Malayalam cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language, which is widely spoken in the state of Kerala and Lakshadweep islands of india. Malayalam cinema includes the commercial film industry, sometimes known as Mollywood, as well as independent cinema made in Malayalam.
Kulakkattil Geevarghese George was an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter who worked in the Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Bharathan and P. Padmarajan, in the 1980s. He was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, Government of Kerala's highest honour for contributions to the Malayalam cinema.
Shaji Neelakantan Karunakaran, better known as Shaji N. 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.
K. R. Mohanan born at thiruvathra Chavakadu Thrissur was a Malayalam film director best known for his critically acclaimed works, Ashwathama (1978), Purushartham (1987) and Swaroopam (1992). He studied at the Pune Film Institute. Mohanan was the Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy from 2006 to 2011 and the Director of International Film Festival of Kerala. He died of serious illness on June 25, 2017, aged 69.
Hariharan is an Indian film director who has directed over 50 Malayalam films. His movies mainly revolve around the cultural and relational aspects of a typical Keralite society. His most notable works include Sharapancharam (1979), Panchagni (1986), Idavazhiyile Poocha Mindappoocha (1979), Amrutham Gamaya (1987), Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989), Sargam (1992), Parinayam (1994) and Pazhassi Raja (2009) which has won him wide critical acclaim. In 2019, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Srividya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, she had acted in more than 800 films. In the latter part of her career, she concentrated on Malayalam films. In addition to acting, Srividya occasionally worked as a playback singer as well as carnatic singer. She was also a well trained Bharathanatyam dancer. She was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. She used her own voice for dubbing almost in all movies in all languages. She died in 2006 after battling metastatic breast cancer.
Prem Kumar is an Indian actor known for his roles in Malayalam films. He has acted in more than 100 films, and played lead roles in 18 films. In 2022 he was appointed as vice-chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.
Rosshan Andrrews is an Indian film director who mainly works in Malayalam cinema.
Shyamaprasad is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor from Kerala.
Kerala State Motion Picture Academy is an autonomous non-profit institution based in Trivandrum, working under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. It was founded in August 1998 for the promotion of cinema in Kerala, considering that cinema is the most popular art form in the state. The academy was first of its kind in India; it was formed on the basis of the Karant committee report (1980), which proposed the formation of a national film academy. Under the leadership of T. K. Ramakrishnan, The Minister for Cultural Affairs appointed Shaji N. Karun as its first chairman.
K. Ramachandra Babu was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English languages. He served as the cinematographer for several documentaries and advertisement films as well. He was the founder of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Poornima Bhagyaraj is an Indian actress in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has also done a few Hindi and Telugu films. She is best known for her leading roles from 1980 to 1985. She married actor and director K. Bhagyaraj, who directed one of her Tamil film named Darling, Darling, Darling.
The Kerala State Film Award for Best Director is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969. It is given to a film director who has exhibited outstanding direction while working in the Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala. Since 1998, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous non-profit organisation functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs, has been exercising control over the awards. The recipients are decided by an independent jury formed by the academy. They are declared by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented by the Chief Minister.
K. Madhu is an Indian film director and producer who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with Malarum Kiliyum and has directed over 30 feature films in various languages.
Ormakalundayirikkanam is a 1995 Indian Malayalam-language political drama film directed by T. V. Chandran. Starring Mammootty, Master Nithin, Bharath Gopi, Priyambada Ray, Nedumudi Venu, Kukku Parameswaran and Sreenivasan, the film portrays the rise of the Communists to power in 1957 and the infamous Vimochana Samaram of 1959.
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 and shared the National Film Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film with M.R. Rajan for directing the documentary film, Pakarnattam in 1995.
T. E. Vasudevan was an Indian film producer, who worked mainly in Malayalam cinema. He is the first ever winner of the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema, which he received in 1992.
Sanal Kumar Sasidharan is an Indian poet, lawyer, and filmmaker.
Vannadil Puthiyaveettil "V. P." Krishnakumar is a sound engineer, editor and recordist known mostly for his works in Malayalam films, documentaries and TV series. He has worked with acclaimed film directors including G. Aravindan, Padmarajan, T. V. Chandran and K. P. Kumaran. He specializes in Sync sound—for many of his notable works, audio was recorded live. He has also worked on foreign projects, including a documentary with German documentary filmmaker and director Andreas Voigt. After long stints with Kerala State Film Development Corporation's Chitranjali Studio and Kalabhavan Digital Studios in Thiruvananthapuram, and Kochi, he heads the Department of Sound Recording at Chitranjali Studio, Thiruvananthapuram.
Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language, comedy-drama film written and directed by Senna Hegde. The film won the Best Feature Film in Malayalam at the 68th National Film Awards. It was also chosen as the Second Best Film and Senna Hegde received the award for Best Story at the 51st Kerala State Film Awards. The film was also selected for the 25th International Film Festival of Kerala under the "Malayalam Cinema Today" category. The film was produced by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah under the banner of Pushkar Films.
