Mohanlal Viswanathan, known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada-language 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.
P. Padmarajan was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Bharathan and K. G. George, in the 1980s.
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (/mɐmːuːʈːi/), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has acted in over 400 films. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, seven Kerala State Film 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 honour given by the Government of Kerala.
Suresh Gopi is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acting debut as a child in the 1965 film Odayil Ninnu. He made his debut as an adult in 1986 and since then, he has acted in more than 250 films. Suresh Gopi is a recipient of the National Film Award and the Kerala State Film Award in 1998 for his performance in Kaliyattam. He was a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.
Kilukkam (transl. Jingle) is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language musical romantic comedy film directed by Priyadarshan and written by Venu Nagavalli. The story set in Ooty revolves around tourist guide Joji (Mohanlal) and photographer Nishchal. They happen to meet a lavish tourist Nandini (Revathi), whom they bet their fortunes on. It also stars Thilakan, Innocent, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Sukumari, and Sharat Saxena, with Murali and Jagadish making cameo appearances. The music was composed by S. P. Venkatesh. Kilukkam was released on 15 August 1991. The film was the highest-grossing Malayalam film at that time and ran for more than 365-days at the theaters. Kilukkam won five Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Actor for Mohanlal, Second Best Actor for Jagathy Sreekumar, Best Editor for N. Gopalakrishnan, and Best Cinematographer for S. Kumar. The film is regarded as one of the best comedy films of Malayalam cinema. It was remade in Telugu as Allari Pilla and in Hindi as Muskurahat by Priyadarshan himself. Later, the film had a sequel Kilukkam Kilukilukkam (2006).
Mohanlal is an Indian actor, producer, distributor, television host and playback singer who has starred in both mainstream blockbuster and art house films. During his career, he has appeared in more than 350+ feature films, primarily in Malayalam cinema, and also in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films.
Karthika Menon, better known by her stage name Bhavana, is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Malayalam and Kannada films, and has also appeared in some Tamil and Telugu films. Bhavana made her acting debut with the Malayalam film Nammal in 2002.
Kaviyoor Ponnamma is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She has also acted in TV serials and commercials and has playback singing credits in few films. Ponnamma is a four-time Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress winner. Her sister Kaviyoor Renuka was also an actress. Often called as the Mother to all actors, she has acted as mother of almost all actors in her career panning over decades. At the age of 20, she played the mother of Sathyan and Madhu in the 1965 movie Thommente Makkal. She gained critical acclaim for acting as the mother of the actor Mohanlal.
Thazhvaram is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language western thriller film directed by Bharathan and written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. It stars Mohanlal, Salim Ghouse, Sumalatha, Anju and Sankaradi. It tells the story of Balan (Mohanlal), who's on the lookout for Raju for taking revenge for murdering his wife Raji (Anju). Bharathan also composed the only song featured in the film, the background score was provided by Johnson.
Aashirvad Cinemas is an Indian film production company based in Kochi, Kerala. It was established in 2000 by Antony Perumbavoor, since then, it has produced over 30 Malayalam films, starring Mohanlal. Since 2009, the company co-operates with the distribution company Maxlab Cinemas and Entertainments co-founded by Mohanlal and Antony Perumbavoor for distributing films. It is one among the most active and leading production houses in the Malayalam film industry.
Maxlab Cinemas and Entertainments is an Indian film distribution and production company established in 2009 by actor-producer Mohanlal, producer Antony Perumbavoor and industrialist K. C. Babu. Since then, it has distributed several films in Malayalam and other Indian languages. The company is a regular distributor of films produced by Aashirvad Cinemas.
Amala Paul is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her acting debut by appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film Neelathamara, and she later became noted for playing the title role in Mynaa.
Chamaram is a 1980 Malayalam film written by John Paul Puthusery and directed by Bharathan, starring Nedumudi Venu, Zarina Wahab, Prathap Pothan and Ratheesh. The story is about the tumultuous affair between a student and his college lecturer, an uncommon type of love story in Indian Cinema. This film has the evergreen song "Nadha Nee Varum Kalocha Kelkkuvan", sung by S. Janaki. Chamaram considered one of the landmark movies in Malayalam film history. The film broke all conventional concepts and moral equations in love. The film become a trend in 1980s campus as well as youth. Chamaram is one of the evergreen campus movies in Malayalam cinema. C.M.S. College was the location of Chamaram.
Ratheesh Vega is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. His debut as a film music composer was in the 2010 hit film Cocktail.
Lokpal is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language vigilante thriller film written by S. N. Swamy and directed by Joshiy. The film stars Mohanlal as chef Nandagopal who leads a double life with an alter ego named Lokpal, a vigilante fighting against corruption. Kavya Madhavan, Meera Nandan, Manoj K. Jayan, Thambi Ramaiah, and Sai Kumar plays supporting roles. The soundtrack was composed by Ratheesh Vegha. The film was released on 31 January 2013.
Ladies and Gentleman is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film written and directed by Siddique and jointly produced by Antony Perumbavoor and Roy C. J. under their production companies Aashirvad Cinemas and Confident Group. It stars Mohanlal, Meera Jasmine, Mamta Mohandas, Padmapriya, Mithra Kurian, Krish. J. Sathaar and Kalabhavan Shajohn. The film features original songs composed by Ratheesh Vegha and background score by Deepak Dev. Ladies and Gentleman was released in India on 12 April 2013 as a festival release during the time of Vishu.
Orissa is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language romance film directed by M. Padmakumar. While Unni Mukundan and Sanika Nambiar appear on screen as the lead pair, Kaniha and Tanusree Ghosh also play key characters in the film. Made under the banner of Heera Films, Orissa is the story of a girl called Suneyi — played by Sanika Nambiar — her trials and tribulations. G.S. Anil has scripted the film that has been shot by Vinod Illambally. Music has been composed by Ratheesh Vega. The film released on 17 May 2013.
Geethaanjali is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language horror film directed by Priyadarshan and written by Abhilash Nair, with dialogue by Dennis Joseph. Though promoted as spin-off of the 1993 film Manichitrathazhu, it was an adaptation of the 2007 Thai film Alone which was loosely based on the novel Elephants Can Remember. Mohanlal reprises his role from Manichitrathazhu and Suresh Gopi appears in a cameo role. It also features Keerthy Suresh, Nishan, Siddique, Madhu, Swapna Menon, Innocent, and K. B. Ganesh Kumar. In the film, psychologist Dr. Sunny Joseph arrives at a mansion to treat Anjali, who is haunted by her deceased twin sister Geetha, and investigates the paranormal activities.
Lailaa O Lailaa is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language action spy thriller film directed by Joshiy. It stars Mohanlal and Amala Paul alongside a supporting cast of Sathyaraj, Joy Mathew, Sreerag Nambiar, Rahul Dev and Kainaat Arora. Bollywood screenwriter Suresh Nair debuted in Malayalam as writer in the film. The original soundtrack and background score were composed by Gopi Sunder.
K. R. Sachidanandan, professionally credited as Sachy, was an Indian screenwriter, director, and film producer who worked in the Malayalam film industry. Initially, he co-wrote films with Sethu as a writer duo known as Sachi-Sethu, their works include Chocolate (2007), Robinhood (2009), Makeup Man (2011) and Seniors (2012). He made his independent debut as a screenwriter with the 2012 film Run Baby Run and his directorial debut with Anarkali (2015).
