The music of Kerala has a long and rich history. It is not the same as Malayalam poetry, although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it.
Arkadu Parthasarathy Komala, commonly known as A. P. Komala, is an Indian playback singer. She has sung songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages.
Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni, more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhalese, and Hindi languages.
Jeevitha Nouka is a 1951 Malayalam-language film directed by K. Vembu and jointly produced by K. V. Koshi and Kunchako. It was the first "blockbuster cinema" in Malayalam cinema, with a theatrical run of 284 days. Made at a budget of ₹ 20000, this cinema did extremely well at the box office, such that very few cinemas could surpass it later. It was simultaneously shot in Tamil and Telugu, and was dubbed and released in Hindi. This cinema portrayed the life of simple folk in a small village in Kerala. It stars Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair and B. S. Saroja, with the latter making her debut and the former in his first major role. Its music is composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy and popular playback singer Mehboob debuted through this cinema. It is a remake of the Hindi cinema Jeevan Naiya with revised screenplay.
School Master is a 1958 Indian Kannada language film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Panthulu himself in the lead role along with Dikki Madhava Rao, M. V. Rajamma, Udaykumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi in important roles. This was the first Kannada film to complete a silver jubilee. The film had its children's dance drama in Gevacolor, taken by cinematographer W. R. Subba Rao. It was later remade in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi in spite of it being dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as Engal Kudumbam Perisu and Badi Pantulu respectively.
Nalla Thanka is a 1950 Indian Malayalam-language mythological film directed by P. V. Krishna Iyer and produced by K. V. Koshy and Kunchacko under the banner of Udaya Studios and K & K Combines. It was the second film produced at the Udaya Studios, the first being Vellinakshatram (1949). The film stars Miss Kumari in the title role along with Augustine Joseph, Vaikom Mani and Miss Omana in other supporting roles. The film is based on the legend of Nalla Thanka, which is based on a popular Tamil folk tale.
Amma is a 1952 Malayalam film directed by Jairus Paul Victor, written by Nagavally R. S. Kurup and produced by T. E. Vasudevan. The film is based on L. V. Prasad's Telugu movie Shavukar.
Snehaseema is a 1954 Malayalam film, directed by S. S. Rajan and written by Ponkunnam Varkey based on his own novel of the same name, which is a retelling of L. A. Tennyson's Enoch Arden in the context of Kerala culture. The lead roles were played by Sathyan, Padmini, G. K. Pillai, Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai, S. P. Pillai, P. J. Cheriyan, Baby Lalitha and Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair. It received a certificate of merit at the 1st National Film Awards.
Sudeep Kumar is an Indian playback singer. He sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 5000 songs in languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Sanskrit, during a career spanning two decades. He is the president of Malayalam playback singers' association SAMAM
Abba Aa Hudugi is a 1959 Indian Kannada-language film written, directed and produced by H. L. N. Sinha based on his own play of the same name. It stars Rajashankar in his debut role, Rajkumar in an extended cameo along with Narasimharaju, Mynavathi and Pandari Bai. It is considered a landmark film in Kannada cinema. Critics have noted that the theme of the movie is loosely based on William Shakespeare 's The Taming of the Shrew. The film was dubbed in Tamil with the title Mangaikku Maangalyame Pradhaanam and was released in 1960. Dialogues were written by S. A. Subbaraman. Jeevan composed the music; while Puratchidasan wrote the lyrics. In short, this film also marked the only Kannada film for Malayalam actress Sukumari.
Nalla Veedu is a 1956 Indian Tamil language film, directed by Jyotish Sinha. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, M. N. Rajam, Pandaribai and Mynavathi.
Chandrika is a 1950 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by V. S. Raghavan and produced by K. M. K. Menon. The film stars Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair and Nagavally R. S. Kurup. The film had musical score by V. Dakshinamoorthy and G. Govindarajulu Naidu. The film was simultaneously produced in Tamil with the same title and was released on 29 September 1950.
Achan is a 1952 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by M. R. S. Mani and produced by M. Kunchacko. The film stars Prem Nazir and B. S. Saroja in lead roles. The film had musical score by P. S. Divakar. This was the only film in which veteran actor Sesbastian Kunjukunju Bhagavatahar did a comic role. It is one of the major box office hits of early Malayalam cinema. It will be remembered as the debut of Boban Kunchacko, the maiden venture of XL Productions, and first film of Thiruvananthapuram V. Lakshmi. The film was remade in Tamil as Thanthai, again with Prem Nazir. Kambadasan wrote the dialogues and lyrics. The film was released in April 1953.
Ponkathir is a 1953 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by E. R. Cooper and produced by P. Subramaniam. The film stars Prem Nazir and Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the title Irulukku Pin and released in 1954.
K. Rani was an Indian playback singer who has sung songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali and Uzbek. Rani was the first female singer from India to sing in Sinhalese and Uzbek, and sang the national anthem of Sri Lanka.
Nalla Thangai is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language film produced and directed by S. A. Natarajan. The film stars M. N. Nambiar, Madhuri Devi, Rajasulochana, S. A. Natarajan and T. S. Balaiah.
Nalla Thangal is a 1955 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. V. Krishna Iyer. The film stars R. S. Manohar and G. Varalakshmi. The movie is a remake of director's own Malayalam movie Nalla Thanka. (1950).
N. L. Ganasaraswathi was an Indian playback singer who sang mainly in Tamil films and some Telugu and Malayalam films. She was active in the field during the 1950s and early 60s. She sang many songs based on Carnatic music ragas. Most of her songs were used for dance sequences in the films.
M. P. Sivam is an Indian stage and film artist. He has worked as a teacher who trained stage artistes. He was also a poet and a musician.
Navajeevanam is a 1949 Indian Tamil-language film directed by K. B. Nagabhushanam. The film featured V. Nagayya, P. Kannamba, Sriram and T. A. Jayalakshmi.
