Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair , is a four time National award winning Indian actor, producer, who works in Malayalam films, a part of Indian Cinema. He is one of the most popular actors in the Indian state of Kerala. He is noted for his versatility, effortless acting, unique body language and for his association with some of the best Malayalam directors and screenwriters. He was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian honours in India, by the Indian Government in 2001. He is the current General Secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).It is a little known fact that Mohanlal won a Best Actor Award when in the sixth standard in school, an award usually won only by the people from tenth standard. His genuine interest led him and his friends to establish a company named \'Bharath Cine Group\'. On September 3, 1978 they began shooting for \'Thiranottam\'. The team included Suresh Kumar, Unni, Priyadarsan, S Kumar, Ashok Kumar among others. Mohanlal played the role of a mentally challenged servant in the film. The location for shooting was in and around Mohanlal\'s house at Mudavanmukal and Suresh\'s house. Even after tiding over financial problems, the film ran into rough weather with the Censor Board and was never released.But this setback did little to sway the hold of deep love for acting. Even when in college, he went with friends to Chennai (then Madras)-one of the melting pots for South Indian Film Industry-in search of a job as an actor. They occupied Room No 3 of the famous Swamy\'s lodge. This is when they came across an ad in the Malayala Manorama daily looking for a youngster for a role in a film. Unhappy with the way he looked in photograph, he declined from applying. But Suresh, aware of his natural talent, secretly sent his photograph anyway. Mohanlal received a telegram the next day and very soon was displaying his skills in front of an interview panel comprising of the likes of Fazil, Sibi Malayil and Jijo. As a result, he received the role of the villain in Fazil\'s \'Manyil Virinya Pookal\'.This began his fulltime career as an actor in Malayalam films. A workhorse, he would at one time have 35-40 releases in a year. His major break came in 1986 with the all-time hit \'Rajavinde Makan\'. This was also the year when he married Suchitra, daughter of a former actor of Tamil films, Balaji.He won his first State Award for the film T .P. Balagopal M.A (1986). He has won 4 of them to date. He won his first Filmfare Award for the film Sanmasullavarkku Samadhaanam (1986). He has won 5 Filmfare Awards to date. He won his first National Best Actor Award for the film Kireedam released in 1989-albeit the jury award. Later he won Best Actor National Awards for Bharatham (1991) and Vaanaprastham (1999). Apart from this, he has won numerous awards over the years for various films.The hallmark of Mohanlal\'s acting is the spontaneity of performance. It is quite a well-known fact that he dosen\'t seriously rehearse or prepare for his roles. He just becomes the character he is playing for the duration between \'Action\' and \'Cut\'. So it is not uncommon to hear a reply like \'I don\'t know\' from him when asked about how he carries out something like not blinking when he turns mentally retarded in the film \'Thalavattam\', a characteristic even he wasn\'t aware of at the time; about how he gets the nuances so very right. In his own words \" If you study it and then act the role, everything will flounder. Good acting just happens. And personally I don\'t think one needs to work on the character unless one plays a historical character.\" For those in front of the screen (the audience), the best thing about Mohanlal is his versatility. It seems he can play absolutely any role under the sun convincingly. And unlike many versatile actors who have traded intensity owing to their versatility, Mohanlal can be most intense if the role demands, the proof being his performances in the numerous action films he\'s worked in. Priyadarsan calls him the best actor India has ever produced.Mohanlal established Pranavam Arts to be able to produce the kind of films he had an intense desire to create. And \'Beautiful\' is the least we can say to describe some of his creations. His film \'Kaalapani\', released in 1995, won 5 National and 7 State Awards. Another splendid creation, \'Vaanaprastham\', released in 1999 won the National Award for Best Film.In recent years, he has concentrated on working on one film at a time to devote more to quality. In his own words, he\'s more concerned about whether the script is a good one or not rather than whether the movie will be a big hit or not. A gentle human, he\'d do films for friends regardless of the kind of project and the monetary returns. His jovial behaviour with cast and crew has endeared him to one and all.Mohanlal\'s innate character is guided by the principle of lack of attachment. He was witness to an unfortunate incident wherein an actor with whom he was performing suddenly collapsed to death in front of him. This incident created a deep impact on his attitude to life. It explains his outlook to life and the reason he has now set his priorities the way he has.Initially averse to working in Tamil films (his reason being \'too much masala\' in them), he has now been part of quite a few, including the controversial \'Iruvar\' loosely based on the life of Tamil actor and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.G.R. directed by the very famous director Mani Ratnam. He commented after the making \"Hereafter, I will never work with a man of whom I am a fan.\" The reason being he often forgot to say \'Cut\' while shooting!!!His commitment to his roles is seen in his involvement during the making of the film. It is a well-known fact that he learnt Bharatnatyam for his role in \'Kamaladalam\' and learnt \'Kathakali\' for his role in \'Vaanaprastham\'. Though, typical of this simple and humble human, he often downplays his efforts pointing that it is nothing in comparison to what the masters of the art have put in during years of practice.He leads a life convinced that there is a force above guiding him through life to whom he gives credits for all his achievements
Suresh Gopi is a National Film Award-winning actor in Malayalam cinema who is famous for his roles in police dramas. He is noted for his leading roles as much as he is for the character roles. He is also famous for his philanthropic efforts. He is a supporter of Indian National Congress party. The Congress is considering to field him from the Kollam Loksabha constituency as a Congress candidate. Suresh Gopi started his acting career in 1965 as a child artist in a malayalam movie 'Odayil Ninnum' which was a screen adaptation of the novel by the same name. He subsequently stopped acting and returned to Malayalam movies in the eighties. His first roles in the eighties were those of a supporting hero or the villain. His most notable works of this period include 'Irupatham Noottandu' (Twentieth Century), Rajavinte Makan ('The son of the King') a screen adaptation of The Rage Of Angels by Sidney Sheldon and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. His major break in a leading role came with "Thalasthanam" (The Capital) followed by Ekalavyan and Commissioner all of them Police dramas. He shot to superstardom with these movies and followed it up with roles in 'Pathram' (newspaper), 'Lelam' (Auction) and 'Vazhunnor' (The Rulers). His portrayal of the police commissioner 'Bharath Chandran IPS' in Commissioner (1994) shot him to superstardom and is etched in Malayalam movie history as one of the most recognized roles. His famous monologue "Ormayundo ee mugkham?" ("Remember this face?") is synonymous with the role and has been subject to much imitation and parody. He is famous for his fervent delivery of English dialogues in the movies that he acts in. He became noted and was glorified for playing larger than life roles that were anti-establishment and often were a dig at the political and social corruption. In 1997 his acting prowess was proved as "Kannan Perumalayan" a role that he played in "Kaliyattam" (The play), a screen adaptation of Othello by William Shakespeare for which he got the National Award for best actor in the same year. Other noted hits were 'Pathram' (The Newspaper), Crime File, Kashmeeram, Janadhipathyam (Democracy),Sathyameva Jayathe, Thenkasipattanam, Highway, Summer in Bethlehem, Bharathchandran IPS, 'F.I.R' (First Information Report), Tiger and Chinthamani Kolacase Before Love Cinema he was English literature field and his favourite pens are Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare, Camilla way etc etc. He is famous for his philanthropic efforts.He done many charity activities in Kerala, Tamilnadu, Gulf etc. Once he neglect the chance of stand for the election with Congress Party. His charity activties are spearheaded by his fans club which has a strength of about 800 members.He frequently visits sree chitra poor home, Trivandrum with his all kerala fans club president Mr. Ashwin Jothindran and spends time with the hapless inmates.
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Jayaram is a famous Malayalam film actor, mimicry artist and an able chenda percussionist in Kerala, India. Jayaram been active in films since the 1980s. He is quite widely appreciated for his easiness in handling comedy, being the hero of the film. There was some criticism towards him being stereotyped in comic roles. Jayaram despite the criticism has managed to hold on to the top list of Malayalam film actors.Jayaram born in a family of Tamil Brahmins in Perumbavoor, Kerala,completed his education from Sri Sankara College, Kaladi. When he was studying there, he won several awards in state level for mimicry. That made him to make the decision to make art as his profession.After college, he joined Kalabhavan, a well known professional mimicry troupe. He was spotted by the noted malayalam film director, Padmarajan who gave Jayaram his launching pad with the 1988 film Aparan. Padmarajan became his mentor in his film career till the former's death in January, 1991.Within few years since his debut, He acted in several critically acclaimed films like Moonnampakkam (1988),Mazhavilkavadi (1989), Thooval Sparsham (1990), Keli (1991),Thooval Kottaram (1996), Veendum Chila Veettukaryangal(1999) and Sesham (2002). His association with directors Sathyan Anthikkad, Rajasenan created many commercilly successful popular movies.He forayed into Tamil film industry as well, and was moderately successful there. A pick of Tamil films he did are Gokulam, Purushalakshanam, Priyanka, Kolangal, Murai Mamman and Pathini . His friendship with Kamal Haasan is also famous. His role as Dr. Kailash in Kamal Haasan starrer Thenali was well-appreciated.Till date he has done nearly 200 films.He is married to actress Parvathy who is no longer active in films. Their son Kalidas is a child film artist who has won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2003. They also have a daughter, Malavika.Jayaram lives with his family in Chennai.
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Born on October 27, 1968 in Desom, Aluva, Ernakulam, Kerala. His original name is Gopala Krishnan. He studied in VVBHS high school (passed 10th Standard in 1985) and joined Aluva U.C. College (Pre-degree 1985-1987) and then moved on to Ernakulam Maharajas College. His talent for acting was not known in school and college where he rarely won any accolades or merits. Gopalakrishnan was an average student. During 1985-1987 he first performed as a mimicry artist in U.C. college. On joining Maharajas college for B.A. Economics in 1989 Gopalakrishnan started to take mimicry seriously. At that time Mimicry was only getting its roots in Kerala and it had a bright future. When Dileep finished his studies in M.A. History, he decided to choose art as his profession.
"I didn't even dream of such a success. God is working so many miracles", says Dileep.
However, watching movies has always been Dileep's favorite hobby. He never selects the movies to watch and is interested in all types and languages of films. As different movies have different moods all movies are good according to him. Comedy and action movies are his favorites. However, whether he watches the movie on television or in the theatre he never takes the trouble to study more of movie making. He has never participated in any film festival. He enjoys watching television too and says it is fun to keep surfing channels.
His Journey to Success :
Dileep ventured out of his comedy track sometimes and got critically acclaimed. His role in the offbeat film Kadhavaseshan(2004) was well appreciated. His role as a transvestite man from the family of fishermen in Chanthupottu (2005) won him many accolades, including special jury award of the Kerala State Film Awards. He fared as an action hero in Runway(2004), Kochirajavu(2005), Lion(2006), Chess(2006), DON(2006). Through Runway ,Kochirajavu, Lion, Chess and DON he showed his power to do thrilling action roles.
His first film with the acclaimed director Sathyan Anthikkad, titled Vinodayathra, was released in April 2007. It is one of the appreciated Malayalam movie hits of the year 2007. He then came with director Blessy's Calcutta News (2007), a story with social problems of present day, which reveals many cheating of a famous city, gave him so many appreciation from world wide. We witnessed another remarkable performance of Dileep in 2009 through Renjith Sanker's Passenger, P.Sukumar's SWALE - A realistic Movie and Siddique's, BODY GUARD in 2010.
Another historical move he made, is with the Production of Multi Star Mega Movie Twenty-20. Dileep Produced the movie under his own home Production GRAAND PRODUCTIONS in association with AMMA and distributed through his Company, MANJU NATHA Release. The movie broke all the previous collection records of entire Malayalam Film History & created Box Office Records. The movie contains all the Prominent stars of Malayalam Cinema including Dileep, directed by veteran Director JOSHIY, scripted By Sibi-Uday. Through this cinema he himself proved to be one of the best Producer who take challenges and knows how to conquer the minds of audience.
In 2011 Dileep got his first ever Kerala State Best Actor Award for his memorable performance in Vellaripravinte Changaathi. His passion for doing variety roles still continues and the female role in Mayamohini and cleft lip charater in upcoming movie Sound Thoma are results of that. Also Dileep has been signed for his first ever multi lingual movie Baba Sathya Sai which is based on the life of Sathya Sai Baba.
Family Life:
Dileep was born in Alwaye near Ernakulam to Late Sri. Padmanabhan Pillai and Sarojam. He did his pre-degree at U.C. College and graduated from Maharajas College , Ernakulam. He is happily married to Manju Warrier and has a daughter, Meenakshi. The former Malayalam cinema actress Manju Warrier, she has shown extra ordinary talent in dance. She was "kalathilakam" in Kerala youth festival for 2 years. When she was 15, she acted in the movie with Dileep, "Sallapam" which was a super hit. Since then she acted in more than 50 malayalam movies. Manju Warrier has been hailed as one of the brightest star in Malayalam cinema.
Manju got married to Dileep on 20th October 1998 at Alwaye Sri Krishna Temple. Manju Warrier was the leading female actor in the malayalam cinema industry at that time and she chose not to act after marriage. Now she live in Alwaye with Dileep and Daughter Meenakshi.
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Mammootty, a lawyer by qualification but he always wanted to be an actor. Mammootty's first screen appearance was in 1971 in Anubhavangal Paalichakal, directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. However his role was uncredited. He was a student at the Maharajas College then. In 1973, he got another role in Kalachakram, a Prem Nazir movie directed by K. Narayanan.
His professional film career began in 1979, when he played his first lead role in Devalokam, directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. However, this film was never released.
Vilkanundu Swapnangal, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by M. Azad was Mammootty's first notable film. His roles in films like Mela by K.G. George where he played a Circus artist, and Thrishna , directed by I.V. Sasi got him noticed. His first super hit film as a hero was Thrishna, released in 1981. After the success of Thrishna, Mammootty and I.V. Sasi together created many hits such as Aavanazhi and Inspector Balram.
The role of a police officer in the investigative thriller Yavanika (1982) directed by K. G. George cemented his position as a hero in Malayalam cinema. The film was a big commercial success and Mammootty's role got rave reviews for its style and dialogue delivery. This was the beginning of a trend whereby Mammootty would play the role of a tough cop in many action and investigative thrillers in the coming years.
In 1981, he got his first award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Ahimsa.
The period 1982-1984 saw Mammootty evolve into a commercially viable hero in mainstream Malayalam cinema, Padmarajan’s Koodevide and Joshy’s Aa Raathri were highly successful in the box office. His performances in films like Aalkootathil Thaniye and Adiyozhukkukal, scripted by M.T.Vasudevan Nair established him as an actor of substance. Mammooty was noted for his controlled acting, never crossing the limits, and his presentation of M. T.’s dialogues, which were always pregnant with meaning.
In a period of five years from 1982 to 1986 Mammootty acted in more than 150 films as the hero. During this period, Mammooty managed the rare distinction of appearing as the hero in an astonishing 35 movies released in a single year, 1986.
His role as Karunan in Adiyozhukkukal directed by I.V. Sasi, written by M. T. got him the Best Actor State Award and Filmfare Award. Mammootty won the State special jury award and best actor Filmfare award for Yathra directed by Balu Mahendra. The film proved to be one of the best in Mammootty's career. In 1985, his role as Ravi Varma in Nirakkoottu, directed by Joshy, penned by Dennis Joseph got much acclaim and also created box office history.
For a short while during mid 80's, Mammooty saw a decline in his career. Many of his films during this period saw him portraying very stereotypical roles as a familyman or a businessman.
Mammootty made a comeback with New Delhi and Thaniyavarthanam, both released in 1987. New Delhi was a very important movie in his life as an actor. The film was loosely based on the novel, "The Almighty" by Irving Wallace. His portrayal of a victimized journalist, who systematically took revenge on politicians who flattered him, was noticed and well accepted by the masses. Meanwhile, his role as Balan mash in Thaniyavarthanam, written by Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil, was critically acclaimed.
In 1988 Mammootty delivered one of the biggest hits in the history of Malayalam Cinema with his Oru CBI Diary Kurippu. Oru CBI Diary Kurippu went on to create box-office history in Kerala as well as in Tamil Nadu. Mammootty's role as a CBI officer in this film got him critical acclaim. Following the success of the first CBI film Oru CBI Diary Kurippu, three more murder mystery sequels were produced with the same cast of characters: Jagratha (1989), Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004) and Nerariyan C.B.I (2005), all directed by K Madhu, penned by S.N. Swamy with Mammootty as Sethurama Iyer, an intelligent but unassuming CBI officer. The films by M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Padmarajan, arguably among the best of Malayalam writer-directors, widened Mammootty's acting horizon. Two of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s films with autobiographical elements were acted by Mammootty. One was Aksharangal directed by I.V. Sasi and the other was Sukrutham directed by Harikumar.
Mammootty touched the pinnacle of his career in Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha; the film was directed by T.Hariharan and penned by M.T.Vasudevan Nair. His depiction of a Chekavar (mercenary warrior) of distinguished valor but vilified by circumstances won him the National Film Award for Best Actor. Along with the huge commercial success of the film, Mammooty was given rave reviews about his lead role in the film, which required heavy physical and phsychological preparations. Mammootty's performance in Mathilukal directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan was also considered for the award. His role as a hunter Varunni in Mrugaya, directed by I.V. Sasi, and another film Mahayanam, was also scanned for the State Award. Mammootty won the Filmfare award for Amaram directed by Bharathan. He played the role of an uneducated fisherman who dreams of making his only daughter a doctor.
During this time, Mammootty appeared in many of the films directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan's. He starred in three of his films, Anantharam ('Thenceforth'), Mathilukal ('Walls') and Vidheyan ('The Servile'). His portrayal of the protagonist in Mathilukal (based on 'Mathilukal', a novel by the ace Malayalam novelist Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) was instrumental in getting him his first National Film Award for Best Actor. Mammootty also portrayed the roles in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Vidheyan and TV Chandran's Ponthan Mada. He received the National Film Award for Best Actor and State Award for his roles in both films. His performance in Valtsalyam directed by Cochin Haneefa was also considered for the State Award. The King, scripted by Renji Panikkar, was released in 1995 and was directed by Shaji Kailas. Mammootty played the central character as a District collector and it turned out to be the biggest hit of the year.
Mammootty won his third National Film Award for Best Actor for Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar, an English language movie about the life of Ambedkar, directed by Jabbar Patel[14]Sponsored by National Film Development Corporation of India and the Ministry of Social Justice, the film was released after a long and controversial gestation period.