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 400 films, predominantly in lead roles. 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.
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.
Joshiy is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and also directed Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada-language films. Joshiy is a pioneer of action thriller films in Malayalam cinema and his films are known for its stylized imagery, color grading and film noir.
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.
Mukesh Madhavan, known mononymously as Mukesh, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and politician who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil-language films. In a film career spanning four decades, he has acted in over 275 Malayalam films. His 1996 film Kaanaakkinaavu premiered at the IFFI and won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. He co-produced Kadha Parayumbol (2007), which won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value. He also produced the 2012 film Thattathin Marayathu, which is considered one of the defining films of the Malayalam New Wave.
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.
Amaram (transl. Stern) is a 1991 Indian Malayalam drama film directed by Bharathan and written by A. K. Lohithadas. It stars Mammootty, Maathu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Ashokan, Murali, Chitra, and Kuthiravattam Pappu in the main roles. The film's score is composed by Johnson while the songs are by Raveendran.
Shaji Kailas is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film Dr. Pasupathy (1990).
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.
Bhadran Mattel is an Indian filmmaker and writer, whose career spans more than 40 years. Bhadran's body of work addresses such themes as victimization of ill-mannered parenting, concepts of psychological trauma's and redemption, objectification of fatherhood, childhood distresses, intense metaphorical placements of matter and animals, Biblical inspired backdrops, and autocrat Christian culture in typical parts of Kerala.
Perarasu is an Indian film director who works primarily in Tamil cinema and is best known for masala films with Vijay and Bharath. Perarasu has also been credited as an actor, music director, singer and lyricist in some of his ventures.
Ekalavyan is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language neo-noir action thriller film directed by Shaji Kailas and written by Renji Panicker. It stars Suresh Gopi in the lead role, alongside an ensemble cast featuring Siddique, Geetha, Narendra Prasad, Vijayaraghavan, Ganesh Kumar, Janardhanan, Madhu, Maathu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kuthiravattam Pappu and Devan.
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. The film features original music composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the cinematography was handled by Jaynan Vincent. The film was a major commercial success and ran for more than 200 days in Kerala. The film found greater success in Andhra Pradesh. The film brought by distributor for about 10 prints went on to play in 400 prints due to the huge demand in theatres. This movie sequel of 2015 movie Samrajyam II: Son of Alexander
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 Nair is an Indian actor, producer, singer, lyricist and social issues responder who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema., along with few Telugu and Tamil films. In 2021, he won his first national award as a producer for his production debut film, Meppadiyan, which won the national award for the best film of a debut director.
Tammreddy Bharadwaja is an Indian film director and producer who works in Telugu cinema. Bharadwaja directed over 20 films and produced around 10 films in his career. He also served as the president of the APFCC. He is known for his role as a liaison between Telugu film producers and film workers unions. He is the son of Tammareddy Krishna Murthy, a veteran film producer who received the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award.
Samrajyam II: Son of Alexander is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-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 Mammootty in the lead. Unni Mukundan played the lead role of Jordan, the son of Alexander who was the protagonist in the prequel. Akanksha Puri plays the female lead role. 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.
Yatra (transl. Journey), also marketed as YSR: Yatra, is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language biographical film starring Mammootty in the role 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.
