Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has appeared in more than 420 films, predominantly in lead roles. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, eleven Kerala State Film Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and fifteen Filmfare Awards South. He was honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1998, for his contributions to cinema. He was also honored with the Kerala Prabha Award by the Government of Kerala in 2022.
Ranjith Balakrishnan is an Indian film director, screenwriter, 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.
Sunil Kumar, known by his stage name Narain, is an Indian actor, who has starred in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. He made his debut in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Nizhalkuthu (2002), followed by performances in Malayalam films 4 the People (2004), Achuvinte Amma (2005), and Classmates (2006). Narain's Tamil and Telugu debuts were in Mysskin's Chithiram Pesuthadi (2006) and Jayaraj's Yuvasena (2004).
Girish Puthenchery was a Malayalam lyricist, poet, Scriptwriter and screenwriter. He was referred to as the aristocratic lyricist of Malayalam who had a distinctive writing style of his own. He also served as the director of Indian Performance Rights Society Malayalam division (I.P.R.S) and governing council member of the Kerala Kalamandalam and Kerala Lalithakala Academy. He debuted with the movie Enquiry in 1989. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyricist seven times. He also holds the record for writing the highest number of songs in the Malayalam film industry within the briefest period of time. He died on 10 February 2010 at a private hospital in Kozhikode.
M. P. Michael, better known by his stage name Lal, is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, producer and distributor who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and in a few Telugu films. Lal has won several awards, including a National Film Award – Special Mention for acting (2012), two Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor, and a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam (2008). He is the owner of Lal Media Arts, a post-production studio.
Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry.
Renji Panicker is an Indian actor, scriptwriter, director, film producer, and journalist best known for his Malayalam films. He made his debut as a director with Bharatchandran IPS in 2005.
Mazhayethum Munpe is a 1995 Malayalam romantic drama film directed by Kamal and written by Sreenivasan. The film stars Mammootty, Shobhana and Annie and in the lead roles. The plot is centered upon a college professor named Nandakumar, his fiancée Uma Maheshwari, and his student Shruthi. The film was a commercial success. Annie won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance as Shruthi. In 2005, this movie was remade in Hindi by the same director as Zameer: The Fire Within starring Ajay Devgan, Ameesha Patel and Mahima Chaudhry.
Azhakiya Ravanan is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Kamal and written by Sreenivasan. The film has an ensemble cast of Mammootty, Bhanupriya, Sreenivasan, Innocent, Biju Menon, Rajan P. Dev, and Cochin Haneefa. Kavya Madhavan portrayed Anuradha's younger self. The movie was produced by V. P. Madhavan Nair under the banner of Murali Films, while the music was composed by Vidyasagar as his debut in Malayalam. The 2015 film Chirakodinja Kinavukal is a spin-off to this film.
Daddy Cool is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language action film starring Mammootty, Dhananjay, Richa Pallod, Daniel Balaji and Biju Menon in the lead roles. The film was the directorial debut of Aashiq Abu. The film commenced its shooting in December 2008. The locations were Cochin and Hong Kong.
Highway is a 1995 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Jayaraaj, produced by Prem Prakash, and written by Sab John. The film stars Suresh Gopi and Bhanupriya, with Vijayaraghavan, Janardhanan and Biju Menon in supporting roles. The film's original songs were composed by S. P. Venkatesh, while cinematography was handled by P. Sukumar.
Dhruvam (transl. Pole) is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Joshiy, story and dialogue by S. N. Swamy and A. K. Sajan, respectively, and screenplay by S. N. Swamy. It stars an ensemble cast, including Mammootty in the lead with Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Vikram, Janardhanan, Gauthami, and Tiger Prabhakar. The musical score and songs were composed by S. P. Venkatesh. It was Vikram's debut in Malayalam cinema.
Pachakuthira (transl. Grasshopper) is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Kamal and written by T. A. Shahid from a story by Dileep, starring himself in dual role and Gopika and Salim Kumar in supporting role. The film was released on Vishu 2006.
Naayika is a 2011 Indian Malayalam drama film directed by Jayaraj. The film stars Urvasi Sharada, Jayaram, Padmapriya, and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles.
Camel Safari is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language romance film directed by Jayaraj which narrates a love story set in Rajasthan. The movie features Arun Shankar and Pankaja Menon in the lead roles. Sekhar Menon, Tini Tom, Sabitha Jayaraj, Binu Adimaly, Neha Ramesh, Hashim Hussain, Vishnu Mohan and Anjali Ajayan plays supporting roles; Kamal Gaur, the villain of Johnnie Walker, made a comeback. The filming of Camel Safari begun on 22 November 2012 at the Pushkar Fair in Rajasthan. It was completed in three schedules with the maximum being shot in Rajasthan and the rest in Cochin, Kerala. The song rights of the film were sold to Manorama Music. The film Camel Safari was released on 26 September 2013.
Cheriyan Joseph, popularly known as Prem Prakash is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam television serials and a renowned producer in Malayalam movies. He is mainly known for supporting roles and character roles. He has produced 19 Malayalam films. He is known as Kariachan amongst his family, friends and cinema circles.
Puthiya Niyamam is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film written and directed by A. K. Sajan. The film stars Mammootty and Nayanthara in the lead roles along with Baby Ananya, Sheelu Abraham, Rachana Narayanankutty, S. N. Swamy, Roshan Mathew, Anil K. Reji, Sendrayan, and Aju Varghese in supporting roles. It was released on 12 February 2016. Nayantara won Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Malayalam for her performance in the movie.
Roby Varghese Raj is an Indian cinematographer and director who works in the Malayalam cinema. He debuted in A. K. Sajan’s Puthiya Niyamam. The film featured Mammootty and Nayanthara in lead roles.
Abrahaminte Santhathikal is an Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film released in 2018, directed by debutant Shaji Padoor and written by Haneef Adeni. The film stars Mammootty and Anson Paul in the lead roles and pivotal roles of Kaniha, Tarushi, Renji Panicker, Yog Japee and Kalabhavan Shajon. Shot in Ernakulam, principal photography began on 5 January 2018 and ended in March. Gopi Sundar scores music for the film, and Mahesh Narayan handles editing.
Pathinettam Padi is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age drama film, written and directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan and produced by Shaji Nadesan under the banner of August Cinema.The film features Chandunadh, Ahaana Krishna, Akshay Radhakrishnan, Ashwin Gopinath, Wafa Khatheeja Rahman and Aarsha Chandini Baiju in the lead and Mammootty, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Arya, and Unni Mukundan in cameo roles.
