Shaji Neelakantan Karun is an Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film Piravi (1988) won the Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the premiere chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, the first academy for film and TV in India and was also the executive chairman of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) from 1998 to 2001. He is best known for his award-winning films Piravi (1988), Swaham (1994), Vanaprastham (1999) and Kutty Srank (2009). He won the National Award for Best Director for his debut film Piravi. He also won two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Director for his films Swaham and Vanaprastham. Currently, he is the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation.
Suraj Vasudevan , professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than 250 films. He has won a National Film Award and three Kerala State Film Awards.
Abdul Hameed Mohammed Fahadh Fazil is an Indian actor and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam films apart from a few Tamil films. He has acted in more than 50 films and has received several awards, including a National Film Award, four Kerala State Film Awards, and three Filmfare Awards South.
Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language drama film produced by Navodaya Appachan under Navodaya Studio, written and directed by Reghunath Paleri in his directorial debut. The film features Asha Jayaram and Geethu Mohandas in lead roles. Mohanlal's voice-over appears throughout the film, but he appears only at the end of the story. Suresh Gopi and Mukesh makes cameo appearances.
Swapaanam is a 2014 Indian Malayalam film directed by Shaji N. Karun and produced by M. Rajan for Horizon Entertainments. The film features Jayaram and Kadambari in the lead roles, alongside Siddique, Vineeth, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy in supporting roles. The music was composed by Sreevalsan J Menon, while the script was written by Harikrishnan and Sajeev Pazhoor, based on Shaji’s own story. The film was screened in the Dubai International Film Festival.
Dileesh Philip, also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film Maheshinte Prathikaaram, starring Fahadh Faasil. The film received the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 64th National Film Awards. Pothan also won the Best Director Award at the 64th Filmfare Awards South.
Syam Pushkaran is an Indian scriptwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He is known for his collaboration with directors Aashiq Abu and Dileesh Pothan. He made his debut with Salt N' Pepper (2011), co-written with Dileesh Nair. He has written screenplays for popular films such as 22 Female Kottayam (2012), Da Thadiya (2012), Idukki Gold (2013), Iyobinte Pusthakam (2014), Rani Padmini (2015), Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016), Mayaanadhi (2017), and Kumbalangi Nights (2019) and Joji (2021). He also served as co-director and wrote the dialogues for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017). Pushkaran won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay for Maheshinte Prathikaram at the 64th National Film Awards (2016).
Maheshinte Prathikaaram is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Dileesh Pothan, in his directorial debut and produced by Aashiq Abu. The film stars Fahadh Faasil in the title role alongside a supporting cast including Aparna Balamurali, Anusree, Alencier Ley Lopez and Soubin Shahir. Written by Syam Pushkaran, the story is based on an incident in the life of Thampan Purushan from Thuravoor, Cherthala. Shyju Khalid was the film's cinematographer, and the music was composed by Bijibal.
Alencier Ley Lopez is an Indian film and theatre actor, who appears in Malayalam films. Lopez made his debut in the 1998 film Daya; and he worked in films like Annayum Rasoolum (2013), Njan Steve Lopez (2013), and Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016).
Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film directed by Dileesh Pothan and written by Sajeev Pazhoor. The film stars Fahadh Faasil and Suraj Venjaramoodu, with Nimisha Sajayan, Alencier Ley Lopez, Vettukili Prakash, and Sibi Thomas in supporting roles. Syam Pushkaran served as a creative director of the film. Bijibal composed the music and Rajeev Ravi handled the cinematography.
Mayaanadhi is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language romantic thriller film directed and co-produced by Aashiq Abu, and written by Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair. The film stars Tovino Thomas as a criminal on the run and Aishwarya Lekshmi as an aspiring actress. Their troubled love and struggle for survival form the basic plot of the film. It released on 22 December 2017 to widespread critical acclaim from critics. The film was praised for the way it tackled with sexuality and was included in The Hindu 's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade.
Nimisha Sajayan is an Indian actress who has been appearing in Malayalam and Tamil language movies in addition to a Marathi and an English language film. Nimisha made her acting debut with the film Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum directed by Dileesh Pothan. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress in 2018 for her performance in Oru Kuprasidha Payyan and Chola. She is also a recipient of two Filmfare Award South and three SIIMA Awards.
CPC Cine Awards was an annual awards ceremony for films in the Malayalam film industry, which was crowd-sourced and hosted by a Facebook group named Cinema Paradiso Club.
Kumbalangi Nights(Night of Kumbalangi) is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Madhu C. Narayanan. The directorial debut was written by Syam Pushkaran and jointly produced by Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim under their production house Fahadh Faasil and Friends, in association with Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran under Working Class Hero. The film stars Soubin Shahir, Shane Nigam, Fahadh Faasil and Sreenath Bhasi, along with debutants Anna Ben, Grace Antony and Mathew Thomas in pivotal roles. The cinematography and editing were handled by Shyju Khalid and Saiju Sreedharan, respectively. The soundtrack and background score is composed by Sushin Shyam.
Joji, or stylized as JOJI, is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film directed by Dileesh Pothan and written by Syam Pushkaran. The story is inspired by William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. The film was produced by Bhavana Studios in association with Working Class Hero, and Fahadh Faasil and Friends. Fahadh Faasil plays the title character, while Baburaj, Shammi Thilakan, and Unnimaya Prasad play other pivotal roles. The plot revolves around a wealthy family of three sons and a father living in the countryside of Kerala.
Kiran Das is an Indian film editor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is a recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Editor in 2019 for the movie Ishq. His other notable works include Joji, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Joseph and Ambili
A.V.Gokuldas is a production designer in the Indian film industry. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Production Design four times.
Madhu C Narayanan is an Indian film director, who works predominantly in Malayalam movie industry. His directorial debut, Kumbalangi Nights, received immense critical acclaim for its realistic and poignant portrayal of a dysfunctional family.
The 41st Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, honouring the best Malayalam films released in 2017, were announced in April 2018. The awards were distributed at an event held in Kayamkulam on 15 October 2019.
