Career
At the early age of 23, Rajakrishnan worked with Deepan Chatterji as an assistant sound engineer. He has assisted him in around 70 films, which includes Balothekko (Bengali), which secured National Award in the year 2004. He later joined Four Frames Sound Company, Chennai as an assistant sound engineer and now works as the chief sound engineer for the same. He has worked with most of the directors in Malayalam and has done sound designing and mixing for over 200 films in various languages which includes Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu and Bengali.
Rajakrishnan has also composed music for the film Winter (directed by Dipu Karunakaran) with his uncle, M.G. Sreekumar, on the vocals. He has also done jingles for directors like Priyadarshan, Major Ravi and Dipu. His next feature film as a music composer is Mr. Bean (Malayalam movie). [2]
Rajakrishnan has been the choice of many Indian Film Directors like S. Priyadarshan, Santosh Sivan, Lal Jose, Major Ravi, V.K Prakash, A.L Vijay, Selvaraghavan and Anjali Menon to name a few.
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 and Lakshadweep islands of india. Malayalam cinema includes the commercial film industry, sometimes known as Mollywood, as well as independent cinema made in Malayalam.
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director and screenwriter. In a career spanning almost three decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 90 films in several Indian languages, predominantly Malayalam and Hindi, besides eight in Tamil, and two in Telugu. He is recipient of several accolades including three National Film Awards and Kerala State Film Awards. In 2012, the Government of India honoured him the Padma Shri, country's fourth highest civilian award.
Sreekumar Achary, better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decades. Widely regarded as the greatest comedian in the history of Malayalam cinema, he is also known for his highly nuanced character roles. He is the son of acclaimed dramaturge and writer, the late Jagathy N. K. Achary.
Poochakkoru Mookkuthi is a 1984 Indian Malayalam-language screwball comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan in his directorial debut. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Mohanlal, Shankar, Menaka, M. G. Soman, Nedumudi Venu, C. I. Paul, Sukumari, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Sreenivasan and Baiju Santhosh.
Kilukkam (transl. Jingle) is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Priyadarshan and written by Venu Nagavalli. The story set in Ooty revolves around tourist guide Joji (Mohanlal) and photographer Nishchal. They happen to meet a lavish tourist Nandini (Revathi), whom they bet their fortunes on. It also stars Thilakan, Innocent, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Sukumari, and Sharat Saxena, with Murali and Jagadish making cameo appearances. The music was composed by S. P. Venkatesh. Kilukkam was released on 15 August 1991. The film was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at that time and ran for more than 365-days at the theaters. Kilukkam won five Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Actor for Mohanlal, Second Best Actor for Jagathy Sreekumar, Best Editor for N. Gopalakrishnan, and Best Cinematographer for S. Kumar. The film is regarded as one of the best comedy films of Malayalam cinema. It was remade in Telugu as Allari Pilla and in Hindi as Muskurahat by Priyadarshan himself. Later, the film had a sequel Kilukkam Kilukilukkam (2006). The movie was reported to have been inspired by the 1953 American movie Roman Holiday.
Malabar Gopalan Nair Sreekumar, better known as M. G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in Indian Cinema, he has sung more than 2500 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Sanskrit. He owns a music company named KMG Musics and the Saregama School of Music in Thiruvananthapuram.On October 2024 he appionted as the Director of the Music Accademy of the UAE Government. Sreekumar has won several awards, including two National Film Awards, three Kerala State Film Awards and 5 Filmfare Awards South. He was also honoured with the Harivarasanam Award by the Government of Kerala in 2016. His career as a singer spans over 44 years.
Parinayam is a Malayalam language period drama film, directed by Hariharan and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. The key characters are played by Mohini, Manoj K. Jayan and Vineeth. The film also has a cast of character artists including Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Sukumari, Jagannatha Varma, Valsala Menon, Bindu Panicker, Bahadoor, and Shanthi Krishna.
Kaalapaani is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film written by T. Damodaran and directed by Priyadarshan. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian independence activists incarcerated in the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the British Raj. The ensemble cast includes Mohanlal, Prabhu, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Nedumudi Venu, Sreenivasan, Tinnu Anand, Annu Kapoor, Alex Draper, Sankaradi, and Vineeth. The film was produced by Mohanlal for Pranavam Arts in association with R. Mohan's Shogun Films.
Anandabhadram is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language romantic dark fantasy horror film based on the novel of the same name by Sunil Parameshwaran, and directed by Santosh Sivan. The story concerns ghosts, spirits, and black magic. The film stars Manoj K. Jayan as the central character, with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kavya Madhavan in the titular roles. While Kalabhavan Mani, Biju Menon, Riya Sen, Revathy, Kalasala Babu, Cochin Haneefa and Nedumudi Venu plays other pivotal roles.
Malabar Gopalan Nair Radhakrishnan was an Indian music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala.
Vellanakalude Nadu is a 1988 Indian Malayalam-language political satire crime film directed by Priyadarshan, written by Sreenivasan and produced by Maniyanpilla Raju. The film stars Mohanlal, Shobhana, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, M. G. Soman, Sreenivasan, Karamana Janardanan Nair, Maniyanpilla Raju, Sukumari, K. P. A. C. Lalitha and Lizy. The film tells the story of contractor C. Pavithran who has obtained a road contract. This film was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It ran for over 200 days in theatres. Priyadarshan later remade the film in Hindi as Khatta Meeta, released in 2010.
Krishnan Raghavan, also fondly called Raghavan Master, was an Indian music composer who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema and also a carnatic vocalist. Along with G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy and Baburaj, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. He is regarded as the pioneer in contributing Malayalam film songs with its own tunes and styles. Till then, Malayalam film songs were in the tunes of popular Hindi and Tamil film songs and old classical kritis. Raghavan gave a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music. He composed around 400 songs in Malayalam cinema and was active in the Malayalam film industry for nearly four decades. In 1997, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Kilichundan Mampazham is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan from a story by Sreenivasan. It was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the company Aashirvad Cinemas. The film stars Mohanlal, Soundarya, Sreenivasan and Salim Kumar. Vineeth Sreenivasan debuted as a singer in the film.
Desadanam is a 1996 Indian Malayalam language musical drama film directed by Jayaraj. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam. The story is about a young boy chosen to join a monastery. The film is a box office hit.
Makaramanju is a 2011 Malayalam language romantic drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran. The film is about a certain stage in the life of a celebrated painter, Raja Ravi Varma. It also narrates the story of the epic character, Pururavas. Cinematographer Santhosh Sivan and Karthika Nair appear in the lead roles. The movie is the latter's major Malayalam debut.
Rakkuyilin Ragasadassil is a 1986 Malayalam-language Indian family drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan, starring Mammootty, Suhasini, Adoor Bhasi, Jagathi Sreekumar and Lissy in lead roles.
Shutter is a 2012 Indian Malayalam thriller film written and directed by theater actor and playwright Joy Mathew in his directorial debut. The film set and filmed in Kozhikode, stars Lal, Sreenivasan, Vinay Forrt, Sajitha Madathil and Riya Saira. Renganaath Ravee does the sound design, and Hari Nair is the cinematographer. The film notably features a poem by Pablo Neruda, set to music and sung by Shahabaz Aman. Biby Sam and Jacob Panikker composed the background score for the film.
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Priyadarshan is mostly known for directing comedy films but has directed a few non-comical films such as a historical epic film based around freedom fighters in India titled Kaalapani and his epic period drama Kancheevaram. In a career spanning almost three decades, Priyadarshan has directed 96 films in several Indian languages, predominantly Malayalam and Hindi, besides eight in Tamil, and two in Telugu. Though he began his career in Malayalam cinema in 1984, Priyadarshan was mainly active in Hindi cinema for 2001–2010. In 2013, he announced Rangrezz would be his last Hindi film for a short period; and focused on making more Malayalam films.
The 35th Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, honouring the best Malayalam films released in 2011, were announced in May 2012.
