Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. Rajiv Anchal's Guru (1997), Salim Ahamed's Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) and Lijo Jose Pellissery's Jallikkattu (2019) were Malayalam films sent by India as its official entries for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards.
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South, with 14 Nominations for Best Actress Category in three different south Indian languages, Tamil Nadu State's Kalaimamani Award in 2011 and numerous other awards.
Jasmine Mary Joseph, known professionally as Meera Jasmine, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films.
Travancore Sisters refers to the trio of Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini who were actresses, dancers and performers in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films.
Manju Warrier is an Indian actress, producer, classical dancer and playback singer who primarily appears in Malayalam language films. She is the recipient of several awards including one National Film Award, one Kerala State Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards South. She is regarded as one of the most prolific actresses in Malayalam cinema.
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.
Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha, was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1979 Tamil film Pasi. She also received three Kerala State Film Awards: for Best Actress (1978), Best Supporting Actress (1977) and Best Child Artist (1971); and two Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress in Kannada (1978) and Tamil (1979) films. Considered one of the finest talents to have emerged in the Indian film world, her promising career was unexpectedly cut short as she committed suicide in 1980, due to unknown reasons. Her popularity resulted in considerable public scrutiny of the events that led to her death and also various conspiracy theories. The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is supposedly based on her life and death.
Kavitha Ranjini, known by the stage name Urvashi, is an Indian actress, dubbing artist, television host, scriptwriter and producer known for her works in the Southern film industry, predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films.
Thazhathupurakkal Karunakara Panicker Rajeev Kumar is a National Award-winning Indian director of Malayalam films, from Trivandrum. He is the winner of five Kerala State Film Awards for Best Film, Director, Story Writer & Script Writer, a show director, theatre actor and percussionist (Mridangam). He is a founding member and leader of the musical band Blue Birds in 1980 and Super Mimics, a comedy show in 1979. He is also the Kerala University winner of Mono Act in the University Youth Festivals 1980–1982 and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy winner for Mono Act 1979–1982.
Adoor Bhavani was an Indian actress in Malayalam cinema, best known for her appearance in the National Award-winning film Chemmeen (1965), directed by Ramu Kariat. She had acted in about 450 films, including Mudiyanaya Puthran, Thulabharam, Kallichellamma, and Anubhavangal Paalichakal. Her last film was K. Madhu-directed Sethurama Iyer CBI. She was also a stage actress and was associated with popular theatre group KPAC.
Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in Malyalam. She started her acting career with K. P. A. C., a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a career spanning five decades, she starred in over 550 films.
Twenty:20 is a 2008 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas and directed by Joshiy. The film stars Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram and Dileep. The film was produced and distributed by actor Dileep through Graand Production and Manjunatha Release. The film was produced on behalf of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) as a fundraiser to financially support actors who are struggling in the Malayalam film industry. All the actors in AMMA worked without payment in order to raise funds for their welfare schemes.
Marthanda Varma is a 1933 black and white Indian silent film directed by P. V. Rao, based on the 1891 Malayalam novel by C. V. Raman Pillai. This was the first film based on Malayalam literature and the next film of the Malayalam film industry after Vigathakumaran.
Padmini Ramachandran was an Indian actress and trained Bharatanatyam dancer, who acted in over 250 Indian films. She acted in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Russian language films. Padmini, with her elder sister Lalitha and her younger sister Ragini, were called the "Travancore sisters".
Lenaa is an Indian actress and scriptwriter who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
Priyanka Nair is an Indian model-turned-actress who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. She made her debut in the Tamil film Veyyil in 2006. She gained critical acclaim for her roles in Bhoomi Malayalam, Vilapangalkappuram and Jalam.
Lalitha was an Indian actress and dancer. She was the eldest of the "Travancore Sisters"—Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini. She started her acting career in the 1948 Tamil film Adhithan Kanavu and has acted in movies of different Indian languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. She entered films before her sisters, concentrating more on Malayalam films, and was mostly cast in vamp roles.
Venkiteswaran Chittur Subramanian is an Indian film critic, professor, documentary filmmaker, writer and occasional subtitler from Chalakudi, Kerala, India, who writes predominantly in English and Malayalam. He won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2009.
Anumol is an Indian actress, predominantly acting in Malayalam and Tamil films. She appeared in Malayalam movies such as Chayilyam (2014), Ivan Megharoopan (2012), Akam (2011), Vedivazhipadu (2013) and Jamna Pyari (2015).
