P. Padmarajan was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Bharathan and K. G. George, in the 1980s.
Kesavan Venugopal, better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Malayalam and also in Tamil in a career spanning nearly five decades. He wrote screenplays and directed one film. Nedumudi Venu won three National Film Awards and six Kerala State Film Awards for his various performances.
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.
M. G. Soman was an Indian actor and former Indian Air Force officer who appeared in Malayalam films. He was one among the leading star actors doing hero roles in Malayalam Cinema during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He has also done roles in Tamil films Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, Naalai Namadhe, Kumaara Vijayam and Airport. However, in the late 1980s and 1990s, he switched to character and villainous roles.
Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing credits in few films. Ponnamma is a four-time Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress winner. Her sister Kaviyoor Renuka was also an actress. Often called as the Mother to all actors, she has acted as mother of almost all actors in her career panning over decades. At the age of 20, she played the mother of Sathyan and Madhu in the 1965 movie Thommente Makkal. She gained critical acclaim for acting as the mother of the actor Mohanlal.
Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha, was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1979 Tamil film Pasi. She also received three Kerala State Film Awards: for Best Actress (1978), Best Supporting Actress (1977) and Best Child Artist (1971); and two Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress in Kannada (1978) and Tamil (1979) films. Considered one of the finest talents to have emerged in the Indian film world, her promising career was unexpectedly cut short as she committed suicide in 1980, due to unknown reasons. Her popularity resulted in considerable public scrutiny of the events that led to her death and also various conspiracy theories. The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is supposedly based on her life and death.
Ashwathy Kurup, better known by her stage name Parvathy and married name Parvathy Jayaram , is a former Indian actress, costume designer and classical dancer, who appeared in Malayalam films.
Sharada is an Indian actress and politician. Known for her work predominantly in Telugu and Malayalam films, Sharada is the recipient of three National Awards. She has also appeared in few Tamil, Hindi as well as Kannada language films. She is also known as Urvasi Sharada as National Film Award for Best Actress was officially designated the Urvasi Award. She won three National Awards for her roles in Thulabharam (1968), Swayamvaram (1972), and Nimajjanam (1977). Sharada has garnered the NTR National Award by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for her contributions to Indian cinema.
Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvatta is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films, alongside Kannada-language films. Hailing from Calicut, Kerala, she made her debut in the 2006 Malayalam film Out of Syllabus.
Sargam is a 1992 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written and directed by Hariharan and produced by his wife Bhavani Hariharan. Chowallur Krishnankutty wrote the dialogues. The film features Vineeth, Manoj K. Jayan, and Rambha, while Nedumudi Venu, Soumini, Urmila Unni, V. K. Sriraman, Thilakan, and Oduvil Unnikrishnan play supporting roles. Shaji N. Karun did the cinematography, while Bombay Ravi composed the soundtrack and M. S. Mani handled the editing.This movie was a blockbuster and 3rd highest grossing movie of the year.
His Highness Abdullah is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language musical thriller drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu, Gautami, Sreenivasan, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair and Mamukkoya. The film was produced by Mohanlal and was the debut production of his company Pranavam Arts. The film features original songs composed by Raveendran and a background score by Mohan Sithara. His Highness Abdullah was the same team's first film in a trilogy of Indian classical arts films, followed by Bharatham (1991) and Kamaladalam (1992).
Venugopal, popularly known as Venu, is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and CMS college Kottayam. He has been the recipient of four National Film Awards, including three for Best Cinematography and one Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director, and four Kerala State Film Awards. He is a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC). Venu is married to Beena Paul, a film editor who works predominantly in Malayalam films.
Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is a 1983 Malayalam-language film by K. G. George. The film was controversial because of the protagonist's similarities to the actress Shoba, whose suicide was highly publicized. In his biography, even though KG George admits that his inspiration to make the movie was indeed the suicide of Shobha, he says that more importantly it was his long-time dream to make a cinema about 'cinema', which had never been tried before in the Malayalam industry at the time.
Bhadran Mattel is an Indian filmmaker and writer, whose career spans more than 40 years. Bhadran's body of work addresses such themes as victimization of ill-mannered parenting, concepts of psychological trauma's and redemption, objectification of fatherhood, child hood distresses, intense metaphorical placements of matter and animals, Biblical inspired backdrops and autocrat Christian culture in typical parts of Kerala.
Chamaram is a 1980 Malayalam film written by John Paul Puthusery and directed by Bharathan, starring Nedumudi Venu, Zarina Wahab, Prathap Pothan and Ratheesh. The story is about the tumultuous affair between a student and his college lecturer, an uncommon type of love story in Indian Cinema. This film has the evergreen song "Nadha Nee Varum Kalocha Kelkkuvan", sung by S. Janaki. Chamaram considered one of the landmark movies in Malayalam film history. The film broke all conventional concepts and moral equations in love. The film become a trend in 1980s campus as well as youth. Chamaram is one of the evergreen campus movies in Malayalam cinema. C.M.S. College was the location of Chamaram.
Vida Parayum Munpe is a 1981 Malayalam-language drama film directed by Mohan, written by John Paul and produced by Innocent and David Kachappilli. The film stars Prem Nazir and Nedumudi Venu in lead roles, while Lakshmi, Innocent, Bharath Gopy, and Sankaradi play supporting roles. The film is a loose adaptation of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed 1971 film Anand. The film follows Xavier, a stenographer who finds himself fired from his job after his boss learns that he has lied to him for leave. His boss, Madhavan Kutty fires him on the spot. However, when he learns that Xavier suffers from cancer he regrets his decision of firing him from his job.
Kamaladalam is a 1992 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil, starring Mohanlal, Murali, Vineeth, Nedumudi Venu, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Monisha, Parvathy Jayaram and Sukumari. The film was produced by Mohanlal through his company Pranavam Arts. The film features original songs composed by Raveendran and a background score by Johnson. This movie was inspired from Telugu classic Sagara Sangamam directed by K Viswanath with Kamal Haasan in lead role.
Babu Thiruvalla is an Indian film producer, director, and scriptwriter who works in Malayalam films. He produced films such as Oru Minnaminunginte Nurungu Vettam (1987) and Amaram (1991) under the banner Symphony Creations. Most of the films he produced got either State(Kerala) or National(India) award in some category. His first directorial venture 'Thaniyae' bagged more than 20 Awards including State Award and Indian Panorama.His directorial venture Thanichalla Njan (2012) won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. He was a Jury member for selecting Indian film for the Oscar award 2016. Latest venture in film field was with doing a segment for Crossroad in directorial role.jury member of IFFK 2019.
Ambalapravu is a 1970 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. Bhaskaran and produced by T. C. Barjathya. The film stars Prem Nazir, Sheela, Madhu and Sharada in the lead roles. The film had musical score by M. S. Baburaj.
Oru Kudakeezhil is a 1985 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Joshiy and produced by Sajan. The film stars Shankar, Madhavi and Nedumudi Venu, while Venu Nagavally, Sukumari, Thilakan and Rohini play supporting roles. The film has musical score by Johnson.
