Malayalam cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language widely spoken in the state of Kerala, India. In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. The film Marana Simhasanam has won the prestigious Caméra d'Or at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
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.
Padmarajan Padmanabhan Pillai better known as P.Padmarajan was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Bharathan and K. G. George, in the 1980s.
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 acted in more than 400 films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, eight 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.
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Malayalam and Hindi cinema. He was one of the first directors in India to introduce rich color grading, clear sound and quality dubbing through his early Malayalam films.
Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language romance drama film written and directed by Padmarajan based on the 1986 novel Nammukku Gramangalil Chennu Rapparkkam by K. K. Sudhakaran. The film stars Mohanlal, Shari, Thilakan, Vineeth, and Kaviyoor Ponnamma. The music was composed by Johnson. The plot is centered around a Malayali Syrian Christian-Nasrani ("Nazarene") family. Throughout the story, there are references to the Biblical book Song of Songs where it depicts the romantic dialogue between a young woman and her lover.
Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, the highest award in Malayalam cinema. Often described as a pathbreaker, Sasi made his mark during Malayalam cinema’s transformative period from the 1970s to 1990s.
Devaasuram is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by Ranjith. It stars Mohanlal, Revathi, and Napoleon, with Innocent, V. K. Sreeraman, Maniyanpilla Raju, and Augustine in supporting roles. The songs featured in the film were composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan, while S. P. Venkatesh composed the background score. It was Mohanlal's 200th film.
Ranjith Balakrishnan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist, producer, and actor who works in Malayalam cinema. Ranjith made his directorial debut in 2001 with Ravanaprabhu, the sequel to Devaasuram. His films Thirakkatha and Indian Rupee won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam in 2008 and 2011 respectively. He is also the current chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, including four Kerala State Film Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.
Anoop Menon is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and lyricist. He worked in television before acting in Malayalam films and has acted in more than 75 films.
Lalu Alex is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam and Tamil Films In a career spanning four decades, Lalu Alex has acted over 250 movies and is known for his character roles, comic roles and antagonistic roles in the Malayalam movie industry.
China Town is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film written and directed by the Rafi Mecartin duo and produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the company Aashirvad Cinemas. The film stars Mohanlal in dual role as a father and son, with Jayaram, Dileep and Suraj Venjaramoodu in lead roles, while Kavya Madhavan, Poonam Bajwa, Dipa Shah, Pradeep Rawat, Captain Raju, Shanavas and Shankar plays the pivotal roles. Jagathi Sreekumar makes a cameo appearance. The film is loosely based on The Hangover.
Raveendran (Ravindher), popularly known as Disco Raveendran is an Indian actor, primarily concentrating in Malayalam and Tamil films and he was a very busy actor of both these languages in the 1980s. A multi-faceted personality, Raveendran is also a screenwriter, interior designer, anchor, a film scholar, an acting coach, social activist and director of film festivals like Kochi Metro (Malayalam) Short Film Fest. He is an alumnus of the Adayar film school, Chennai.
Namukku Parkkan is a 2012 Malayalam film directed by Aji John, starring Anoop Menon and Meghna Raj in the lead roles. Jayasurya plays a pivotal guest appearance, while Mohanlal makes a vocal appearance in the film.
Sunitha is an Indian actress known for her roles in films made in South India from 1986 to 1996.
Gayathri Ashokan is an Indian poster designer and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He is considered as a pioneer in poster designing art along with P. N. Menon in Malayalam film industry. His debut design was for director Padmarajan' s Koodevide where he created a poster with all characters appearing in postage stamp. The posters created a very good impact among filmgoers. He has designed promotional posters for over 700 films including Tamil films. Ashokan introduced the airbrush concept in Malayalam posters.
Jayakrishnan is an Indian film and television actor known for his work in the Malayalam industry. He is commended for his unaging appearance for decades.
Ranjin Raj is an Indian musician and composer who works in the Malayalam film industry. He debuted with the film Joseph which was released on 16 November 2018.
Nammukku Paarkkuvan Munthirithoppukal is an Indian Malayalam Television Series which aired on Surya TV and Streamed on Sun NXT from 22 June 2020 to 2 October 2020.
