Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail, known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English-language productions. In a career spanning five decades, he has appeared in more than 420 films, predominantly in lead roles. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, eleven Kerala State Film Awards, eleven Kerala Film Critics Awards and fifteen Filmfare Awards South. He was honored with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India in 1998, for his contributions to cinema. He was also honored with the Kerala Prabha Award by the Government of Kerala in 2022. Mammootty was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN.
Prithviraj Sukumaran is an Indian actor, producer and director primarily active in Malayalam cinema. He has also featured in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films, adding to over 100 films involving diverse genres and variety of roles. Prithviraj's accolades include a National Film Award, four Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, seven SIIMA Awards and a South Filmfare Award.
Lakshmi Rai, professionally credited as Raai Laxmi, is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages.
Vishal Krishna Reddy, professionally known as Vishal, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Tamil cinema. Born to film producer G. K. Reddy, Vishal is known for his roles in action films. He also produces films under his production company, Vishal Film Factory. Vishal was conferred with the Kalaimamani award in 2006, for his contributions to Tamil cinema.
Harikrishnan is an Indian film director and screenwriter best known for his action and masala films in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with Thamizh (2002). He later directed films such as Saamy (2003), Kovil (2004), Ayya (2005), Thaamirabharani (2007), Vel (2007) and the Singam film series (2010-2017). He mostly directed Coimbatore, Dindigul, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli district based movies.
G. Dhananjayan (GD) is an Indian film producer, distributor, columnist, author of four books on Indian films, and founder-director BOFTA Film Institute. He has produced films in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages, including Sankat City (2009), Kanden Kadhalai (2009), Mugamoodi (2012), Anjaan (2014) and Irudhi Suttru (2016), Kaatrin Mozhi (2018), Kabadadaari (2021), Kodiyil Oruvan (2021) and many other films. He has won two National Film Awards.
AGS Entertainment is an Indian film production, distribution company, and multiplex chain in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was established in 2006 by Kalpathi brothers: S. Aghoram, S. Ganesh, and S. Suresh. AGS has four multiplex movie theaters across Chennai.
Irumbu Thirai is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film produced and directed by S. S. Vasan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, K. A. Thangavelu and B. Saroja Devi, with S. V. Ranga Rao, Pandari Bai and Vasundhara Devi in supporting roles. A remake of Vasan's own Hindi film Paigham (1959), it revolves around two brothers Manikam and Kondamuthu and their mill owner.
Red Giant Movies is an Indian film production and film distribution company headed by Udhayanidhi Stalin. It has distributed nearly all major films in Tamil Nadu in the last few years, and is often accused of having a monopoly in Tamil cinema.
Subaskaran Allirajah is a British-Sri Lankan Tamil entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Lycamobile, a telecommunications company and also its entertainment subsidiary called Lyca Productions, based in Chennai, India, and began the production with its first tamil film Kaththi (2014). It produced the science fiction thriller 2.0 (2018), which was India's most expensive film and the 5th most expensive non-English-language film at the time of its release. Lyca Productions has also produced Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023) which are both Tamil cinema releases.
Kaththi (transl. Knife) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. It is produced by Subaskaran Allirajah's Lyca Productions. The film stars Vijay in dual roles, alongside Samantha, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tota Roy Chowdhury, Sathish, Sudip Mukherjee, Rama, and Jeeva Ravi. In the film, a petty thief assumes the identity of his lookalike and attempts to lead a rebellion by farmers from the latter's village, Thanoothu, and helps them fight against an entrepreneur who exploited Thanoothu's water resources.
S. R. Prabhu is an Indian film producer. During his tenure at Studio Green (2010–13), he has produced 10 Tamil films and distributed 16 films in Tamil and Telugu. Later he founded Dream Warrior Pictures, a film production company in which his brother S. R. Prakashbabu has become partner in 2014. He is also a partner in Potential Studios, which is another film production company. S. R. Prabhu is a relative of the veteran actor Sivakumar and cousin of actors Suriya and Karthi.
Theri is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Atlee and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu under the banner V Creations. Loosely inspired from the 1990 Tamil film Chatriyan and 2013 Hollywood film Homefront, the film stars Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Amy Jackson, Nainika. The music was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, with cinematography handled by George C. Williams and editing by Ruben. In the film, a former cop is on a mission to protect his daughter from his past enemies.
Mythri Movie Makers is an Indian film production and film distribution company established by Naveen Yerneni, Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar, and Mohan Cherukuri (CVM) in 2015. The production company mainly produces and distributes Telugu films.
Irumbu Thirai is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language Action techno-thriller film directed by debutant P. S. Mithran. The film stars Vishal, Arjun, and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, with Yuvan Shankar Raja composing the soundtrack. The film was produced by Vishal Film Factory, and the venture began production in October 2016. The narrative centers around an army officer, who starts hunting down a gang of hackers after they steal money from his bank account.
96 is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by C. Prem Kumar in his directorial debut. Produced by S. Nanthagopal of Madras Enterprises, the film was distributed by Lalit Kumar under his banner, Seven Screen Studio. Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan are in the prominent roles as Ram and Jaanu, while newcomers Gouri G. Kishan and Aadithya Bhaskar played the younger versions. The film also stars an ensemble cast including Bagavathi Perumal, Devadarshini, Aadukalam Murugadoss, and others. The film revolves around the reunion of former students from the batch of 1996, twenty-two years after their graduation. The reunion also serves as an opportunity for two former lovers, Ram and Jaanu, to resolve issues surrounding their separation.
Arjun Sarja is an Indian actor, producer and director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema and he also established his career in Telugu and Kannada cinema apart from a few Hindi and Malayalam films. He debuted as a child actor in the film Simhada Mari Sainya in the year 1981. Sarja had acted in more than 160 movies. He has directed 12 films and also produced and distributed a number of films. After starring in numerous Kannada films with minor roles, he starred in his first movie as an independent actor in Male Bantu Male. In 1984, Sarja made his Tamil debut in Rama Narayanan's film Nandri. During the subsequent years he acted in many Telugu and Kannada films portraying lead and supporting roles in Trimurtulu (1987), Premagni (1989), Prathap (1990) and Shivanaga (1992).
Hero is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language superhero film directed by P. S. Mithran, who co-wrote the film with Pon Parthiban, Savari Muthu and Antony Bhagyaraj. The film was produced by Kotapadi J. Rajesh under his production house KJR Studios. It stars Sivakarthikeyan, Arjun Sarja, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Ivana and Abhay Deol in prominent roles. This film marks the Tamil film debuts of Kalyani and Deol. The music for the film is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, with cinematography done by George C. Williams, and editing done by Ruben.
P. S. Mithran is an Indian film director and screenwriter who is currently working in the Tamil film industry. Mithran's native place is Mannargudi. He made his directorial debut through Irumbu Thirai (2018). He followed it up with the superhero film, Hero (2019), and spy thriller, Sardar (2022).
Chakra (transl. Wheel) is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by M. S. Anandan in his directorial debut. The film stars Vishal, Shraddha Srinath, and Regina Cassandra, alongside Srushti Dange, Robo Shankar, Ravi Mariya, Vijay Babu, Manobala and K. R. Vijaya. The film's theme is based on cybercrime and e-commerce scams, where it revolves around a soldier and a cop joining to investigate the robberies that occurred on Independence Day. It was perceived to be an unofficial stand-alone sequel to Irumbu Thirai due to the similar theme and ending between the two films.
