Thiruvananthapuram, formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration population is around 1.68 million. Located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, Thiruvananthapuram is a major information technology hub in Kerala and contributes 55% of the state's software exports as of 2016. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills.
Onam is an annual harvest and cultural festival related to Hinduism that is celebrated mostly by the people of Kerala. A major annual event for Keralites, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events.
Oommen Chandy was the 10th chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the leader of the opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011.
The culture of Kerala has developed over the past millennia, influences from other parts of India and abroad. It is defined by its antiquity and the organic continuity sustained by the Malayali people. Modern Kerala society took shape owing to migrations from different parts of India and abroad throughout Classical Antiquity.
The city of Thiruvananthapuram has been the centre of cultural activities of Kerala (India) from the time it was made capital of Travancore in 1745. The capital city is a major intellectual and artistic center. The Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Thiruvananthapuram Zoo were started during the reign of Swathi Thirunal (1813–1847) and are one of the oldest of their kind in India. The city's libraries include the Trivandrum Public library, which was started in 1829. The Swathi Thirunal College of Music and 'College of fine arts' are the leading institutions related to music and arts.
Thazhathupurakkal Karunakara Panicker Rajeev Kumar is a National Award-winning Indian director of Malayalam films, from Trivandrum. He is the winner of five Kerala State Film Awards for Best Film, Director, Story Writer & Script Writer, a show director, theatre actor and percussionist (Mridangam). He is a founding member and leader of the musical band Blue Birds in 1980 and Super Mimics, a comedy show in 1979. He is also the Kerala University winner of Mono Act in the University Youth Festivals 1980–1982 and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy winner for Mono Act 1979–1982.
The United Democratic Front government led by Oommen Chandy sworn in on 18 May 2011. Seven of the total 20 members of the Cabinet took office on 18 May and the rest sworn in on 23 May after completing discussion with member parties of the UDF.
Celluloid is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language biographical film co-produced, written and directed by Kamal, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sreenivasan, Mamta Mohandas and Chandni in the lead roles. The film is a biopic based on the life story of J.C. Daniel, the father of Malayalam cinema, the making of his film Vigathakumaran and the story of Vigathakumaran's heroine P. K. Rosie. The film is particularly based on Life of J. C. Daniel, a biography of J. C. Daniel written by Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan. Filming started in November 2012. The film's online posters were done by a 16-year-old boy Aswin which went viral in social media. It was released in February 2013. The film opened with positive reviews and received seven Kerala State Film Awards including for Best Film and Best Actor (Prithviraj). The movie received many awards and much appreciation with the support of All Lights Film Services (ALFS), a leading film festival consultancy. The film was a blockbuster at the box office.
Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which includes three Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Sreenath Bhasi is an Indian actor, disco jockey and singer who works in Malayalam films. He started his career as a Radio Jockey in Red FM 93.5. At the same time he worked as a Video Jockey. He gained recognition in the film Da Thadiya. He has been featured in numerous films. He was a part of the Christian alternative metal band named Crimson Wood and is currently the vocalist of an experimental djent band from Kerala.
Amrutha Suresh is an Indian singer, composer, songwriter, and radio jockey. She attained popularity after her stint at the reality television singing competition Idea Star Singer on Asianet in 2007. Since then, she has sung and composed for several films and music albums. She has been a celebrity radio jockey on Radio Suno 91.7 with the music show Suno Melodies. In 2014, she founded the music band Amrutam Gamay
Shahabaz Aman is an Indian playback singer and composer. He was born in Malappuram, Kerala, India. He is also a stage performer of Ghazal music. Shahabaz is known for his soulful, romantic voice and unique style of singing. He has released music albums of various genres and performed across India and Persian Gulf countries. He is a two time winner of Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer.
Vishnu Govind is an Indian re-recording mixer, sound designer and sound editor. He has worked in over 150 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages. He won the National Film Award for Best Audiography(Re-recordist of the final mixed track) for the Malayalam film Malik (2020). Govind is also a recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Sound Design along with Sree Sankar, for the films Unda (2018) and Ishq (2019).
Loham: The Yellow Metal is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Ranjith, and produced by Antony Perumbavoor for the production company Aashirvad Cinemas. The film, starring Mohanlal, Renji Panicker, Siddique, Andrea Jeremiah and Ajmal Ameer is about an elusive smuggling operation and the mysterious disappearance of 100 kilograms (220 lb) of gold. Sreevalsan J. Menon and C. Rajamani composed the soundtrack and film score, respectively.
The Goat Life is an upcoming Malayalam-language survival drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Blessy. The film is an international co-production involving companies in India and the United States. It is an adaptation of the 2008 best-selling Malayalam novel Aadujeevitham by Benyamin, which is based on a true incident. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran as Najeeb, a Malayali immigrant labourer who finds himself forced into slavery as a goatherd on a secluded farm in Saudi Arabia.
Manu Manjith is an Indian lyricist and poet in Malayalam language. He is also doctor in Homeopathy Psychiatry. He began his film career with the Malayalam film Ohm Shanthi Oshaana in 2014. Since then, he has brought out many chart-toppers including "Neelambalin" from Oru Vadakkan Selfi to "Thiruvavaniraavu" from Jacobinte Swargarajyam. He is a frequent collaborator of Shaan Rahman since 2014. Presently he is working as a psychiatric consultant in Sarada Krishna Homoeopathic Medical College, Kulasekharam. He is popularly known as Doctor Lyricist.
Gowry Lekshmi is an Indian composer, singer, songwriter, and music producer from Cherthala, Kerala.
The Kung Fu Master is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language martial arts film directed by Abrid Shine and produced by Shibu Thekkumpuram under Fullon Studio Frames. The film stars Neeta Pillai, Sanoop Dinesh and Jiji Scaria in the lead roles. The music was composed by Ishaan Chhabra. Arjun Ravi, the son of actor-director Major Ravi, made his debut as a cinematographer with this film.
Febin Joseph better known by his stage name Fejo, is an Indian rapper and songwriter from Kerala who started his solo career professionally in 2009. Rapping in Malayalam, Fejo has worked with music composers including Raftaar, Sushin Shyam, Jakes Bejoy, Rahul Raj, Girish Nakod. He is considered one of the pioneers of Malayalam Rap, noted for his socio political themes & commercially performing tracks.
Kumbalangi Nights is the soundtrack album for the 2019 Malayalam-language drama film of the same name. The film, directed by Madhu C. Narayanan in his directorial debut, features musical score composed by Sushin Shyam with the soundtrack accompanied for the film has seven songs in number. The Malayalam lyrics were penned by Anwar Ali and Vinayak Sasikumar, while the English songs featured in the album were penned by Nezer Ahamed, Shyam's bandmate in The Down Troddence rock musical band. Shyam, Sithara Krishnakumar, Sooraj Santhosh, Anne Amie, Kezia Quintal (K.Zia), Akhil Unnikrishnan a.k.a. AKEL and Yadav gave vocals for the tracks featured in the album.
