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.
Mohanlal Viswanathan ), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Mohanlal has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 400 films. Mohanlal's contributions to the Malayalam cinema have been praised by his contemporaries in the Indian film industry. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2001, and Padma Bhushan in 2019, India's fourth and third highest civilian honours, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2009, he became the first actor in India to be awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army. Mohanlal was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN.
Shaji Neelakantan Karun is an Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi (1988) won the Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the premiere chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the first academy for film and TV in India and was also the executive chairman of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) from 1998 to 2001. He is best known for his award-winning films Piravi (1988), Swaham (1994), Vanaprastham (1999) and Kutty Srank (2009). He won the National Award for Best Director for his debut film Piravi. He also won two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Director for his films Swaham and Vanaprastham. Currently, he is the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation.
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.
Vanaprastham: The Last Dance is a 1999 Indo-French psychological drama period film in Malayalam-language that was directed by Shaji N. Karun. It was produced by Pierre Assouline and co-produced by Mohanlal. The screenplay was written by Karun and Raghunath Paleri based on a story by Assouline. It features Mohanlal in the lead role, with Suhasini Maniratnam, Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar, Kalamandalam Gopi, Venmani Haridas, and Kukku Parameshwaram in supporting roles. The film's music was composed by Zakir Hussain.
Varavelpu (transl. Welcoming) is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Sreenivasan, starring Mohanlal, Revathi, Sreenivasan, Thilakan, Murali, Innocent, and Jagadish. The film was produced by K. Rajagopal. It depicted trade union problems plaguing Kerala and the issues created by union members and the dirty politics which is prevalent in present governance and is narrated in a satirical dark comedy
Gopynathan Velayudhan Nair, popularly known by the stage name Bharat Gopy, was an Indian actor, producer, and director. Considered one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema, Gopy was one of the first actors to be associated with the New Wave cinema movement in Kerala during the 1970s.
Classmates is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lal Jose and written by James Albert. The film features an ensemble cast including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Narain, Jayasurya, Indrajith Sukumaran, Radhika and Kavya Madhavan. The story revolves around a college graduate class of 1991. In 2006, working in different corners of the world, the friends get together for a class reunion to revive the joy and laughter of their college days. On the night of the reunion, one of the students is almost murdered and goes into a coma.
Muraleedharan Pillai, popularly known as Murali was an Indian film, stage and television actor and author. He mainly appeared in Malayalam films and a few Tamil films. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Appa Mestry, a communist freedom fighter and professional weaver in the 2002 film Neythukaran. He was known for his powerful portrayal of character roles, lead roles and negative roles, widely regarded as one of the greatest actors in Malayalam cinema.
The 52nd Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg served as jury president for the main competition. Kristin Scott Thomas was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Murali Nair is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has directed eight films since 1993. His film Marana Simhasanam was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Caméra d'Or.
Pattiyude Divasam is a 2001 Indian political satire film directed by Murali Nair.
Arimpara is a 2003 Indian body horror film directed by Murali Nair. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. It won the John Abraham Award for Best Malayalam Film in 2003.
Aayirathil Oruvan is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Sibi Malayil, starring Kalabhavan Mani.
Susanna is a 2000 Malayalam film written, directed and produced by T. V. Chandran with Vani Viswanath in the title role. The film won two Kerala State Film Awards: Second Best Actress and Special Jury Mention. It received the Padmarajan Award for Cinema in 2000. Susanna is widely regarded as the best performance by Vani Viswanath.
M. J. Radhakrishnan was an Indian cinematographer working mainly in Malayalam films. He got National film award 2018 as best cinematographer for his work on Malayalam movie Oolu. He won Kerala State Award for Best Cinematography 7 times, equal with Mankada Ravi Varma. Earlier he worked as a still photographer and then as an associate to cinematographer turned director Shaji N. Karun. His important works included Deshadanam (1996), Karunam (1999) Naalu Pennungal (2007), Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2010) and Akasathinte Niram. His films were screened at several prominent film festivals around the world including Cannes, Shanghai, Cairo, Montreal, Telluride, Jeonju, Toronto, Chicago, Rhode Island and Rotterdam. One of his works, Marana Simhasanam, won Caméra d'Or in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Another film Veyilmarangal won Golden Goblet award for Outstanding Artistic achievement at Shanghai International Film Festival 2019. He worked on over 117 feature films and several documentaries and worked with some of the prominent Indian filmmakers including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Murali Nair, Shaji N. Karun, TV Chandran, Dr. Biju, Jayaraj and Renjith. He mostly worked on arthouse films and was known for his natural lighting styles. In a career spanning more than two decades, he worked with a number of young film makers, mostly in their maiden ventures. Film Kalamandalam Hyderali 2019, directed by Kiran G. Nath was his last completed work as director of photography.
Vannadil Puthiyaveettil "V. P." Krishnakumar is a sound engineer, editor and recordist known mostly for his works in Malayalam films, documentaries and TV series. He has worked with acclaimed film directors including G. Aravindan, Padmarajan, T. V. Chandran and K. P. Kumaran. He specializes in Sync sound—for many of his notable works, audio was recorded live. He has also worked on foreign projects, including a documentary with German documentary filmmaker and director Andreas Voigt. After long stints with Kerala State Film Development Corporation's Chitranjali Studio and Kalabhavan Digital Studios in Thiruvananthapuram, and Kochi, he heads the Department of Sound Recording at Chitranjali Studio, Thiruvananthapuram.
Simhasanam (transl. Throne) is a 2012 Malayalam action film written and directed by Shaji Kailas starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Sai Kumar with supporting cast including Siddique and Devan. The music was composed by Ronnie Raphael.
