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. Malayalam cinema includes the commercial film industry popularly known as Mollywood as well as independent cinema of Malayalam language. 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.
Bharathan was an Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Padmarajan and K. G. George, in the 1980s, which created films that were widely received while also being critically acclaimed. A train of directors, and screenwriters followed this school onto the 1990s including Sibi Malayil, Kamal, Lohithadas and Jayaraj.
Suresh Gopi is an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter and politician who is currently serving as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Ministry of Tourism since June 2024. He was elected as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha in the 2024 general election from Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency, becoming the first BJP MP from Kerala, marking the party’s first-ever victory in a Lok Sabha election in the state. He is also serving as the President of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute from September 2023.
Thattil Antony Johnson, popularly known as Johnson Master, was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Koodevide, Namukku Paarkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Njan Gandharvan, Ponthan Mada, and Bhoothakkannadi. Regarded as one of the finest composers in the industry, he was noted for his lyrical and expressive melodies together with simple but rich tonal compositions of thematic music. Johnson is a recipient of National Film Awards twice and Kerala State Film Awards five times.
Hariharan is an Indian film director who has directed over 50 Malayalam films. His movies mainly revolve around the cultural and relational aspects of a typical Keralite society. His most notable works include Sharapancharam (1979), Panchagni (1986), Idavazhiyile Poocha Mindappoocha (1979), Amrutham Gamaya (1987), Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989), Sargam (1992), Parinayam (1994) and Pazhassi Raja (2009) which has won him wide critical acclaim. In 2019, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Harris Jayaraj is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi.
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.
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.
Prithviraj Sukumaran is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily active in Malayalam cinema. He has also featured in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films, adding to over 100 films involving diverse genres and variety of roles. Prithviraj's accolades include a National Film Award, four Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, seven SIIMA Awards and a South Filmfare Award.
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).
Vijay Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son of acclaimed singer K. J. Yesudas.
Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy was a veteran carnatic musician and composer and music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films. His work was predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
Mechery Louis Ouseppachan, known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film Awards for his numerous film soundtrack albums and background scores.
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.
Kaliyattam is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language tragedy film directed by Jayaraj. It stars Suresh Gopi, Lal, Biju Menon and Manju Warrier. The film is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Othello, set against the backdrop of the Theyyam performance of Kerala. The film's screenplay is written by Balram Mattannur. Suresh Gopi plays Kannan Perumalayan, the equivalent to Othello, Lal plays Paniyan, the equivalent to Iago, Manju Warrier plays Thamara, the Desdemona version, and Biju Menon plays Kanthan, Cassio's role. Suresh Gopi's role as Kannan Perumalayan was critically acclaimed and was considered one of the finest acting performances in his career.
Gopi Sundar C.S. is an Indian music director, programmer, playback singer, songwriter, actor and performer who works in the Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil film industries.
Tovino Thomas is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film Prabhuvinte Makkal. His breakthrough roles were in the films ABCD (2013), 7th Day (2014) and Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015). He starred as the titular character in the Netflix superhero film Minnal Murali (2021).
1983 is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age sports film directed by fashion photographer Abrid Shine, who wrote the story and co-wrote the script with Bipin Chandran. The film, produced under the banner of Shams Films, stars Nivin Pauly in the lead role. Anoop Menon, Nikki Galrani, Joy Mathew, Srinda Arhaan, Jacob Gregory, Saiju Kurup, Shine Tom Chacko, Dinesh, Sui Joseph, Neeraj Madhav and Sanju, make up the rest of the cast. Pradeesh Varma cranked the camera and the music director was Gopi Sunder, for which he received the 62nd National Film Awards for Best Background Score.
Theevandi is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Fellini T. P. and written by Vini Vishwa Lal. The film stars Tovino Thomas, Samyuktha, Sudheesh, Surabhi Lakshmi, Rajesh Sharma, Suraj Venjarammoodu, Saiju Kurup, and Shammi Thilakan in lead-roles. Principal photography began in November 2017 and ended around January 2018. Kailas Menon composed the music and Appu Bhattathiri was the editor. The film was released on 7 September 2018.
