Malayalam cinema is the Indian film industry based in the southern state of Kerala, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language. It is also known by the sobriquet Mollywood in various print and online media. It's also known as Wonderwood due to its wonderful contributions to Indian film industry. Malayalam film industry is the fourth biggest film industry in India. The films produced here are known for their cinematography and story-driven realistic plots. Works such as Marana Simhasanam and Vanaprastham were screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Marana Simhasanam garnered the coveted Caméra d'Or for that year.
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas credited and also known as K. J. Yesudas or simply Yesudas or Jesudas is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. Yesudas has recorded more than 50,000 songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Odia, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades. He is mostly known for his celestial voice which is why he is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan. He is a highly regarded singer in South India along with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.
The music of Kerala has a long and rich 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. The most basic branches are classical music which is primarily Carnatic music oriented, and popular music which includes film songs and album songs.
Hariharan is an Indian playback, bhajan and ghazal singer from Trivandrum, whose songs have been featured mainly in Tamil and Hindi. Also he sang notable songs in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Bhojpuri films. He is an established Ghazal singer and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. In 2004, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India and is a two-time National Award winner.
Adnan Sami Khan is an Indian singer, musician, music composer, and pianist. He performs Indian and Western music, including for Hindi movies. His most notable instrument is the piano. He has been credited as "the first musician to have played the santoor & Indian classical music on the piano". A review in the US-based Keyboard magazine described him as the fastest keyboard player in the world and called him the keyboard discovery of the nineties.
Mohammad Sabir Baburaj, also known as M. S. Baburaj, was a Malayalam music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs.
Rasathanthram (transl. Chemistry) is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film written and directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and starring Mohanlal and Meera Jasmine, with Bharath Gopi, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Innocent, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, and Mamukkoya in prominent roles. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor through Aashirvad Cinemas. The soundtrack album was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while Alagappan N. handled the cinematography.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language biographical action film based on the life of Pazhassi Raja, a Hindu king who fought against the British in the 18th century. The film was directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It stars Mammootty in the lead role with Sarathkumar, Kanika Subramaniam, Manoj K Jayan, Padmapriya, Thilakan, Peter Handley Evans, Harry Key, Linda Arsenio and Jagathi Sreekumar in supporting roles. The music score and soundtrack were created by Ilaiyaraaja, while its sound design is by Resul Pookutty. The political situation of the time is portrayed from an Indian viewpoint in the film, and the locals are treated sympathetically.
Remya Nambeesan is an Indian film actress and singer who appears in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has starred in over 60 films as child artist, minor supporting roles to character roles and has also sung over dozen songs including the song "Aande Londe" for the film Ivan Megharoopan (2012) and song "Muthuchippi Poloru" for Thattathin Marayathu (2012).
Shweta Mohan is an Indian playback singer. She has received four Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer, one Kerala State Film Award and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. She has recorded songs for film music and albums in all the four south Indian languages namely Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada in addition to the Hindi films and has established herself as a leading playback singer of South Indian cinema.
Manjari is an Indian playback singer and Hindustani vocalist. Her first stage performance was with Shiva, the Kolkata - based rock band, when she was in class eight.
V. Madhusoodanan Nair is an Indian poet and critic of Malayalam literature, who is credited with contributions in popularizing poetry through recitation. He is best known for Naranathu Bhranthan, the poem with the most editions in Malayalam literature as well as his music albums featuring recitations of his own poems and poems of other major poets. Kerala Sahitya Akademi honoured him with their annual award for poetry in 1993. He is also a recipient many other honours including Sahitya Akademi Award, Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram, Padmaprabha Literary Award, Kunju Pillai Award, R. G. Mangalom Award, Souparnikatheeram Prathibhapuraskaram and Janmashtami Puraskaram.
Rajalakshmy is a playback singer and made her mark in the Malayalam film music industry by winning the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Playback Singer in 2011. She was nominated to the National Film Awards 2009 for the film Kuttysrank, directed by Shaji N. Karun. She has won the Kerala State Sangeetha Nataka Academy for the Best Playback Singer in 2004&2014. Also won the first Mazhavil Mango Music awards in 2017 and Flowers Music awards in 2018. She has also lent her voice to Tamil and Kannada movies.
Dulquer Salmaan is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam language films. He has also worked in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi language films. The son of actor Mammootty, Salmaan graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management from Purdue University, and worked as a business manager before pursuing a career in acting. He is the winner of four Filmfare Awards South and one Kerala State Film Award.
Sooraj Santhosh is an Indian playback singer who sings mainly in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam languages and also sung in Hindi, Kannada and Badaga. He was the former lead vocalist of the band Masala Coffee.
O Kadhal Kanmani is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, to the 2015 Indian Tamil film of the same name written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The soundtrack album consists of nine tracks each in original Tamil and Telugu version of the albums with one track "Maula Wa Sallim" being common to both. Majority of the tracks for the original version were penned by Vairamuthu. The lyrics to the Telugu version were written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.The lyrics to its Hindi version songs in its Hindi remake OK Jaanu is by Gulzar The songs are fusion of contemporary music with carnatic music as well as pure classical Indian music based songs in the genres—carnatic and Hindustani. The original score was produced by ensemble Qutb-e-Kripa along with Rahman. The score utilises the songs and re-performed carnatic compositions of musicians Tyagaraja and Annamacharya.
Muzik 247 based out of Chennai, acquires music rights for South Indian Cinema films, mainly Tamil, Malayalam and Tulu. The company was founded in 2012 by Naveen Bhandari, and has achieved a large market share of the Malayalam film music.
O Kadhal Kanmani, also known as OK Kanmani, is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language romance film written, directed and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen in the lead roles, portraying a young couple in a live-in relationship in Mumbai. Prakash Raj and Leela Samson play supporting roles as an older couple in the film, portraying the younger couple's landlords. The film was said to be a "reflection of the modern mindset of urban India", dealing with issues such as marriage and traditional values.
Muhsin Parari is an Indian film director, writer and lyricist, who works in Malayalam films.
