Vayalar Ramavarma, also known as Vayalar, was an Indian poet and lyricist of Malayalam language. He was known for his poems which include Sargasangeetham, Mulankaadu, Padamudrakal, Aayisha and Oru Judas janikkunnu and for around 1,300 songs he penned for 256 Malayalam films. He received the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in 1972 and was the winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyricist in its year of inception which he received three more times. He was also a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1962. His collaborations with G. Devarajan produced the golden era of Malayalam film music and many songs written and composed by these duo remain the ever green classics in Malayalam. Ramavarma is regarded as one of the most successful and critically acclaimed lyricist in the history of Malayalam cinema.
Malabar Gopalan Nair Sreekumar, better known as M. G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in Indian Cinema, he has sung more than 2500 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Sanskrit. He owns a music company named KMG Musics and the Saregama School of Music in Thiruvananthapuram. Sreekumar has won several awards, including two National Film Awards, three Kerala State Film Awards and 5 Filmfare Awards South. He was also honoured with the Harivarasanam Award by the Government of Kerala in 2016. His career as a singer spans over 44 years.
Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer. He has sung many songs in over 600 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages.
Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup 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.
P. Suresh Unnithan is an Indian film and television director who works in Malayalam films. His popular works are Mukha Chithram (1991), Utsavamelam (1992), Jaathakam (1989), Bhaagyavaan (1993) and Aardram (1992).
Mohan Sithara is an Indian music composer. He received the Kerala State Film Award for the Best Music Director (2009) for the songs in Priyanandan's Soofi Paranja Kadha. Since 1986 he has been an active musician in the Malayalam film industry. His work mixes Western, Classical and folk styles. He has worked with lyricists and poets like O. N. V Kurup, Yusufali Kechery, Sreekumaran Thampi, Rajeev Alunkal, Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, S. Ramesan Nair, Vinayan, Bharanikkavu Sivakumar, Anil Panachooran, Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma, Gireesh Puthenchery, and Bichu Thirumala. Many prominent singers have sung his songs, including K. J. Yesudas, P. Jayachandran, M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra, Sujatha Mohan, Madhu Balakrishnan, G. Venugopal, Shreya Ghoshal, Vidhu Prathap, Afsal, Manjari, Jyotsna Radhakrishnan and Biju Narayanan.
Madhusoodanan Jayachandran Nair is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the film Ennu Ninte Moideen. He has composed music for 126 films.
Perumbadavam Sreedharan is a Malayalam author from Kerala, India. He is former chairman of Kerala Sahitya Akademi. He has written several novels and short stories. One of his best known novels is Oru Sankeerthanam Pole (1993) for which he won the Vayalar Award in 1996. He got Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Ashtapadi. In 2006, he was awarded the Malayattoor Award for his novel, Narayanam.
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.
Sreenath was an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in many Malayalam films, including Shalini Ente Koottukari, Ithu Njangalude Katha, Sarvakalashala, Oru CBI Diary Kurippu, and Kireedam.
Arabeem Ottakom P. Madhavan Nayarum in Oru Marubhoomikkadha, or simply Oru Marubhoomikkadha, is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language slapstick comedy film directed by Priyadarshan and written by Abilash Nair. The film stars Mohanlal, Mukesh, Bhavana, Lakshmi Rai and Shakti Kapoor. The film was a commercial success at the box office. Oru Marubhoomikkadha was the 200th film of Mukesh. This film was inspired from the Hollywood movies Nothing to Lose (1997), Excess Baggage (1997) and Serendipity (2001).
Rafeeq Ahamed is an Indian poet, lyricist and novelist. He has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry and is a six-time winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics. With more than 600 songs to his credit, Rafeeq Ahamed is regarded as the most successful and critically acclaimed lyricist of contemporary Malayalam films.
Chalappurathu Raveendranatha Menon, popularly known as Ravi Menon, was a veteran Indian film actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was born in Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad in 1950. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and made his debut in the Malayalam movie Nirmalyam, for which he received the state government special jury award. He was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Mani Kaul's Duvidha. His notable movies includes Shalini Ente Koottukari, Shyama, Kilukkam, and Minnaram. He acted in more than 50 Malayalam movies.
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.
Subbalakshmi was an Indian Carnatic musician, composer, and actress who worked in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi cinema. She was noted for her performance in Kalyanaraman (2002), Pandippada (2005), and Nandanam (2002).
P. S. Vidyadharan is a music composer and playback singer who works in Malayalam cinema. In 2013, he completed 60 years of his musical career.
Asokan Charuvil is an Indian short story writer in Malayalam-language. He is a recipient of several awards including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Muttathu Varkey Award.
S. K. Vasanthan is a Malayalam history researcher, academic and writer from Kerala, India. He has published several books in various genres such as essay, novel, short story, history of Kerala and translation.
The 35th Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, honouring the best Malayalam films released in 2011, were announced in May 2012.
Karivellur Murali is a Malayalam language poet and playwright from Kerala, India. He has won many awards including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship.
