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 .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 is an Indian musician and playback singer. Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional and cinematic songs. He has recorded more than Eighty Thousand songs in a number of Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, and Telugu as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, during a career spanning more than five decades.
Mohanlal Viswanathan, known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, producer and playback singer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has had a prolific career spanning four decades, during which he has acted in more than 300 films. In addition to Malayalam, he has also appeared in other regional Indian films.
Muhammad Kutty Paniparambil Ismail, better known by his stage name Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning four decades, he has appeared in over 400 films, predominantly in Malayalam language and also in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English.
Suresh Gopi is an Indian film actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in few Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh has acted in more than 200 films and is a recipient of a National Film Award and Kerala State Film Award. He currently serves as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha. Suresh is also a philanthropist, social worker, and advocates for environmental protection.
Karthika Menon, better known by her stage name Bhavana, is an Indian film actress, who works in South Indian film industry. She has acted in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu language films, and has established herself as a bankable lead actress. Bhavana made her acting debut in the Malayalam film Nammal in 2002, for which she won the Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention. In a career spanning over a decade, she has appeared in over 75 films and has won two Kerala State Film Awards.
Sugathakumari is an Indian poet and activist, who has been at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala, South India. Her parents were the poet and freedom fighter Bodheswaran and V. K. Karthiyayini, a Sanskrit scholar. She is influenced by her poet father's social activism and nationalistic fervour.
Shweta Menon is an Indian model, actress and television anchor. She won Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides appearing in a number of Tamil productions.
Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup, popularly known as O. N. V. Kurup or simply and endearingly O. N. V., was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He received the awards Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011, the fourth and second highest civilian honours from the Government of India. In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University of Kerala, Trivandrum. O. N. V. was known for his leftist leaning. He was a leader of All India Students Federation (AISF). He died on 13 February 2016 at KIMS hospital in Thiruvananthapuram due to age-related illnesses, aged 84.
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian film actor, producer and businessman, who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won four Kerala State Film Awards, a Filmfare Awards South and several other awards.
Menaka is an Indian film actress and producer. She made her Debut in Tamil film 'Ramayi Vayasukku Vanthutta'.In her short film career from 1980–86, Menaka acted in 116 films, mostly in Malayalam. She did a few films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. She married Malayalam Producer Suresh Kumar. After 19 years, she made a comeback through the television serial Kaliveedu. Again after six years, she made a comeback on the big screen through Fazil's 2011 film Living Together.
Asif Ali is an Indian film actor and producer, who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He Started his film career at the age of 23 in Shyamaprasad's 2009 film Ritu, which was highly appreciated by the crtics.
Nazriya Nazim is an Indian film actress and producer, who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films.
Lakshmi Menon is an Indian film actress and singer, who mainly appears in Tamil films along with Malayalam films After making her acting debut in a supporting role in the Malayalam film Raghuvinte Swantham Raziya (2011), she played the female lead in her debut Tamil film Sundarapandian in 2012. Sundarapandian, as well as her next three Tamil releases, were commercial successes and she was labelled as "the fastest rising star in Tamil cinema" by Sify.She received Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for her roles in Sundarapandian and Kumki. mm
Anubhoothi is a 1997 Indian Malayalam film, directed by I. V. Sasi. The film stars Jagathy Sreekumar, Suresh Gopi, Kalpana and Jagadish in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Shyam.
Bhagyalakshmi is an Indian dubbing artist, actress and an activist. She works primarily in Malayalam Film Industry. She has dubbed for more than 2000 films in Malayalam cinema. She mostly dubbed for actress Shobana.
Nikki Galrani is an Indian film actress, model and fashion designer who works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. And also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. Her first major commercial successful films are in Malayalam language 1983 (2014), Vellimoonga (2014) and in the Tamil language horror film Darling in 2015. The media began referring to Galrani as the "Darling" of Tamil cinema. She has established a career in South Indian film industries as a leading actress, and she is a recipient of several awards. Kochi Times placed her fifth in their list of the "25 Most Desirable Women of 2015".
Ashitha was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, best known for her short stories, poems and translations. She contributed in popularising haiku poems in Malayalam through her translations and her stories were known for the sensitive portrayal of life. She was a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story as well as other honours including Padmarajan Award, Lalithambika Anterjanam Smaraka Sahitya Award and Edasseri Award.
