Malayalam cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language, which is 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.
The music of Kerala has a complex history. It is not the same as Malayalam poetry, although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it.
Mohammad Sabir Baburaj was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs.
Madhavan Raveendran, , fondly known as Raveendran Master, was a popular South Indian music composer and playback singer from Kerala. He composed songs for more than 150 films primarily for the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He also composed a few albums, including Vasantha Geethangal, Ponnonatharangini and Rithugeethangal. Raveendran successfully composed melodies based on Hindustani Ragas also.
Unni Menon is an Indian film playback singer. He has recorded over 4000 songs in many Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. In the early part of his career, he spent many years as a low-profile playback singer. The turning point in his career came with the song "Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" from Mani Ratnam's award-winning 1992 Tamil film Roja, composed by A. R. Rahman. He has frequently associated with A. R. Rahman, lending his voice to nearly 27 popular songs from films like Karuththamma (1994) and Minsaara Kanavu (1997).
Parakkal Unnikrishnan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and playback singer.
Srividya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, she had acted in more than 800 films. In the latter part of her career, she concentrated on Malayalam films. In addition to acting, Srividya occasionally worked as a playback singer as well as carnatic singer. She was also a well trained Bharathanatyam dancer. She was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. She used her own voice for dubbing almost in all movies in all languages. She died in 2006 after battling metastatic breast cancer.
Gopinathan Nair Venugopal, popularly known as G. Venugopal, is an Indian playback singer known for his works in Malayalam films. He started his singing career in the film Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984). Since then he has sung in more than 4000 films; and has over 500 private albums to his credit.
Malabar Gopalan Radhakrishnan was an Indian music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala.
Porayath Leela was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist, and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati, Marati. and also Sinhale. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration in the songs with Music Composers v.Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, G Devarajan, ghantasala, MS Viswanathan, K. Raghavan, Br Lakshmanan, LPR Varma, BA chithambara athletes, AT ummer, MK Arjun,Johnson, ouseppachan, ilaiyaraja, and with the playback singers KJ Yesudas and Ghantalasa over the years. Leela is known for her sweet and melodious voice that she named Ganamani. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006. She made her debut as a playback singer in the 1948 Tamil film Kangkanam.
Shantha P. Nair was a playback singer in Malayalam cinema. She was based in Thrissur, Kerala.
Lathika is an Indian playback singer whose voice held sway over the music charts in the late 1980s-early 1990s in the Malayalam film industry. She has lent her voice mainly for Malayalam and Tamil film songs for over 300 films. Some of her hit songs of that time are ‘Kathodu Kathoram…' and ‘Devadoothar Padi…'(Kathodu Kathoram), ‘Poo Venam Pooppada Venam...', and ‘Tharum Thalirum...' (Chilambu).
Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which includes three Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Ishaan Dev better known as shaan is an Indian music composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music programmer and stage performer in several South Indian languages. Hailing from Thiruvallam, Trivandrum, Kerala, India, Ishaan Dev worked in several South Indian languages. He won the Best Male Playback Singer Award at Mirchi Music Awards South for the Kannada Movie Shyloo in 2011. He had composed and recorded songs for several South Indian movies and established himself an identity as a musician in the industry. He is the composer and singer of the famous song, during the 2018 flooding in Kerala ‘Karalurappulla Keralam’ which gained special attention all across the nation.
Kamalakshi Omanakutty is an academic, music teacher and carnatic vocalist noted for her research and publications in the field of music. Her research on Kathakali music led to her doctorate in this field. She currently serves as professor and Head of the Department of Music at the University of Kerala. She also chairs Sangeetha Bharathi, a private organization.
Mridula Varier is a South Indian playback singer from Koyilandy, Kerala. She started her career as a playback singer in the Malayalam movie Big B in 2007. She has also recorded songs for Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She has won the prestigious Kerala State Award in 2023 and Special Jury Award in 2014.
Kizhakke Potta Udayabhanu was an Indian playback singer and music director, mainly in Malayalam films. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.
Haseena Haneef, better known as Usha N, is an Indian actress, who has worked predominantly in Malayalam film industry. She has acted in more than 70 movies. Usha made her acting debut as a child artist in the 1984 film Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu.
South Malabar refers to a geographical area of the southwestern coast of India covering some parts of the present-day Kerala state. South Malabar covers the regions included in present-day Kozhikode taluk of Kozhikode district, the whole area of Malappuram district, Chavakkad taluk of Thrissur district, and Palakkad district, excluding parts of Chittur taluk. The Fort Kochi region of Kochi city also historically belongs to South Malabar. The term South Malabar refers to the region of the erstwhile Malabar District south to the river Korapuzha, and bears a high cultural similarity to both the Cochin and the North Malabar regions.
V. T. Murali is an Indian playback singer and music critic from Kerala. He is known for many songs including the song "Othu palliyilannu nammal" composed by Padma Shri K. Raghavan from the movie Thenthulli directed by National award-winning director K. P. Kumaran. He was a former board member of Kerala State Film Development. Corporation. He is also the president of K Rakhavan master Award foundation As a music critic, Murali has written 12 books.
