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. Mammootty was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN.
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.
Kaazhcha (transl. Vision) is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language family drama written and directed by Blessy, in his directorial debut. The story revolves around the boy Pavan who reaches Kerala after he loses everything in the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Film projectionist Madhavan (Mammootty) happens to meet the boy and takes him with him. The film won three Filmfare Awards South, including the debut of actress Padmapriya.
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. He has won three National Film Awards, including one for his film Spirit, which received the National Award for Best Film on Social Issues. His films Thirakkatha and Indian Rupee won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam in 2008 and 2011, respectively. He has also received six Kerala State Film Awards.
Padmapriya Janakiraman, better known mononymously as Padmapriya, is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Malayalam films. Padmapriya made her acting debut in the Telugu film Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi in 2004.
Pulapaka Suseela is an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh associated with the South Indian cinema for over six decades and is referred to as the "Evergreen Nightingale of Indian cinema". She is one of the greatest and best-known playback singers in India. She has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as well as by the Asia Book of Records for performing a record number of songs in different Indian languages. She is also the recipient of five National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer and the first woman playback singer to receive the national award. She also has received numerous state awards. Susheela is widely acclaimed as a singer who defined feminism in South Indian cinema and is well known for her mellifluous vocal performances for over 50,000 film and devotional songs across South Indian languages.
The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by Filmfare magazine of The Times Group. When it was introduced in 1954, the Filmfare Awards initially only recognized achievements in the Hindi cinema. In 1964 the awards were extended to Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and Marathi languages. Malayalam cinema was included in the awards in 1967 and Kannada cinema followed in 1970.
Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy, known professionally as J. D. Chakravarthy, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and musician known for his work primarily with Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam films. Chakravarthy made his screen debut with the Telugu film, Siva, an action blockbuster directed by Ram Gopal Varma, featured at the 12th IFFI. He subsequently made his Bollywood debut with the remake of the same film titled Shiva (1990). He then starred in the blockbuster Satya, featured in the Indian panorama section at the 29th IFFI, and was listed among CNN-IBN's 100 greatest Indian films of all time. Chakravarthy received the Screen Award Special Jury Award.
Harish Kumar is an Indian actor and film producer. He is known for his works in Telugu and Hindi movies, including Prem Qaidi, Coolie No. 1, Tirangaa, Prema Khaidi, Kranti Kshetra, Ravan Raaj: A True Story and Daisy. He has won two Nandi Awards.
Renji Panicker is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, film producer, and journalist known for his works in Malayalam films. He made his debut as a director with Bharatchandran IPS in 2005.
Vani Viswanath is an Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Telugu films. In 2000, Vani won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her performance in Susanna, directed by T. V. Chandran. She was termed as Mollywood's "Action Queen". In 2017, she joined in Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Samrajyam (transl. Empire) is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language gangster film directed by Jomon. The film stars Mammootty as Alexander, a powerful underworld don. The film narrates the story of his rise and fall. The film features Madhu, Captain Raju, Ashokan, Vijayaraghavan and Srividya in supporting roles.
Dennis Joseph was an Indian scriptwriter and director known for his work in Malayalam films. He was active during the 1980s and early 1990s. He frequently collaborated with directors Joshiy and Thambi Kannanthanam. He is known for scripting films including Nirakkoottu (1985), Rajavinte Makan (1986), Shyama (1986), New Delhi (1987), No.20 Madras Mail (1990), Kottayam Kunjachan (1990), Indrajaalam (1990), Appu (1990), Akashadoothu (1993), Palayam (1994), and F.I.R. (1999). He also directed five films, including Manu Uncle, which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film in 1988 and the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Children's Film in 1989.
Unnikrishnan Mukundan, popularly known as Unni Mukundan, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema.
Tammreddy Bharadwaja is an Indian film director and producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Over his career, Bharadwaja directed more than 20 films and produced around 15 films. He also served as the president of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce. He is known for his role as a liaison between film producers and workers' unions. Bharadwaja is the son of veteran producer Tammareddy Krishna Murthy, a recipient of the prestigious Raghupathi Venkaiah Award.
Samrajyam II: Son of Alexander is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-Tamil billiungal language action film directed by Perarasu in his Malayalam debut. The film is produced by Ajmal Hassan. It is a sequel to 1990 Malayalam cult classic film Samrajyam which stars Unni Mukundan played the lead role. With Mammootty and Akanksha Puri plays the supporting roles. The film was partially reshot in Tamil as Tihar.
New generation films is a Malayalam film movement developed in the early 2010s, characterized by fresh and unusual themes and new narrative techniques. Films of the new wave differ from conventional themes of the past two decades and introduced several new trends and techniques to the Malayalam film industry. While the new generation formats and styles are deeply influenced by global trends, their thematics are firmly rooted in Malayalee life and mindscapes.
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.
Yatra (transl. Journey), also marketed as YSR: Yatra, is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language biographical film starring Mammootty as Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Directed by Mahi V Raghav, the film is based on padayatra of Reddy who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from May 2004 to June 2009 representing Indian National Congress. The film is produced by Vijay Chilla, Shashi Devi Reddy under 70mm Entertainments and music composed by K. Principal photography commenced on 20 June 2018 in Hyderabad.
Madhura Raja is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Vysakh, written by Udaykrishna and starring Mammootty, Jagapathi Babu and Jai alongside Anusree, Siddique, Nedumudi Venu, Vijayaraghavan, Salim Kumar, Mahima Nambiar, Anna Rajan and Shamna Kasim in supporting roles. The music is composed by Gopi Sundar. This film marks the debut of Jai in Malayalam cinema. The film is a spin-off to 2010 film Pokkiri Raja and Mammootty reprises his role as Raja.
