Chinmayi Sripada, known mononymously as Chinmayi, is an Indian singer and voice actress who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu films. Noted for her wide vocal range and versatility, she is one of the most popular singers in South India .She rose to fame for her critically acclaimed song "Oru Deivam Thantha Poovae" from Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), directed by Mani Ratnam and composed by A. R. Rahman. She debuted as a voice actress in Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (2006) rendering her voice for Bhumika Chawla, after being referred by one of A. R. Rahman's sound engineers. She debuted as a composer with a short lullaby titled Laali, which she also sang and released as part of Instagram's #1MinMusic.
Nadan is a 2013 Malayalam drama film directed by Kamal and written by S. Suresh Babu. Jayaram and Remya Nambeeshan play the lead roles, while the rest of the cast are former theatre artists that include K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Joy Mathew, P. Balachandran, Hareesh Peradi and Sasi Kalinga. It was produced by Anilkumar Ambalakkara under the banner of Ambalakkara Global Films. Nadan features some famous scenes from the famous Kerala People's Arts Club dramas Ningalenne Communistakki and Mudiyanaya Puthran.
Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy was a veteran carnatic musician and composer and music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films. His work was predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
M. K. Sankaran Namboothiri is a Carnatic classical music vocalist and playback singer from Kerala. He is the youngest A Top grade vocalist with All India Radio. Renowned as a child prodigy, he started learning music at the age of ten under the tutelage of C. S. Narayanan Namboothiri. He later trained under T. V. Gopalakrishnan, Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma, and K. V. Narayanaswamy.
Porayath Leela was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi and also Sinhale. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration in the songs of composers v.Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, G Devarajan, ghantasala, MS Viswanathan, K. Raghavan, Br Lakshmanan, LPR Varma, BA chithambara athletes, AT ummer, MK Arjun, Johnson, ouseppachan, ilaiyaraja, and with the playback singers KJ Yesudas and Ghantalasa over the years. Leela is known for her sweet and melodious voice that she named Ganamani. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006. She made her debut as a playback singer in the 1948 Tamil film Kangkanam.
Suchitra Ramadurai, known mononymously as Suchitra, is an Indian radio jockey, popular playback singer, songwriter, composer, voice artist, dubbing artist and film actress. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu.
The Filmfare Best Female Playback Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Malayalam films. The first Malayalam award was given in 2007. Before that, since 1997 till 2005, a common award for playback was available for both Male and Female singers of all the four South Indian languages.
Shantha P. Nair was a playback singer in Malayalam cinema. She was based in Thrissur, Kerala.
Celluloid is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language biographical drama film co-produced, written, and directed by Kamal, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Sreenivasan, Mamta Mohandas, and Chandni in the lead roles. The film is a biopic based on the life story of J.C. Daniel, the father of Malayalam cinema, the making of his film Vigathakumaran, and the story of Vigathakumaran's heroine P. K. Rosie. The film is particularly based on Life of J. C. Daniel, a biography of J. C. Daniel written by Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan. The filming started in November 2012, and the online posters were done by a 16-year-old boy, Aswin, which went viral on social media. It was released in February 2013. The film opened with positive reviews and received seven Kerala State Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor (Prithviraj). The movie received many awards and much appreciation with the support of All Lights Film Services (ALFS), a leading film festival consultancy. The film was a blockbuster at the box office.
Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which includes three Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Mavelikkara Ponnamma was an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent supporting actress in late 1970s and 1990s in Malayalam movies. She is noted for her performance in Ulladakkam (1991), Aakasha Kottayile Sultan (1991) and Ennodu Ishtam Koodamo (1992).
Selma George is an Indian film singer in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. She sang in 40 films, and her most popular song was "Saradindu Malardeepa" from the 1979 film, Ulkadal. She is the daughter of famous singer Pappukutty Bhagavathar. She is a recipient of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in Light Music category (2011).
Latha Raju is an Indian film singer and actress in Malayalam cinema during the 1970s. Some of her popular Malayalam songs are "Pinchu Hridayam Devalayam" and "Manjakkilee Swarnakkilee Mayilppeelikkaattile Varnakkilee" from the film Sethubandhanam, "Ividuthe Chechikkinnale" and "Aaluvaappuzhakkakkareyoru Ponnambalam". She has also rendered songs in Tamil, Kannada and Tulu. She has dubbed for famous actresses like Suhasini, Shobhana, late Shobha and many other leading actresses in some of the landmark films in Malayalam. She has won Kerala Film Critics Award in 2003 for lifetime achievement. The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi awarded her the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 2009 for contributions to Malayalam light music. In 2019 Kerala Government honoured her for her outstanding contributions to Malayalam cinema and music.
N J Nandini is a Carnatic music vocalist from Trivandrum. Nandini was awarded the Chembai Puraskaram, the Isai Chudar title and a M S Subbalakshmi fellowship at the young age of 23. Nandini, who comes from a family that has a musical lineage, has been nurtured by gurus such as Prof Parassala Ponnammal, Prof P R Kumarakerala Varma, Dr S Bhagyalakshmi and Dr M N Moorthy.
Madhu Vasudevan is an Indian author, poet, lyricist and music critic who writes predominantly in Malayalam, English and Hindi. He was honored in the 45th Kerala State Film Awards, 64th Filmfare Awards South and 61st Filmfare Awards South for Best Lyricist. His songs from the movie Jalam were shortlisted for Oscar Award 2016 for original song category.
C. S. Radhadevi is a playback singer, dubbing artist, radio artist and actor from Kerala, India. Radhadevi has been in the field of Malayalam radio broadcasting for seven decades. She has sung in over thirty films in a span of 30 years. She has received many awards including Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award, Gurupooja Award by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Kerala Film Critics Award and the Kerala State Film Award for her Outstanding Contribution to Malayalam Cinema.
