad Cinemas. It is the first installment to the series followed by Drishyam 2. It follows the struggle of Georgekutty and his family, who come under suspicion when Varun Prabhakar, the son of the IG Geetha Prabhakar, goes missing.
Drushyam (transl. Visual) is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller film directed by Sripriya and jointly produced by D. Suresh Babu and Rajkumar Sethupathi. It is a remake of Jeethu Joseph's 2013 Malayalam film Drishyam and features Venkatesh, Meena and Nadhiya playing the respective roles played by Mohanlal, Meena and Asha Sharath in the original.
Papanasam is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph, a remake of his 2013 Malayalam film Drishyam, which starred Mohanlal. The film was jointly produced by Suresh Balaje and Rajkumar Sethupathi. It stars Kamal Haasan and Gautami, with Esther Anil, Asha Sarath and Roshan Basheer reprising their roles from the original film. Kalabhavan Mani, Nivetha Thomas and M. S. Bhaskar appear in supporting roles.
Drishyam (transl. Visual) is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Nishikant Kamat. It is a remake of the 2013 Malayalam film, Drishyam.The film stars Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran, Ishita Dutta and Rishab Chadha. It was released on 31 July 2015 and emerged as a critical and commercial success, earning over ₹111 crores worldwide. A sequel titled Drishyam 2 was released in 2022. Later in 2022, the film was released in China, earning $4.05 million pushing its worldwide total over ₹147 crores.
Deverakonda Vijay Sai, professionally known as Vijay Deverakonda, is an Indian actor, film producer, and businessman who works predominantly in Telugu films along with a few Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest-paid actors of Telugu cinema, he has featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2018 and has received several accolades including a Filmfare Award, a Nandi Award, and a SIIMA Award.
Shiladitya Bora is an Indian film producer, director, marketer and distributor. He is the founder of Platoon One Films, a Mumbai-based film production studio. Bora was born and brought up in Assam and completed his undergraduate and post-graduate studies in Ahmedabad. He started his film career by spearheading the indie release banner PVR Pictures' Directors' Rare, a limited release arm of India's biggest film exhibitor, PVR Cinemas group. Under this banner, he successfully released more than 85 independent films. In 2015, Bora was recognised for his work in marketing and distribution and was selected as one of the Berlinale Talents of the year. As the first CEO of Drishyam Films, Bora served as an Associate Producer on critically acclaimed films like Masaan (2015) and Newton (2017). He helped develop Newton from a one-line pitch to a story and greenlit the film to production. Newton went on to be selected as India's official entry for the 90th Academy Awards. In 2017, Bora founded Platoon One Films, a Mumbai based production studio with his wife and costume designer Shilpi Agarwal. Platoon One Films' maiden Hindi production Yours Truly, directed by Sanjoy Nag, starring Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi and Aahana Kumra, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival 2018 and travelled to many festivals worldwide. Platoon One Films then went on to produce the National Award-Winning Marathi film Picasso, directed by Abhijeet Warang and starring Prasad Oak. He is also the producer for 2023 Indian Marathi-language thriller drama, Ghaath which was nominated to compete for the Panorama Audience Award and GWFF Best First Feature Award at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.
Niv Art Movies is a film production company in New Delhi state, India established in the year 2008. Shaji Mathew, a Delhi based Malayali is the proprietor of the firm. It has produced 6 Malayalam films 5 out of the 6 films produced by the company are directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Esther Anil is an Indian actress who works primarily in the Malayalam-language films. She debuted her career as a child artist through the film Nallavan in 2010. She is best known for her role as Anumol George (Anu) in the 2013 drama-thriller film Drishyam and its sequel Drishyam 2, as well as Oolu in the 2020 fantasy film Oolu. Esther has won Kerala Film Critics Association Awards for the Best Child Artist in 2016. She reprised her role from Drishyam in the Telugu and Tamil remakes, Drushyam and Papanasam (2015), respectively. She played the heroine in the unreleased Tamil film Kuzhali. She played the lead role in Johaar, a Telugu film featuring debutantes.
