Balakrishnan Nair, more popularly known as Balan K. Nair was an Indian actor known for his roles in Malayalam cinema. Although he appeared as a villain in most films, he was also noted for his performances in strong character roles. He emerged as one of the top villain of Malayalam cinema in the second half of the 1970s and played some of the best villain characters in Malayalam films during that period. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor in 1981 for his performance as Govindan in the film Oppol.
Nambiathusseril Varkey John, better known by his screen name Sasikumar, was an Indian film director who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed more than 141 films in his career which began in the mid-1960s. He is often referred to as Hitmaker Sasikumar due to the commercial success of his films. In 2012, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema
Madan Puri was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in a career spanning above fifty years.
K. Bhaskaran Nair, professionally credited by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director. He was mostly cast as a sidekick to protagonists, particularly Prem Nazir. His comedic roles were widely appreciated in Malayalam films of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Bhasi has also done leading and character roles. He directed three Malayalam films in the late 1970s. Bhasi is also known for his eloquent speeches in fluent English. He has won Kerala State Film Awards, including two Best Actor and one Second Best Actor.
Ranjeet, is an Indian actor and film director born in Jandiala Guru near Amritsar, best known for his work in Bollywood. He has mostly played villain roles in over 200 Hindi films. Ranjeet has also played a positive character in the TV series Aisa Des Hai Mera. He has also worked in a number of Punjabi films namely Rab Ne Banayian Jodiyan, Maujaan Dubai Diyaan and Man Jeete Jag Jeet.
Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif, often mononymously credited as Iftekhar or Iftikhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for his film roles as a police officer.
Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri from the Government of India, which is one of the highest civilian honours in India. In a career that spanned about 47 years, he acted in over 700 films. He is considered to be the "first superstar of Malayalam cinema". In 1993, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Rajanala Kaleswara Rao, known mononymously by his surname as Rajanala, was an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and a few Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi films. In a film career spanning more than four decades, Rajanala acted in more than 1400 feature films in a variety of characters. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rajanala was known for his gruesome portrayals of lead antagonist roles during the Golden age of Telugu cinema. The Government of Andhra Pradesh and the film industry felicitated him for his achievements and contribution to Indian Film Industry. He won several Filmfare Awards South and Nandi Award.
Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from the early sixties until the late nineties.
Jagdish Raj Khurana was a Bollywood actor who holds a Guinness World Record for being the most type-cast actor. He played the role of a police inspector in 144 films.
K. N. Jagannatha Varma was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also a Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also an artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a film director. He acted in a number of Malayalam movies performing roles of a senior police officer, judge or a priest. Some of his noted roles were in movies New Delhi (1987), Thanthram (1988), Lelam (1997) and Pathram (1999), all directed by Joshiy. Varma joined the Kerala Police Force in 1963, before getting active in movies. He retired from the Kerala Police as the Superintendent of Police.
Karaganahalli Subbaraya Ashwathanarayana was an Indian veteran actor who appeared in Kannada films He appeared in over 370 films during his five-decade-long career. His only memorial in the whole of Karnataka, India is in the Kengeri satellite town, Bengaluru. Memorial name - "K. S. Ashwath Memorial Children's Park".
Jose Prakash was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was a singer turned actor who had appeared in more than 300 films mostly in antagonist roles. He was awarded with the J. C. Daniel Award in 2011, a day before he died aged 86. In a career spanning for around 40 years, he is known for portraying some of the iconic villain characters in the Malayalam film industry. Later, he switched to character roles in the mid 90s.
T. P. Madhavan is a former Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. He started acting at the age of 40 and so far has acted in more than 600 films. He came into the film industry playing villain roles; later he started doing comedy roles and then switched to character roles.
T. S. Muthaiah was a Malayalam and Tamil film actor. He was a popular actor in both film industries who usually played character and supporting roles in 1950s and 1960s.
G. Keshava Pillai was an Indian actor and army and naval officer known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He was active for 65 years, acting in more than 325 Malayalam films, and is known for revolutionising the role of the antagonist in Indian cinema and television. He was known for his acclaimed villain roles in Vadakkanpattu action films, historical films and other action films during the 70s and 80s. He took also many notable roles in family-focused films and TV shows. He is the only actor during the 80s to have accomplished most of his stunts in films without the use of stunt doubles.
N. Govindan Kutty was an Indian actor who worked in the Malayalam film industry. He has appeared in around 100 films, acting mainly in villain roles.
T. K. Balachandran was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Malayalam films. He has acted in more than 200 films. His areas of contribution includes production, dialogue, story, screenplay. He is the first actor to play a double role in the history of Malayalam cinema.
Alleppey Ashraf is an Indian film director, producer and distributor working mainly in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as an impressionist and later a dubbing artist. He is considered as an inspiration for many in mimicry art. He has also directed several films even though he was never a busy director.
Pala Thankam was an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actresses, singers and dubbing artists in the late 1960s and 1970s in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She acted in more than 100 movies and dubbed for almost 500 films.
