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Meera Jasmin

Name: Meera Jasmine
Sex: Female
Date of Birth: 15 Feb 1984
Place of Birth: Thiruvalla, Kerala

ABOUT MEERA JASMINE:

Meera Jasmine (Malayalam മീര ജാസ്മിൻ, Tamil மீரா ஜாஸ்மின், Telugu మీరా జాస్మిన్, Kannada ಮೀರಾ ಜಸ್ಮಿನ್) (born Jasmine Mary Joseph on February 15, 1984) is an national award -winning Indian film actress who appears in various regional Indian movies.

Meera Jasmine was born on February 15, 1984 in Kuttappuzha, Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta in Kerala. Born as Jasmine Mary Joseph to Joseph and Aleyamma, a Marthomite by birth, she completed her schooling in Mar Thoma Residential School, Thiruvalla.

Not born into a family of actors, Meera was an unnoticed talent. She was introduced to the industry by Lohithadas.

Malayalam
Meera made her debut in the Malayalam film Soothradharan in 2001 directed by Lohithadas opposite Dileep. Though the film flopped, she received offers from other languages. She has starred in a dozen Malayalam films in her six-year career. Her second film was directed by ace director Kamal, alongside Navya Nair, opposite Dileep.
Her role as a Jewish girl was appreciated by Malayalam cine goers. Her third movie was a romantic comedy along side Prithviraj, Kunchako Boban, Jayasurya, and Bhavana under director Kamal. Her performance was appreciated and the movie was success at the box office. among the five main characters, one who scored the most was again Meera.
She got real attention in Malayalam cinema with the movie Kasthoorimann directed by her mentor Lohithadas. She was able to enact both comedy and sentimental scenes with equal fervor. She received her first film fare award for her performance in Kasthoorimann.
The film was also a success in box office running for 100 days. The same year, she acted in T V Chandran's much acclaimed Paadam Onnu: Oru Vilapam. She played a 15-year-old Muslim girl who was forced to marry an older man.
She not only received state award, but also National Award for Best actress and many other awards beating many strong contenders like Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen. Then came another soul-stirring performance as Raziya in Perumazhakkalam alongside Kavya Madhavan.
In the movie 'Achuvinte Amma'(2005), she has enacted the young, adorable character Achu, with extraordinary ease that she seemed to live the character, instead of acting. She then paired with Mohanlal in 'Rasathantram' (2006).
She played as a guy in the half and the movie went on to became a block buster. Her next movie, Vinodayathara was again with Satyan Anthikadu who repeated her in his 3rd consecutive movie. She then starred in critically acclaimed movie Ore Kadal. The movie was showcased in various film fstivals and won several awards. Her perfomance as a innocent middle class women won praises from various corners.
Media quoted her as, "Matching step with the megastar in this histrionic race is Meera Jasmine who amazes you with a stunning delineation of her difficult role." Her next movie was Calcutta News with Dileep Blessy, who intoduced her to film field. Then she starred in the movies of Satyan Anthikadu and Kamal, hr fourth film with both directors in a six year career. She is currently banned from Malayala Film since she didnt act in the movie,Twenty 20

Tamil
Meera's Tamil film entry made her a well-known star in the South. The success of Tamil films Run and Bala in 2002 have given her the chance to work with popular actors of the Tamil industry. She won the Filmfare Best Female debut actress award for Run. The success of the films led her to work with famed directors like Mani Ratnam in Aayudha Ezhuthu and SS Stanley in Mercury Pookkal.
Meerah has acted in more than ten Tamil films. Her recent Tamil film, Parattai Engira Azhagu Sundaram, with Dhanush as her male lead, was a colossal flop. In her film Nepali, where she was the love interest of Bharath also bombed badly. Meerah Jasmine is now paired against senior actor Vijayakant for his next film to be directed by Vikraman.

Telugu and Kannada
Meera Jasmine became famous in Telugu film industry with her first film (dubbed from Tamil) "Run". She has not only showed her presence in the Telugu films in 2004 with Ammayi Bagundi and Gudumba Shankar but also entered Kannada cinema by co-starring with Puneet Rajkumar in Maurya. Her latest Kannada film Arrasu is also a hit.
Meerah's biggest Telugu hit was Bhadra with Ravi Teja in the male lead. Her other Telugu films are Raraju, Maharadhi, Yamagola Malli Modalaindi, Gorintaku and upcoming film Maa Aayana Chantipilladu, in which she is paired for a second time with Sivaji.

Personal life
It is reported by media that she will be marrying U. Rajesh, a mandolin artist. Rajesh and Meera have formally confirmed the love they have for each other. Rajesh is the brother of notable mandolin artist U. Srinivas. However, according to Meera Jasmine, she will not be marrying Rajesh for another two years, till her on-going film commitments are over.
Controversy
She offered prayers and bowed to Lord at Raja Rajeshwara temple at Taliparamba in Kerala where the entry of non-Hindus is prohibited. This led to a controversy and sparked off a protest by Hindu devotees. Later, she paid Rs. 10,000 as penalty to the temple authorities.

Navya nair

Name: Navya Nair
Sex: Female
Date of Birth:  1985

ABOUT NAVYA NAIR:

Dhanya Nair better known by her stage name Navya Nair, is a Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada actress. She has won the honour of Kalathilakam in the Alappuzha District Schools Youth Festival.

Film career
The actress, who caught everyone's attention opposite Dileep in Ishtam in 2001, she did it again with him in films like Mazhathullikilukam, Kunjikoonan and Kalyanaraman. She is noted for her portrayal of the typical Malayali girl in various movies.
She bagged the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress Award in 2002 for the film Nandanam and again in 2005 for her performance in films Kanne Madanguka and Saira.

Being a good dancer Navya made her no chance to perform on the silver screen. She acted opposite to Dileep on many film and most of these films become hits. Navya Nair is now well established in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada Movies.
There are around fifty movies to her credit. She stepped to Tamil films through Azhagiya Theeyee. She has acted in films like Amirdham, Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy & Pasakkiligal. "Gaja" is her debut movie in Kannada, which is a major hit.

Personal life
She comes from a village Mudhukulam, in Alleppey District. She was school topper in her tenth standard, scoring 92 per cent. She got her first offer for the film 'Ishtam' when she was in Tenth Standard. She chose second group and did her +2. Then she got another offer for her second film and she didn't fare well in the +2 exam. She then graduated with a BA in English.

She is a good flamenco dancer and that helped her a lot in many casting coutches. She has won the honour of Kala Thilakam in the youth festival of Alleppey district. Daughter of Mr. Raju, working with the Telecom and mother Veena, a teacher with the M.S.M High Secondary school, Navya was a 12th student at M.S.M High secondary school when she entered the film industry. Investigative director K.Madhu is her uncle.

Bhavana

Name: Bhavana
Sex: Female
Date of Birth: 06 Jun 1986
Place of Birth: Thrissur, Kerala

ABOUT BHAVANA:

Birth Name: Karthika Balachandran

Bhavana (Malayalam: ഭാവന) is a South Indian actress who acts in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. She made her debut in Kamal's Nammal which won her critical acclaim and various honours, including the State award.

This Thrissur girl, whose real name is Karthika, is the daughter of Asst. Cinematographer, G.Balachandran Menon and Pushpa. She has one brother named Jayaddev currently living in Vancouver, Canada...

She debuted in Malayalam film Nammal opposite newcomers like Siddharth, Jishnu and Renuka Menon. The film was a big success and she got several offers in Malayalam. She has acted with almost all actors of Malayalam including Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Jayaram, Prithviraj, Kunchacko Boban, Jayasurya etc. Then in 2003, she became the part of big hit movies like Chronic Bachelor, C.I.D.Moosa, Swapnakoodu etc.In 2004 her career turned dim. Her movies like Youth Festival, Parayam, Bunglavil Outha etc bombed at the box-office.
She appeared in an Item Number in the film Runway in 2004. Her career was not a successful one in 2004. She got the State Awardfor Best Character Actress for Daivanamathil in 2006. In 2006 she acted only two films. Chinthamani Kolacase, Chess were the films and were successes. Her latest movie Chotta Mumbai is an average hit with top Malayalam Superstar Mohanlal.

Though she got several Tamil films she refused them due to tight schedules. Her first Tamil film originally offered was Koodal Nagar opposite Bharath but shelved due to some technical difficulties, but completed and released recently in April 2007. Her first released Tamil film Chithiram Pesuthadi was a huge success. After that she did many tamil films.
Her latest movie Jeyam Kondaan opposite Vinay got generally positive reviews and she was praised for her prim and proper potrayal of a small town girl. Bhavana depicted a complete new style and look specially in the songs and was noted to have reduced a lot of weight finally fitting in the profile of glamourous and beautiful Kollywood heroines.

Rima kallingal

Name: Rima Kallingal
Sex: Female
Place of Birth: Thrissur, Kerala

ABOUT RIMA KALLINGAL:

Rima Kallingal is a model and Malayalam film actress. She was named First Runner Up in the Miss Kerala 2008 contest. She made her film debut in 2009 through the film Ritu, later appeared in Neelathaamara and continues to work in Malayalam and Tamil films.

Personal life
She is from Thrissur and settled in Bangalore. She is a professional dancer and appeared in a Dance reality show where she ended up as a semifinalist.

Kavya Madhavan

Name: Kavya Madhavan
Sex: Female
Date of Birth: 19 Sep 1984
Place of Birth: Kasargod, Kerala, India

ABOUT KAVYA MADHAVAN:

Kavya Madhavan was born on September 19, 1984 in the village of Nileshwaram in Kasargod district, Kerala, India. Her father is P.Madhavan and mother Shyamala. She did her schooling at Nileswaram Rajas High School and entered the film industry as a child artist. She learned dancing during her school days and participated in many competitions and won prizes. She was a Kalathilakam in a Sub District Schools Youth Festival.

Movie career
kavya madhavan She first appeared in Kamal's film Pookalam Varavayi(1991). Her talent was soon recognized, the she was offered to take up other projects too as a child artist. But when she was in ninth standard, she got an offer to play as a heroin in Lal Jose film Chandanudikkunna Dikkil, and that became a super hit movie.

After her leading role, she became very popular in the Malayalam film industry and she was successful in winning a place for herself in people’s heart. Opportunities and success grew more as she grew up and she was signed for many Malayalam films. It has been claimed that she is the busiest female star in Malayalam who shares successful screen chemistry with several top.
Kavya’s famous films are Mizhi Randilum, Dosth, Madhura Nombarakattu, Sadananthante Samayam and Meesa Madhavan of which the last movie bagged a record collection in malayalam film industry. Her other films are Athisayan, Chakkara Muthu, Iruvattam Manavatti, Annorikkal, Kochi Rajavu, Aparichithan, Perumazhakkalam, Gaurisankaram, Runway, Athisayan, Chakkara Muthu, Thilakkam and many more.

She has also acted in few Tamil films and Kasi was her first film in Tamil which became a successful film. But she seems little hesitant accepting Tamil roles may be because of skin revealing dresses demanded by the industry. vibin42 is visited this cite at 10 40 am 09 09 2009

Personal life
She is married to Nishal Chandra. There has been speculation that she is considering a divorce after just five months of marriage.

Jayaram

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Name: Jayaram
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 10 Dec 1964
Place of Birth: Perumbavoor, Kerala

ABOUT JAYARAM:

Birth Name: Jayaram Subramaniyam


Jayaram (Malayalam: ജയറാം) is a film actor in Malayalam and Tamil languages. He is also a mimicry artist. He is one of the reigning superstars in Malayalam cinema. Jayaram has 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.
He had plenty of flops in the last 8 years,but he had continous hits in early stages of his career to 2001. He acted in many super hit family comedy entertainers which had decent comedy without any double meanings or crude comedy which is a trade mark of malayalam cinema. It was highly appreciated by family audiences and made him a family hero. He and director Rajasenan delivered 13 super maga hit films which ran for more than 100 days.


Early life
Jayaram Subramaniyam was born in a family of "Palakkad Iyers" in Perumbavoor, Kerala. The brahminic origin of many in the aforementioned sect is clearly a suspect.perubavoor was previously a buddist centre. He 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. He is the nephew of Malayatoor Ramakrishnan, a famous malayalam writer.


Career
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.


He has 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 commercially successful movies.


He also forayed into Tamil film industry, and became moderately successful. Some of his impressive Tamil films are Gokulam, Purushalakshanam, Priyanka, Kolangal, Murai Mamman and Pathini . His friendship with Kamal Haasan is also famous. His roles as Dr. Kailash and as Mr.Ayyappan Nair in Kamal Haasan starrers Thenali and Panchathanthiram are well-appreciated.


Till date, he has done nearly 200 films.


Personal life
He is married to actress Parvathy who is no longer active in films. Their son Kalidasan is a child film artist who has won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2003 for his second movie. He also has a daughter, Malavika. The Jayaram family lives in Chennai.


Jayaram is a well known aficionado of elephants. It is said that he can recognize an elephant if he had seen it anytime before.
Jayaram is an able chenda percussionist. Jayaram reportedly said that he used to wake up at 4:30 AM and practice the instrument.
Jayaram, who did nearly 200 films has never won a state or national award for best actor, but his son Kalidas won both for best child artist with only two films to his credit.

Dileep

Name: Dileep
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 27 Oct 1968
Place of Birth: Ernakulam, Kerala
ABOUT DILEEP:
Dileep (born Gopalakrishnan,Malayalam: ദീലീപ്) is a Malayalam film actor. He is one of the reigning superstars in Malayalam cinema. He worked as an assistant to director Kamal and has also produced a few films. Dileep, who began his career as a mimicry artist, excels in films particularly of the comedy genre, though there is criticism from certain quarters that he is being stereotyped in comic roles. He has also handled serious roles in films such as Dhosth, The Don, and Lion.
Early life
Dileep was born on 27 October 1969 in Desom, Aluva, Ernakulam. His original name is Gopalakrishnan. He studied in Vidyadhiraja Vidya Bhavan high school, then joined Aluva U.C. College, and then moved to Maharajas College, Ernakulam. His talent for acting was not known in school and college where he rarely won any accolades or merits.
Gopalakrishan was an average student. During 1985–1987 he tried to perform as a mimicry artist in UC College but was not successful. On joining Maharajas College for B.A. Economics in 1989,Gopalakrisnan started to take mimicry seriously. Mimicry was only getting its roots in Kerala and it had a bright future. When Dileep finished his studies with M.A. History, he decided to choose art as his profession.
Career
Dileep started his career in a troupe called Kalabhavan, working as a Mimicry artist. Later he got a chance to be the assistant director to director Kamal. While being an assistant director, Dileep did some small roles, debuting with just a small scene in Ennodu Ishtam Koodaamo (1992). He was then brought up by actor Jayaram. He recommended his name to many directors. The film Manathe Kottaram(1994) gave him the first break as the hero.
The film Sallapam (1996) was a turning point in his career, where he graduated to serious roles. He entered the Malayalam filmdom through Sallapam. With the film becoming a hit, Dileep proved that he has come to stay in the industry for long. His debut film earned him the name of a good comedy actor. By the time Punjabi House, a Rafi-Mecartin film hit the theatres Dileep had already done good homework on his part with some numbers good enough to capture the hearts of his well wishers as well as detractors.
His comic timing and dialogue delivery in films like Thenkasipattanam,Kalyana Sougandhikam(1996), Punjabi House(1998) and Ee Parakkum Thalika(2001) made him very popular among the Malayali audience. He rose to stardom with later films like Joker and Meesha Madhavan. His following films such as Kunjikoonan, Kalyanaraman, CID Moosa were super hits of Malayalam film industry. He is known by critics to have brought about the rise of "Slapstick comedy" in Malayalam cinema which till then was known to be "realistic" and effective.
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). In them Runway and Lion done well and become superhits. Chess become a hit film and DON reported average.
His first film with the acclaimed director Sathyan Anthikkad, titiled Vinodayathra, was released in April 2007. It is one of the appreciated Malayalam movie hits of the year 2007. Dileep's new film is with the master Director Siddique named Body Guard.
Personal life
Dileep is married to actress Manju Warrier. Their marriage created a controversy on whether married heroines have to leave the field or not as Manju Warrier was the leading female actor in the Malayalam cinema industry at that time and she chose not to act after marriage. They got married on 20th October 1998 at Aluva Srikrishna Temple. The couple have one daughter - Meenakshi.

Suresh Gopi

Name: Suresh Gopi
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 25 Jun 1958
Place of Birth: Kollam,Kerala

ABOUT SURESH GOPI:

Suresh Gopi is an National Film Award-winning actor in Malayalam cinema who is famous for his roles in police dramas. He is one of the reigning superstars in Malayalam cinema. 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.


He did his schooling at Infant Jesus High School in Kollam and got graduated from Fathima Mata National College in Kollam.

Career
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'), which are Superstar Mohanlal starrers, and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, which was a Mammootty starrer.


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 stardom and is etched in Malayalam movie history as one of the most recognized roles.
His famous monologue "Ormayundo ee mugkham?" ("Do you remember this face?") is synonymous with the role and has been subject to much imitation and parody. With the movie, he was established as the third superstar of Malayalam film industry after Mammootty and Mohanlal which he keeps till date. Also his association with Shaji Kailas and Ranji Panikkar was much acclaimed.


He is famous for his fervent delivery of English dialogues in the movies that he acts in.
He is an English graduate, which enables him do it with great ease.


He became noted and was glorified for playing larger than life roles that were anti-establishment and often were a dig at 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.


After 2000, when his films were doing fairly good in box office, he decided against acting in movies including violence. It was rumored that he was giving up acting career and pursuing a political career. But he acted in off beat movies and accepted only soft roles in the period 2001-05. In 2005, realizing his mistake, he decided to make a come back in action movies.
Ranji Panikkar, script writer of his most successful movie Commissioner directed the sequel Bharath Chandran IPS portraying him as the angry police commissioner. The movie was a super hit and was followed by a number of movies which he played the typical police officer and detective.
While some of them like Tiger, Chinthamani Kolakkase and Naadiya Kollappetta Rathri all directed by Shaji Kailas were successful, a number of them Time, Detective, Aayudham, Thavalam , Rashtram , Pathaka,Bullet and Smart City were flops. He performed well in a very different role in Lanka which went unnoticed among the crowd of movies.


Before coming to Cinema field, he was English literature field and his favourite authors are Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare, Camilla way, etc. He is famous for his philanthropic efforts. He has done many charity activities in Kerala, Tamilnadu, Gulf, etc.
Once he gave up the chance of standing for the election with Congress Party. His charity activities are spearheaded by his fans club which has a strength of about 800 members. He frequently visits sree chitra poor home, Trivandrum and spends time with the hapless inmates.


In 2008, Suresh Gopi along with other super stars gave a stunning perfomance in Twenty 20 produced by AMMA. Again he acted with Mohanlal in PakalNakshathrangal, an off beat movie directed by Rajiv Nath, but rejected the role of Sekharan Kutty, the villain he played against Mohanlal in Irupathaam Noottandu, super hit of 1980s in the sequel Sagar Alias Jackey by director Amal Neerad.

Controversy
During the election of 2001, there were lot of issues with the newly prepared electoral list from which many eligible people excluded. On the polling day, Suresh Gopi went to polling booth with his family and found that his mother in la's name is missing from the list. Agitated, he decided that he won't vote as a protest against mal practices in the preparation of electoral list.


 During the shooting of Lanka which involved intimate scenes with the heroine Mamta Mohandas, gossip was spread about an affair between the leading duo. But this was denied by both the actors.

Mammootty

Name: Mammootty
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 07 Sep 1953
Place of Birth: Chempu, Vaikom, Kottayam
ABOUT MAMMOOTTY:
Mammootty (born Pannaparambil Muhammad Kutty)is an award winning Indian film actor. During a career spanning more than quarter of a century, he has acted in more than 300 films as the lead actor in Malayalam movies, a distinction he shares with Prem Nazir. Mammootty is considered by many critics to be one of the finest actors in Indian cinema who excels in both art and commercial films.
Mammootty received many major awards for his performance. These include three National awards, four State awards and eight Filmfare Awards in the best actor category. He is the only actor apart from Kamal Haasan to win National Film Award for Best Actor three times. In 1998, the Government of India honored him with Padma Shri for his outstanding contributions to Indian cinema.
Mammootty is also the Chairman of Malayalam Communications, which runs popular Malayalam TV channels like Kairali TV, People TV and We TV. After a survey among its readers, Vanitha magazine selected Mammootty as the actor with the most sex appeal. Mammootty has promoted humanitarian causes throughout Kerala, and he is the Goodwill Ambassador of the Akshaya project.
Family and early life
 Mammooty was born in Chempu, near Vaikom in Kottayam, India in a middle class Muslim family to Ismail, an agriculturist, and Fatima, a housewife. Along with his siblings he grew up in Chempu, Vaikom. During his school life he was involved in sports and arts. He received his education from the Maharajas College, Kochi, and then studied law at Ernakulam Government Law College. He also practiced law for two years in Manjeri. He married Sulfath in 1980 and has a daughter, Surumi and a son, Dulquar Salman.
Acting career
Early career, 1971-1980
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 vetaran M. T. Vasudevan Nair. However, this film was never released.
Breakthrough, 1980s
 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 where he played a Circus artist, and Thrishna , directed by I.V. Sasi got him noticed. His first superhit 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.
New realms of stardom
  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.
Career slump, mid 1980s
   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.
Regaining stardom, 1987
   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.[13] 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.
Era of superhits, 1987-1996
   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.
Current era, 2000-present
  Shah Rukh Khan, Mammootty, Juhi Chawla and Mohanlal in an abandoned climax scene in Harikrishnans(1998), directed by Fazil
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.
Mammootty's commercial hits in early 2000 include Chronic Bachelor(2003) and Sethurama Iyer CBI(2004).Sethurama Iyer CBI was the third film in a series of films starring Mammootty as 'Sethurama Iyer', a sharp and highly intelligent investigative officer of the CBI. The first two movies were Oru CBI Diary Kurippu(1988) and Jagratha.(1989). Released in January 2004, the movie broke collection records and became the biggest hit of Malayalam cinema in 2004.
Mammootty won the State Best Actor Award for his potrayal of Operator Madhavan in Kazhcha, which did well at box-office too. Mammootty’s career graph raised spectacularly after the release of Rajamanikyam directed by debutant Anwar Rasheed. Released during Ramadan 2005, the movie broke all collection records and became the biggest hit of 2005. Rajamanikyam was also touted as the biggest hit of all time ever produced in the Malayalam cinema. In 2006, Mammootty continued his success with the film Thuruppugulan. The character Gulan became a rage among the kids and a cartoon series on the character 'super gulan' was started by a kids comics.
Mammootty's action comedy Mayavi became the top grosser of 2007. His portrayal of Dr.Nathan in Shyamaprasad's Ore Kadal(2007) was critically acclaimed.
In 2008, Mammootty delivered another blockbuster Annan Thambi. The film released in 75 centres across the state and completed 50 days in nearly 61 centres.The film is touted as the biggest hit in malayalam surpassing the record of Rajamanikyam.
Also, his recent movie "Mayabazaar" holds the record for highest channel right collecting film in Malayalam Film Industry, by selling the channel right for 1.3 crores. The record breaks his own record of 1.1 crores for the film Annan Thambi.
Beyond boundaries
 Mammootty had crossed the boundaries of Malayalam cinema and acted in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English films. in 1989, he made his Tamil debut in Maunam Sammatham, directed by K. Madhu . He has acted in Tamil films with front-line directors of the industry like K. Balachander(Azhagan) and Mani Ratnam(Thalapathy). His performance along with Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth in Thalapathi made him a favorite among the Tamil audience followed by a string of interesting films in Tamil. Fazil directed Kilippechu Kekkavaa(1993) had mammootty in his rarest avatar of a romantic hero. In 1995 Mammootty had a surprise blockbuster in the form of R.k.selvamani directed Makkal Aatchi. In Kandukondain Kandukondain, directed by Rajiv Menon, his performance as Captain Bala opposite Aishwarya Rai was considered the showstealer despite a big cast including Ajithkumar, Tabu and Aishwarya Rai. Aanandam directed by N. Linguswamy had Mammootty in the role of a family man.
Mammootty has acted in few forgettable films in Tamil . Puthayal(1996) (a film on treasure hunt), Junior-Senior(2002)(a love triangle), Viswatulasi (2004)(a mature love story) were all made with impressive starcast but were critical and commercial disasters.
He made his foray into Hindi films through Thriyathri in [1989]. However, his maiden Bollywood film as hero, Dhartiputra went unnoticed., nonetheless made his presence felt on the national level with the biographical film on Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar directed by Jabbar Patel. Mammootty's Sau Jhooth Ek Sach won critical acclaim but the film didn't do well at the box office. Mammootty's Telugu film Swathi Kiranam an offbeat venture was well received by the audience and critics.
Films shown at International film festivals
  His famous work Mathilukal ('The Walls') has been shown in almost 40 International Film festival beginning with Venice. The ace director Adoor Gopalakrishnan said:
“     Among my films, it is Mathilukal which has invited the maximum number of international honors. The sincere co-operation by Mammootty, the actor has played a major role in the success of the movie".     ”
The film is an adaptation of the novel Mathilukal by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. The film's music is composed by Vijay Bhaskar. It was well received upon screening at the Venice International Film Festival, and won 4 awards at the National Film Awards in 1990.
Vidheyan, the cinematic adaptation of the novel "Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum" by Malayalam writer Paul Zachariah explores the master-slave dialectic in a South Karnataka setting. Vidheyan won the State Film Awards for best film and best director for Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Mammootty won the National Film Award and State Film Awardfor this film in 1993. The film also won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, along with the Interfilm Award - Honorable Mention at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival.
Remarks during IIFA 2006
   His remarks during the 2006 IIFA Awards ceremony held at Dubai had gained a lot of media and public attention. He openly criticized the organizers of the IIFA Awards for completely ignoring South Indian films. Mammootty suggested that the Bollywood film industry stand up to competition from the South Indian film industry before calling itself International. He commented:
“     Indian cinema is not just Bollywood, and Hindi is not the only language. Why should our films be called South Indian cinema instead of being under the banner of Indian films?     ”

Mohanlal

BIOGRAPHY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Mohanlal
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: 21 May 1960
Place of Birth: Pathanamthitta, Kerala
ABOUT MOHANLAL:
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair (Malayalam: മോഹന്‍ലാല്‍ വിശ്വനാഥന്‍ നായര്‍) is a Indian film actor, who works in Malayalam Film Industry. He is one of the reigning superstars in Malayalam cinema. A two-time National award winner, Lal is famous for his versatility and natural acting style. Mohanlal is best known for his movie roles of the late 80's and early 90's. His most notable films include Nadodikkattu, Kireedam, Yodha, Kilukkam, Bharatham, Devasuram, Vanaprastham, and Thanmathra.

Early life (1960-1977)
Mohanlal was born in Elanthur in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, to Mr.Vishwanathan Nair, a government employee, and Mrs.Santhakumari and later shifted to his father's place, Mudavanmugal in Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum). He attended the local school in Mudavanmugal and later enrolled into the Govt. Model Higher Secondary School, Thiruvananthapuram.

An average student at school, he started his association with the world of acting very early, when he used to participate in school-plays. In the sixth grade, young Mohanlal was chosen the best actor in school, an award that was usually bagged by tenth graders.He won university kalaprathibha award in 1978.

After schooling, he joined Mahatma Gandhi College, Thiruvanathapuram (Under Kerala University) for his bachelors degree. He continued his association with acting and won numerous best actor awards[3]. It was here that he met a group of fellow-students, who were passionate about theatre and feature films. They were instrumental in getting him his first breakthrough and some of them, notably Priyadarshan and Manian Pilla Raju, went on to become popular movie director and actor.

Film career
Early years (1978-1985)
Lal's first film was "Thiranottam" (1978). The film ran into trouble with the Censor Board and was never released. His breakthrough came in 1980, at the age of 20, when he was selected for the role of the antagonist, in Manjil Virinja Pookkal. He had no dearth of opportunities after this and he played roles of gradually increasing importance in a number of movies in the following years.

In the year 1983, he was credited in more than 25 feature films. Uyarangalil, a story of cheating and deception, written by noted script-writer M. T. Vasudevan Nair and directed by I. V. Sasi was the highlight of this period. He then expanded into comic roles in his director-friend and college mate Priyadarshan's debut Poochakkoru Mookkuthi.

Golden Era - 1986 to 1995
The period (1986 - 1995) is widely regarded as the golden age of Malayalam cinema with films characterised by detailed screenplays, lucid narration and fresh ideas narrowing the gap between art and commercial films. As a young talent on the rise, Mohanlal obtained roles that gave him ample scope to display a wide range of emotions and started some very fruitful associations with many of the better directors and writers in Malayalam cinema.

1986 was one of his best years. Sathyan Anthikkad's T.P. Balagopalan M.A. got him his first Kerala State award for best actor. His role of an underworld don in Rajavinte Makan saw the emergence of Mohanlal as one of the leading stars of Malayalam cinema along with Mammootty.

In the same year, he played an asylum outmate in Thalavattam, a harassed house-owner in Sanmanassu Ullavarku Samadhanam, a journalist in M. T. Vasudevan Nair's Panchagni, a farm owner in love in Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal and an unemployed youth forced to become a Goorkha in Gandhi Nagar 2nd street.

His association with the writer-director combination of Sreenivasan and Sathyan Anthikkad, who excelled in making socially hard-hitting satires, resulted in films such as Nadodikkattu, in which he played an unemployed youth and Varavelpu, in which he played a Gulf returnee who is welcomed back home to greedy relatives and a state with a hostile climate for entrepreneurs.

Director Priyadarshan's musical comedies, notably Chithram and Kilukkam had him playing the typical Indian romantic hero and increased his popularity among the teenage movie-goers.
Mohanlal portrayed a real-life character in Devasuram (1993)directed by I. V. Sasi and the film went on to become a hit and a cult classic

At his peak, he portrayed some of the best roles in Malayalam cinema in movies by Padmarajan and Bharathan. Thoovanathumbikal in which he portrayed a person torn between his twin love interests, broke many stereotypes in Indian films such as the leading man falling in love with a second woman immediately after he is rejected by the first.

Amrithamgamaya was about a man who ends up at the house of a boy whom he had unknowingly killed in college during a ragging session. Thazhvaram was another notable film of this period.

The combination of writer Lohithadas and director Sibi Malayil is considered to have produced some of his most haunting roles. His role of Sethu Madhavan, who dreams of becoming a police officer but ends up as a criminal in the film Kireedam earned him a Special Jury Award. Another role of a classical singer who is burdened by the jealousy and final death of his singer brother in Bharatham earned him the Best actor award the following year.

The 90s saw him continuing his success with more entertainers like His Highness Abdullah, where he played a Muslim disguised as a Namboodiri to assassinate a royal. His other notable commercial movies during this period such as Midhunam, Minnaram, Thenmavin Kombath continued the tradition of the 80s with neat well-written scripts and a rich set of characters.

Devaasuram, written by Ranjith and directed by I. V. Sasi, set in the feudal atmosphere of central Kerala, was particularly noted for Mohanlal's portrayal of a proud, rich and brash young man who is slowly humbled by a chain of events. Director Bhadran's Spadikam became a cult classic for the revolutionary way in which the stunts were shot.

Critically acclaimed films were few in number during this period and were mostly semi-entertainers like Manichitrathazhu, which had the female lead Shobhana bagging a National award for best actress.

Later years (1996-Present)
During this period of his career, film makers cashed in on the immense popularity that Mohanlal enjoyed in Kerala by portraying him as an invincible larger-than-life hero in movies. Movies like Aaram Thamburan, Narasimham, Naran used this image of his to great effect and became blockbusters.

After their initial novelty, these films faced criticism from many quarters over their lack of realism and for creating movies around Mohanlal. Priyadarshan's Kalapani, an account of India's freedom struggle against the British that focused on the Cellular prisons of Andaman islands and Lohithadas's Kanmadam were some of his notable films during the late 90's.

In 1997 Mohanlal's film Guru directed by Rajiv Anchal (which was based on communalism in Kerala) was selected by the Government of India as official entry for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

It was at this time that Mohanlal started getting noticed outside the Malayalam speaking world. He acted in his first non-Malayalam movie when popular director Mani Ratnam roped him in for the Tamil film Iruvar. It had Mohanlal playing MGR, a cult figure in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

The Indo-French production, Vaanaprastham, in which he played the role of a Kathakali dance artist with an identity crisis, won him the second National award for Best actor and was the first film that got him international recognition. The film was selected for the competitive section at the Cannes film festival and his performance was critically acclaimed.

In 2002, Mohanlal acted in his first Bollywood movie, Company, which introduced him to the wider Hindi speaking audience in India. It was a critical and commercial hit. In 2006, the film Thanmathra ("Molecule"), won him the Kerala state award for best actor for portraying a person affected by Alzheimer's disease.

His second Bollywood movie Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, was the remake of the 1975 blockbuster movie Sholay, in which he played the character of the inspector played by Sanjeev Kumar in the original. Mohanlal won the 2007 Kerala state award for Best Actor for his performance as Valiakathu Moosa in the movie Paradesi.Mohanlal completed 30 years in the film industry on 3 September 2008.

National award winning role as a kathakali artist in Vaanaprastham Mohanlal does not have a theatre background. He debuted on the stage as Karna in Karnabharam, a Sanskrit play that was premiered in Delhi as part of the National Theatre Festival. The play depicts Karna's mental agony a day before the Kurukshetra war, when he thinks about his past and his faith.

Kadhayattam, was a presentation enacted by Mohanlal, depicting 10 unforgettable characters and situations selected from Malayalam literature. He has said that it is his offering to his mother tongue. The presentation was a fusion of stage acting, movie expression, sound and lighting techniques and music, conceived by film director T.K. Rajeev Kumar.

Chayamukhi is Mohanlal's latest play under the banner 'Kalidasa Visual Magic' - a production house promoted jointly by Mohanlal and another well-known Malayalam actor Mukesh.

In 2008, Mohanlal starred in the mega movie Twenty:20 which cast all the prominent actors of Malayalam film industry. On the release of the movie in November 08, controversy was triggered by Mohanlal fans accusing that Mohanlal was not given prime position in movie's posters where he appears slightly behind rival Mammootty. Despite the controversy, movie started with huge initial collection and good reviews.

Professional Outlook
Mohanlal chooses his movies and plays mostly on instinct and likes to let things happen.He prefers and enjoys working in the Malayalam industry with a close group of people whom he has known from his early career. Many of his best school-college mates are with him in the film industry. These include director Priyadarshan, singer M. G. Sreekumar, actor Raju and producer Suresh Kumar.

Mohanlal is viewed as a spontaneous actor with the ability to effectively portray the characters' inner feelings and turmoils and express what the director wants, very fast and convincingly[16]. He is uncomfortable working in other languages and attributes it to his lack of command over the intricacies of those languages.

Director Priyadarshan on Mohanlal's acting style  - "He never prepares for any role or scene. He is not bothered how he looks or what he does. Once the camera is on, he is a transformed person. As he does only one film at a time, he knows everything about the film, nothing more."

He also recollects what Mani Ratnam told him about Mohanlal - "Hereafter, I will never work with a man of whom I am a fan. I often forgot to say 'Cut' in Iruvar."

Shaji N Karun, director of Vaanaprastham speaks about the pride he has for Mohanlal as a country man and colleague. - "I can only express one word if I have to describe Mohanlal: wonder. I look at him with awe when he transforms himself from a person to an artiste in front of the camera. I don't know how he transforms himself. It's inexplicable. When we were at Cannes, after watching Vaanaprastham, a European director told him, "You are born in the wrong part of the world." I felt very proud, but I argued back, saying "Who said he was on the wrong side?"[18]

Personal life
He is an avid collector of paintings and antiques and has a private art gallery at his home. He is married to Suchitra, daughter of veteran Tamil actor-producer K. Balaji. The couple have two children, Pranav and Vismaya. He is currently settled in Chennai.

Controversy
In 2007 he faced criticism from prohibition activists in Kerala for appearing in advertisement of a liquor brand. In India advertising of liquor is banned. Marketers used different methods to get around the ban, for example by promoting non-alcoholic drinks with near-identical labels to the alcoholic ones. In this particular advertisement widely publicised on local TV channels and cinemas, Mohanlal advertises for banana chips with the same brand name as a liquor.

Business ventures
    * Vismayas Max website, Film post production studio and College for Dubbing artists at Kinfra film and Video Park, Kazhakoottam, Trivandrum
    * 'Pranavam Arts, Film Production Company (Currently inactive)
    * Pranamam, Film Distribution Company (Currently inactive)
    * MaxLab Entertainments website - A joint film distribution company of some friends and Mohanlal
    * Partner and Director of Uni Royal Marine Exports, a major Kozhikode-based seafood export company
    * Restaurant chain in Dubai called Mohanlal's Tastebuds
    * Restaurant in Bangalore named The Harbour Market
    * Partner of Mohanlal's Tastebuds, a pickles and curry powder production company[20]