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, India. In 1982, Elippathayam won the Sutherland Trophy at the London Film Festival, and Most Original Imaginative Film of 1982 by the British Film Institute. The film Marana Simhasanam has won the prestigious Caméra d'Or at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
Meena Durairaj, known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in South Indian films as well as Hindi cinema. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films She is one of the most sought after actresses in the South Indian film industry. In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Nandi Award for Best Actress and Cinema Express Awards. In 1998, she was honoured with the Kalaimamani Award by Government of Tamil Nadu.
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. She gained prominence after winning the 1999 Miss Chennai pageant, which marked her entry into Cinema. Trisha is the recipient of several accolades. Trisha is often referred as the "The South Queen" for her contributions to South Indian Cinema. She has been ranked among the top actresses in South Indian Cinema by The Times of India.. She is a recipient of five Filmfare Award South, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award, one Nandi Award and eight SIIMA Awards respectively.
Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati, better known by her stage name Silk Smitha, was an Indian actress and dancer who worked mainly in Tamil and Telugu cinema, in addition to some Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She became one of India's most popular sex symbols of the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as one of the most sought-after erotic actresses in South Indian cinema in the 1980s. Smitha was a key figure in the Malayalam softcore film genre in the late 1980s.
K. S. Sethumadhavan was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He also directed films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer who predominantly works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. She has won several accolades including two Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer in Telugu in 2006 and for Best Actress in Malayalam in 2010 and also won Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress in 2010. She has launched her own film production company under the banner Mamta Mohandas Productions.
Richa Pallod is an Indian model and actress who predominantly appears in Hindi films. Besides Hindi, she has been featured in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam language films. After appearing as a child artiste in Lamhe (1991), she appeared in an award-winning role in Nuvve Kavali (2000), her first film in Telugu.
Rashin Rahman is an Indian actor. He has worked in around 200 films, primarily in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil, Hindi and Telugu cinema, and has won several awards. In Tamil and Telugu cinema, he is also known by the screen names Raghuman and Raghu.
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language epic period drama film based on the life of Pazhassi Raja, a king who fought against the East India Company in the 18th century. The film was directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It stars Mammootty in lead role with an ensemble supporting cast. The music score and soundtrack were created by Ilaiyaraaja, while its sound design is by Resul Pookutty.
Mammootty, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. He has acted in more than 400 films in Malayalam and other languages including Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English and Kannada films. He has starred in both art house and blockbuster films.
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).
Savitha Radhakrishnan is a voice actor in the South Indian Cinema Industry.
Meera Vasudevan is an Indian actress, who has mainly appeared in films and TV soap's in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language. She received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize in 2005 and the Kerala State Television Award for Best Actress in 2007. Currently she is playing a main lead role Sumithra in the popular Malayalam soap opera Kudumbavilakku telecasting on Asianet.
Vani Viswanath is an Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Telugu films. In 2000, Vani won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her performance in Susanna, directed by T. V. Chandran. She was termed as Mollywood's "Action Queen". In 2017, she joined in Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Sasha Selvaraj, better known by her stage name Ranjini, is a Singaporean actress known for her roles Indian cinema, specifically Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films. Ranjini made her debut in the 1985 Tamil film Muthal Mariyathai directed by Bharathiraja. In 1987, she acted in Lenin Rajendran's Swathi Thirunal, a biopic on the Travancore ruler of the same name. Her third Malayalam film Chithram (1988), written and directed by Priyadarshan, went on to become a huge box office success which is still holding the records for numerous feats in the Malayalam movie industry. Koothara, directed by Srinath Rajendran, marked her comeback to acting after a hiatus of two decades.
Kinnara Thumbikal is a 2000 Indian low-budget erotic film written, directed, and filmed by R. J. Prasad. It stars Shakeela in the lead role. The film was dubbed in more than six Indian languages. It was a major commercial success, grossing ₹4 crore at the box office against a budget of ₹12 lakh. The success of Kinnarathumbigal would go on to pioneer a new wave of low-budget Malayalam softcore porn films in Kerala.
Shakeela is a 2020 an Indian Hindi-language biographical film written and directed by Indrajit Lankesh. The film stars Richa Chadda as the eponymous adult star of 1990s who acted in adult films in several Indian languages, with Pankaj Tripathi and Rajeev Pillai in supporting roles. The film has been produced by Sammy Nanwani and Sahil Nanwani. Shakeela was released on 25 December 2020 in theatres.
Reshma is an Indian former B-grade film actress from Karnataka, who is known for her works in the South Indian B-grade or softcore porn films, especially in the Malayalam language. Reshma was one of the most sought-after erotic actresses in the South Indian softcore porn industry during her time. She was also a key figure in the Malayalam softcore film genre in the early 2000s. Reshma has also appeared in few mainstream Kannada films. Her career came to an end in between 2003–2005 period, after the rapid surge of internet in India among many other reasons. Reshma disappeared in 2008 and is reportedly living in Karnataka with her family.
Malayalam softcore pornography was a popular genre of softcore pornography produced in the Indian state of Kerala in the Malayalam language. Popularly known as Mallu porn films or B-grade films, they are mostly recognised as low-quality films with fairly low budgets. They emerged alongside mainstream Malayalam cinema of Kerala in the 1980s.
Abhilasha is an Indian actress from Karnataka, who was active in the South Indian film industry, especially in the Malayalam cinema in the late 1980s. Known for her erotic roles, Abhilasha was a key figure in the Malayalam softcore films of her time. She acted in about nearly 40 Malayalam softcore films and is considered as one of the forerunners of this genre in Malayalam. She got her breakthrough with Adipapam (1988), which is regarded as the first successful Malayalam film with softcore nudity. Other than Malayalam, Abhilasha has also acted in around 80 films in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.
