The music of Kerala has a complex 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.
Thattil Antony Johnson, popularly known as Johnson Master, was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Koodevide, Namukku Paarkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Njan Gandharvan, Ponthan Mada, and Bhoothakkannadi. Regarded as one of the finest composers in the industry, he was noted for his lyrical and expressive melodies together with simple but rich tonal compositions of thematic music. Johnson is a recipient of National Film Awards twice and Kerala State Film Awards five times.
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. He has sung more than 25000 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.
Madhavan Raveendran, , fondly known as Raveendran Master, was a popular South Indian music composer and playback singer from Kerala. He composed songs for more than 150 films primarily for the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. He also composed a few albums, including Vasantha Geethangal, Ponnonatharangini and Rithugeethangal. Raveendran successfully composed melodies based on Hindustani Ragas also.
Jyotsna Radhakrishnan is an Indian playback singer. She predominantly works in 12 languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. She has sung more than 1000 songs. She is based in Thrissur, Kerala. Jyotsna gained wider recognition for singing popular songs such as “Karuppinazhaku” from Swapnakoodu (2003), “Themma Themma Themmadikkatte” from Rain Rain Come Again (2004) and "Raftara" from Lucifer (2019).
Bharatham is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Urvashi, Nedumudi Venu, Lakshmi, and Murali. The film was produced by Mohanlal through his production house Pranavam Arts. The film features original songs composed by Raveendran and a background score by Johnson. Bharatham is interpreted as a modern-day adaptation of the Ramayana from Bharatha's perspective. How, in the absence of his elder brother, Gopinathan takes the responsibility of the family and hides his griefs is the core of the story.
Gopinathan Nair Venugopal, popularly known as G. Venugopal, is an Indian playback singer known for his works in Malayalam films. He started his singing career in the film Odaruthammava Aalariyam (1984). Since then he has sung in more than 4000 films; and has over 500 private albums to his credit.
Vijay Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son of acclaimed singer K. J. Yesudas.
Ravisankar is an Indian playback singer. He has recorded about 100 songs in the Malayalam language.
Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma is a noted malayalam lyricist and poet. He is the son of Malayalam poet and lyricist late Vayalar Ramavarma. He made his debut in the malayalam film industry through the 1990 malayalam movie Ente ponnu Thamburan which was directed by AT. Abu and music was composed by G.Devarajan
His Highness Abdullah is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language musical thriller drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu, Gautami, Sreenivasan, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair and Mamukkoya. The film was produced by Mohanlal and was the debut production of his company Pranavam Arts. The film features original songs composed by Raveendran and a background score by Mohan Sithara. His Highness Abdullah was the same team's first film in a trilogy of Indian classical arts films, followed by Bharatham (1991) and Kamaladalam (1992).
Manjari is an Indian playback singer and Hindustani vocalist. Her first stage performance was with Shiva, the Kolkata - based rock band, when she was in class eight.
Thooval Kottaram is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by A. K. Lohithadas. It stars Jayaram and Sukanya in the main roles. The music was composed by Johnson. The film won three Filmfare Awards South. The film was a commercial success, which ran for about 300 days in theatres. Jayaram won his first Kerala State Film Award, a Special Jury Award, for his role as Adv. Mohanachandra Poduval.
Desadanam is a 1996 Indian Malayalam language feature film directed by Jayaraj. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.
Mazha (transl. Rain) is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran based on the short story Nashtappetta Neelambari by Madhavikkutty. It stars Biju Menon, Samyuktha Varma and Lal. The music was composed by Ravindran. The film won five Kerala State Film Awards, a National Film Award and a South Filmfare Award.
Pranayavarnangal is a Malayalam romantic film released in 1998. Directed by Sibi Malayil, the script was written by Jayaraman Kadambaat and Sachithanandan Puzhankara. Suresh Gopi, Manju Warrier, Divya Unni and Biju Menon appeared in leading roles.
"Ramakadha" is a song composed by Raveendran as a part of the soundtrack for the 1991 Malayalam film Bharatham. This song, composed in Shubhapantuvarali raga, which is one of the most famous compositions in the raga in South India which had the lyrics penned by Kaithapram. The song was sung by K. J. Yesudas. This song was picturised on Mohanlal in the climax of the film. Yesudas won his 6th National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer and Raveendran won National Film Award Special Mention and Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for this song. In the song sequence Mohanlal portrayed the inner conflicts of his character Gopinathan, who is forced to conceal the truth of his brother's death because of their vocally disabled sister's marriage.
Yazin Nizar, also credited as Yasin, is a playback singer working predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi-language films, with over 800 film songs with several multilingual chart busters. He is the singer of Oscar Award-winning Naatuin Tamil and Malayalam.
Odiyan is the feature film soundtrack for the 2018 film of the same name. It features five songs composed by M. Jayachandran, the lyrics were written by Rafeeq Ahamed, Lakshmi Shrikumar, and Prabha Varma, and the songs were sung by Shreya Ghoshal, Sudeep Kumar, Shankar Mahadevan, M. G. Sreekumar, and Mohanlal each. The background score for the film was composed by Sam C. S., making his debut in Malayalam cinema. The soundtrack was released on 16 November 2018.
The 42nd Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, honouring the best Malayalam films released in 2018, were announced in April 2019.
