Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and was the first motion picture screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. The film was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Kunchacko Boban is an Indian actor and film producer. He is referred to as Chackochan, also called "chocolate boy", because of his romeo roles. He works in the Malayalam film industry and has acted in more than 100 films in more than two decades. He is a member of the Kunchacko family. Kunchacko's debut was as a child in the film Dhanya (1981) produced by his father Boban Kunchacko.
The International Film Festival of Kerala is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy on behalf of Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala. The festival is held in November or December every year and is acknowledged as one of the leading cultural events in India.
K. Surendran, better known by his stage name Indrans, is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough in 1994 with the comedy movie CID Unnikrishnan B.A., B.Ed. Indrans was popular for his comedy roles in the 1990s and 2000s.
Nivin Pauly is an Indian actor and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He is the recipient of several awards including two Kerala State Film Awards and three Filmfare South awards.
Veettilekkulla Vazhi is a 2010 Indian Malayalam adventure drama film written and directed by Dr. Biju. The film is about terrorist organizations operating in India and how they recruit young Keralites. It stars Prithviraj, Indrajith and Master Govardhan in main lead roles.
Akasathinte Niram is a 2012 Malayalam film written and directed by Dr. Biju. The film was shot entirely on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a cast that includes Indrajith, Nedumudi Venu, Amala Paul and Prithviraj. The film revolves around a burglar who is trapped on a scarcely populated island and his getting to understand how nature blends with life. It premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2012. It was subsequently screened at various film festivals where it received several honours.
Prakash Bare is an Indian theater and film actor focusing on Malayalam, English and other south Indian language productions. Starting with the 2010 Malayalam film Sufi Paranja Katha, Prakash has acted in more than 30 films directed by some of the most eminent filmmakers. He is now a live presence in south Indian art house movies and theater scene. Prakash is also a technologist and entrepreneur focusing on VLSI, Software, media production etc. As a social activist, Prakash is involved in the Endosulfan struggle of Kasaragod and is the president of CERV Collectives which secured interim compensation of 5Lakhs for 6000 plus affected patients through a legal campaign
M. J. Radhakrishnan was an Indian cinematographer working mainly in Malayalam films. He got National film award 2018 as best cinematographer for his work on Malayalam movie Oolu. He won Kerala State Award for Best Cinematography 7 times, equal with Mankada Ravi Varma. Earlier he worked as a still photographer and then as an associate to cinematographer turned director Shaji N. Karun. His important works included Deshadanam (1996), Karunam (1999) Naalu Pennungal (2007), Veettilekkulla Vazhi (2010) and Akasathinte Niram. His films were screened at several prominent film festivals around the world including Cannes, Shanghai, Cairo, Montreal, Telluride, Jeonju, Toronto, Chicago, Rhode Island and Rotterdam. One of his works, Marana Simhasanam, won Caméra d'Or in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Another film Veyilmarangal won Golden Goblet award for Outstanding Artistic achievement at Shanghai International Film Festival 2019. He worked on over 117 feature films and several documentaries and worked with some of the prominent Indian filmmakers including Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Murali Nair, Shaji N. Karun, TV Chandran, Dr. Biju, Jayaraj and Renjith. He mostly worked on arthouse films and was known for his natural lighting styles. In a career spanning more than two decades, he worked with a number of young film makers, mostly in their maiden ventures. Film Kalamandalam Hyderali 2019, directed by Kiran G. Nath was his last completed work as director of photography.
Valiya Chirakula Pakshikal is a 2015 Indian Malayalam drama film written and directed by Dr. Biju and produced by Dr. A.K. Pillai. It is based on an incident in a small village in Kasaragod in the state of Kerala where thousands of people were infected with fatal diseases due to the effects of endosulfan, a pesticide used to protect cashewnut trees.
Sanal Kumar Sasidharan is an Indian poet, lawyer, and filmmaker.
Kaadu Pookkunna Neram is a 2016 Indian Malayalam film written and directed by Dr. Biju. The film is produced by Sophia Paul under the film production house, Weekend Blockbusters. It stars Indrajith Sukumaran as a policeman, who is sent into deep jungles to capture the chief of a radical organization, played by Rima Kallingal, but instead finds himself trapped in it.
Amartya Bhattacharyya is a filmmaker, writer and artist from eastern India. He was awarded the Silver Lotus for the Best Cinematography in non-feature film at the 63rd National Film Awards by the president of India for his fantasy documentary 'Benaras-the unexplored attachments'. His second feature film 'Khyanikaa - The Lost Idea' featured as the only Odia film in the Indian Panorama section of 48th International Film Festival of India 2017. He was awarded the State film awards in Best Editing category for Khyanikaa - The Lost Idea at the 29th Odisha State Film Awards, conferred by the Government of Odisha.
Anu Sithara is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Malayalam films. She has also appeared in some Tamil films. She made her debut in 2013 as a child artist Pottas Bomb in 2013. Anu is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and well known for her stage shows.
Weekend Blockbusters is an Indian film production company based in Kollam, Kerala, India. It was established in 2014 by producer Sophia Paul. Its first production was the Malayalam film Bangalore Days (2014). In 2016, they produced two films - Kaadu Pookkunna Neram and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol.
Sound of Silence is a 2017 Indian film in Hindi, Pahari and Tibetan. The film is directed by Malayalam film director Bijukumar Damodaran, commonly known as Dr. Biju. The film premiered at the 2017 Montreal World Film Festival. The film won an award for Best Director at the 2017 Kolkata International Film Festival in the Indian Film Competition category.
Pramod Thomas is an Indian audio engineer and sound designer from Pandalam, Kerala. He is best known for his work on Hindi and Malayalam films such as Anurag Kashyap's Dev.D (2009) and Shankar's Enthiran (2010). After graduating from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, he started his career in sound simultaneously in the Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil film industry since his debut in the late 1990s.
Veyilmarangal is a Malayalam language drama film written and directed by Bijukumar Damodaran and produced by Baby Mathew Somatheeram. The film starring Indrans and Prakash Bare has M. J. Radhakrishnan as cinematographer. It revolves around a Dalit family that moves to Himachal Pradesh from Kerala for betterment, but harsh conditions still pursue them.
Nayattu is a 2021 Indian political survival thriller film directed and co-produced by Martin Prakkat and written by Shahi Kabir. It stars Kunchako Boban, Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan in the lead roles and features Jaffar Idukki, Anil Nedumangad and Hakkim Shajahan in supporting roles. Mahesh Narayanan and Rajesh Rajenndrran edit the film while Shyju Khalid handles the cinematography. Vishnu Vijay composed the original music and background score. Director Ranjith and P. M. Sasidharan produced the film under Gold Coin Motion Picture Company in association with Martin Prakkat Films.
Adrishya Jalakangal is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language anti war film written and directed by Dr. Biju featuring Tovino Thomas, Nimisha Sajayan and Indrans in prominent roles. The film is produced by Radhika Lau's Ellanar Films, Naveen Yerneni, Y Ravi Shankar's Mythri Movie Makers and Tovino Thomas' Tovino Thomas Productions. The film's music is composed by Ricky Kej. Davis Manuel is the editor and the cinematography is handled by Yedhu Radhakrishnan.
