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, India. In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. The film Marana Simhasanam has won the prestigious Caméra d'Or at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music and a cultural icon of Kerala. Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 50,000 songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades. He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan. Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.
Mohanlal Viswanathan 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-News18.
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has appeared in more than 420 films, predominantly in lead roles. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, nine Kerala State Film Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South. For his contribution to film, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1998. In 2022, he was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest civilian honour given by the Government of Kerala.
Mohanlal is an Indian actor, producer, distributor, host, and playback singer who has starred in mainstream blockbuster and art-house films. He has made over 325 appearances in feature films during the span of his career, primarily in Malayalam cinema and also in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films.
Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the elder son of actor and screenwriter Sreenivasan.
Malabar Gopalan Nair Sreekumar, better known as M.G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer Bank employee, music producer, television presenter and film producer, Bank employee
M. Nassar is an Indian actor, director, producer, dubbing artist, singer and politician who mainly works in the Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam film industries. He has also worked in few Kannada, English, Hindi and Bengali films. He is the incumbent president of the Nadigar Sangam.
Prithviraj Sukumaran is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily active in Malayalam cinema. He has also featured in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films, adding to over a 100 films involving diverse genres and variety of roles. Prithviraj's accolades include a National Film Award, three Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award and a South Filmfare Award.
Jayasurya is an Indian actor, distributor, sponsor, model, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist who works in Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a National Film Award, three Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South for acting and Best Actor at the Cincinnati Film Festival held in Cincinnati, US. Jayasurya has also appeared in a few Tamil films.
Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer who predominantly works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. She has won several accolades including two Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer in Telugu in 2006 and for Best Actress in Malayalam in 2010 and also won Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress in 2010. She has launched her own film production company under the banner Mamta Mohandas Productions.
Andrea is an Indian playback singer and actress who works predominantly in Tamil films apart from a few Telugu and Malayalam language films. She made her playback singing debut with "Kannum Kannum Nokia" in the Tamil film Anniyan, with music composed by Harris Jayaraj. She made her acting debut in the Tamil film Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007), with R. Sarathkumar and Jyothika and Malayalam debut with Annayum Rasoolum (2013) with Fahadh Faasil.
Kannum Karalum is a 1962 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan, produced by A. K. Balasubramaniam under the banner of Saravanabhava Pictures. The film stars Sathyan, Ambika Sukumaran and Kamal Haasan, while Sukumari and debutant Vinodini play supporting roles. It was about a child Babu writing letters to his mother who he thought was in heaven.
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, including four Kerala State Film Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.
Rahul Raj is an Indian music composer. He has composed and produced scores and soundtracks predominantly for Malayalam movies. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Berklee College of Music and holds a postgraduate degree in scoring for films, TV and video games.
Maliyekkal Kochukunju Arjunan was an Indian film and theatre composer, known for his works in Malayalam cinema and the theatre of Kerala. He was fondly referred to as Arjunan Master.
Gopi Sundar C.S. is an Indian music director, programmer, playback singer, songwriter, actor and performer who works in the Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil film industries.
Bombay Mittayi is a Malayalam-language film directed by Umar Karikkad starring Vinu Mohan, Neelambari, Amar Singh and Sreenivasan in the lead roles. This film marks the acting debut of leading politician Amar Singh. This film also marks the entry of Bollywood actress Dimple Kapadia into Malayalam cinema. Sri Lankan actress Neelambari Perumal enters Indian Cinema through this film.
T. V. Ramesh, professionally credited as Ramesh Pisharody, is an Indian stand-up comedian, impressionist, television presenter, actor and film director. He works in Malayalam television shows, stage, and cinema. He is particularly known for his observational comedy.
Srinda is an Indian actress, model, and dubbing artist who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Her debut film was Four Friends (2010). She is best known for her roles in Malayalam movies 22 Female Kottayam (2012), Annayum Rasoolum (2013), 1983 (2014), Freedom Fight (2022), Kuruthi (2021), Bheeshma Parvam (2022) and Aadu (2017).
