Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil language films. He has also appeared in Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has appeared in more than 410 films, predominantly in lead roles. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, nine Kerala State Film Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. For his contribution to film, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1998. In 2022, he was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Kerala.
Ravi Shankar Sharma, often referred to mononymously as Ravi, was an Indian music director, who had composed music for several Hindi and Malayalam films.
Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair, popularly known as M.T., is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-Independence Indian literature. At the age of 20, as a chemistry undergraduate, he won the prize for the best short story in Malayalam at World Short Story Competition conducted by The New York Herald Tribune. His first major novel Naalukettu, written at the age of 23, won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958. His other novels include Manju (Mist), Kaalam (Time), Asuravithu and Randamoozham. The deep emotional experiences of his early days have gone into the making of MT's novels. Most of his works are oriented towards the basic Malayalam family structure and culture and many of them were path-breaking in the history of Malayalam literature. His three seminal novels on life in the matriarchal family in Kerala are Naalukettu, Asuravithu, and Kaalam. Randamoozham, which retells the story of the Mahabharatha from the point of view of Bhimasena, is widely credited as his masterpiece.
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.
Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and starring Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Balan K. Nair, Captain Raju and Madhavi. The film won four National Film Awards (1989) including Best Actor (Mammootty), Best Screenplay, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design and eight Kerala State Film Awards.
Geetha is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. She debuted in the Tamil film Bairavi. Since then she has acted in over 200 films in all major South Indian languages, and in a few Hindi films. She also appears in South Indian television serials. Geetha has won two Filmfare Awards South and Kerala State Film Awards, Karnataka State Film Awards each.
Manoj Kadampoothramadam Jayan, also known as Manoj K. Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor for his portrayal of Hariharan's "Kuttan Thampuran" in Sargam (1992), "Thalakkal Chandu" in Pazhassi Raja (2009) and "Kunjiraman" in Farook Abdul Rahiman's Kaliyachan. He has played "Kuttan Thampuran" (Sargam), "Thirumangalath Neelakandan Namboothiri" (Perumthachan), "Kunjunni Namboothiri" (Parinayam), "Unnikrishnan" (Venkalam), "Ananthakrishna Warrier" (Sopanam), "Digambaran" (Anandabhadram) and "Thalakkal Chandu". He is the son of singer Jayan of Jaya-Vijaya combo. He is also a singer.
Parinayam is a Malayalam language period drama film, directed by Hariharan and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. The key characters are played by Mohini, Manoj K. Jayan and Vineeth. The film also has a cast of character artists including Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Sukumari, Jagannatha Varma, Valsala Menon, Bindu Panicker, Bahadoor and Shanthi Krishna.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language epic period drama film based on the life of Pazhassi Raja, a king who fought against the East India Company in the 18th century. The film was directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It stars Mammootty in lead role with an ensemble supporting cast. The music score and soundtrack were created by Ilaiyaraaja, while its sound design is by Resul Pookutty.
Jomol, also known as Gauri, is an Indian actress who predominantly appread in Malayalam films. She started her career as child artist to lead actress in the mid-90s.
Sargam is a 1992 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written and directed by Hariharan and produced by his wife Bhavani Hariharan. Chowallur Krishnankutty wrote the dialogues. The film features Vineeth, Manoj K. Jayan, and Rambha, while Nedumudi Venu, Soumini/Srikanya, Urmila Unni, V. K. Sriraman, Thilakan, and Oduvil Unnikrishnan play supporting roles. Shaji N. Karun did the cinematography, while Bombay Ravi composed the soundtrack and M. S. Mani handled the editing. This movie was a blockbuster and 3rd highest-grossing movie of the year. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and three Kerala State Film Awards: Best Director (Hariharan), Second Best Actor, and Best Music Director. It was remade in Telugu as Sarigamalu with Vineeth, Manoj K. Jayan, and Rambha reprising their roles.
Madhusoodanan Jayachandran Nair is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the film Ennu Ninte Moideen. He has composed music for 126 films.
K. Ramachandra Babu was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English languages. He served as the cinematographer for several documentaries and advertisement films as well. He was the founder of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Malayalam films. The first Malayalam award was given in 2007. Before that, since 1997 till 2005, a common award for playback was available for both Male and Female singers of all the four South Indian languages.
Ennu Swantham Janakikutty is a 1998 Malayalam movie, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by Hariharan. The movie features Jomol in the lead role, where she won the National Film Special Jury Award. Also, K. Sampath won the National Film Award for Best Audiography for this film. The film is based on a story written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair named Cheriya Cheriya Bhookambangal. The movie was produced by P. V. Gangadharan under the banner of Gruhalakshmi Productions and was distributed by Kalpaka Release.
Manamadurai Balakrishnan Sreenivasan, or MBS, was a South Indian music director who worked mainly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries.
M. S. Mani (1926–2008) was an Indian film director and film editor of Malayalam movies. He won National award twice in 1990 and 1992 for editing the films Nakhashatangal and Iyyer The Great and Kerala State Award in 1972 for editing. He joined the film industry in 1948 and his first film was Ashaadeepam. He has edited more than 300 movies. His famous works as editor includes Kathapurushan, Vidheyan, Sargam, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, Anantharam and Amritham Gamaya all that went noticed at the national level. He also edited many Hindi and Tamil films. He also directed seven films, including Doctor, Sathyabhama, Subaida, Thalirukal, Vilakkapatta Bandhangal and Jalakannyaka. He was a popular Malayalam movie director during 1980s.
P. Krishnamoorthy was an Indian film art director, production designer and costume designer who worked predominantly in the South Indian cinema. As of 2015, he had worked in over 55 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Malayalam and English, and won five National Film Awards—three for Best Art Direction and two for Best Costume Design. In addition, he was the recipient of five Kerala State Film Awards and four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The five-time National Award winner died in Chennai on December 13, 2020, due to age related ailments.
Sreekumar Krishnan Nair, often credited on screen as K. Sreekuttan) is an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing the 1993 film O' Faby, which was India's first full-length live action/animation hybrid feature film. He is the youngest son of prolific south Indian filmmaker M. Krishnan Nair and younger brother of Retired Indian Administrative Service officer, poet and lyricist K. Jayakumar.
