Mohammad Sabir Baburaj was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs.
Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha, was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1979 Tamil film Pasi. She also received three Kerala State Film Awards: for Best Actress (1978), Best Supporting Actress (1977) and Best Child Artist (1971); and two Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress in Kannada (1978) and Tamil (1979) films. Considered one of the finest talents to have emerged in the Indian film world, her promising career was unexpectedly cut short as she committed suicide in 1980, due to unknown reasons. Her popularity resulted in considerable public scrutiny of the events that led to her death and also various conspiracy theories. The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is supposedly based on her life and death.
Vijayasri was an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema in the 1970s. She acted in many movies opposite Prem Nazir and have also worked in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films.
K. Bhaskaran Nair, professionally credited by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director. He was mostly cast as sidekicks to protagonists, particularly Prem Nazir. His comedic roles were widely appreciated in Malayalam films of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Bhasi has also done leading and character roles. He directed three Malayalam films in late 1970s. Bhasi is also known for his eloquent speeches in fluent English. He has won Kerala State Film Awards, including two Best Actor and one Second Best Actor.
Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri from the Government of India, which is one of the highest civilian honours in India. In a career that spanned about 47 years, he acted in over 700 films. He is considered to be the "first superstar of Malayalam cinema". In 1993, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Rani Chandra, born in Kochi, Kerala, was a Malayalam film actress and winner of the Miss Kerala Title. She died when Indian Airlines Flight 171 crashed in Bombay in 1976. She acted in several landmark films such as Nellu, Bhadrakali and Swapnadanam.
Kachinamthoduka Puthiyapurayil Ummer known as K. P. Ummer was an Indian actor from Thekkepuram quarter of Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He was active in the Malayalam cinema from the early sixties until the late nineties.
Roja Ramani is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. She was a child actor and her debut movie was Bhakta Prahlada (1967) for which she received National Film Award for Best Child Artist. She was popular during the 1970s and early 1980s and has acted in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Odia movies. She worked in 400 films as a dubbing artiste. She is an active member of BlueCross and is involved in several social service activities.
George Varghese Kakkanadan, commonly known as Kakkanadan, was an Indian short-story writer and novelist in the Malayalam language. His works broke away from the neo-realism that dominated Malayalam literature through the 1950s and 1960s. He is often credited with laying the foundation of modernism in Malayalam literature. He is a recipient of Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards in addition to numerous other awards and recognitions.
Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and National Film Award by Special Jury Award - Special Mention. Her roots are from Kollam district of Kerala.
Sumathi is an Indian actress from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She started her career at the age of two. She starred in many Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi language films.
Kizhakkepainummoodu Easo Mathai, better known by his pen name Parappurath (1924–1981), was an Indian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter who wrote in the Malayalam language. His body of work comprises 20 novels, 14 short story anthologies and 15 screenplays. He was a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story (1966), Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel (1968) and Kerala State Film Award for Best Story, amongst other honours.
Damayanthi, better known by her stage name Kozhikode Santha Devi, was an Indian Malayalam film and stage actress. In a career spanning about sixty years, she acted in more than 1000 plays and about 480 films.
T. R. Omana is an Indian actress in Malayalam films. She mainly acts in supporting roles and mother roles. She has acted in more than 500 films.
Reena is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She was one of the lead actress during the late 1970s. She has acted in more than 100 film along with several popular television series in Malayalam and Tamil languages. She has also acted in few Tamil and Telugu movies as well.
Khadeeja was an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She was one of the prominent lead actress during the late 1960s and 1970s in Malayalam. In 1968, she acted in Viruthan Shanku, the first full-length comedy in Malayalam cinema directed by P. Venu. She was born in Odakaali in Perumbavoor, Kerala, a Muslim girl who had suffered a lot for learning dance in Kalamandalam. She acted in more than 50 movies.
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.
Bengaluru Vijaya Radha, commonly known as B. V. Radha, was an Indian actress and film producer. She began her career in the 1964 Kannada film Navakoti Narayana. She went on to play mostly supporting roles in over 300 films, 250 of which were in Kannada, and the rest in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu and Hindi.
K. Narayanan is an Indian film director, editor, and art director who has worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Since his debut in 1953, he has edited more than 200 films across Malayalam and Tamil.
Kumari Padmini, born as Padmini, was an actress who was active in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam industry during the 1960s and 70s.
