Malayalam Awards Asiavision Movie Awards 2017 - Cast & Crew

This effervescent beauty, who has acted in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, is indeed a name to reckon with. This is not only due to her acting prowess, but also for her determination in battling cancer. Only recently, she opened up that she is very much alive in the industry; she is currently working in the flick Two Countries. 

Born on 14 November 1984, Mamta grew up in Bahrain. After doing her schooling in Bahrain she did her degree in Bangalore. Mamta tested waters in modeling before entering into the film industry. She got herself associated with print ads for big names. The 2005 Malayalam flick Mayookham by Hariharan was her first film. Though the film didn’t set the cash registers ringing Mamta was noticed for her performance. Later she ventured into Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. Bus Conductor, Madhuchandralekha, Baba Kalyani, Sivappathigaram, Yamadonga, Victory, King and Chintakayala Ravi are some of the hit flicks of Mamta. 

Mamta possesses commendable knowledge in Tamil, English and Malayalam languages. Hence language didn’t prove to be an obstacle for her acting in films. Mamta is attuned in classical and Hindustani music. Mamta is also an acclaimed singer. Also, she is excited to ride her bike on the roads. In fact, she aspired to be a motorbike racer. She associated herself with Kochi International Fashion Week as a brand ambassador. Also, she was CCL’s Kerala Strikers’ Brand Ambassador during 2013. Mamta, who battled cancer, had to remove her hair, but she took it jovially. In fact, she never revealed about the disease to anyone till 2010. She was that sportive. 

Mamta was wedded to Prajith Padmanabhan on 2011, but they wanted to part ways on 2012. Swimming and basketball are the other passions of Mamta, apart from singing. Mamta has some awards to her credit for both her singing and acting prowess.

Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and model. She was born on 5th January 1986. Deepika is one of the most famous celebrities. She is working in Bollywood films and won two film fare awards. She is the daughter of the badminton trouper Prakash Padukone. Copenhagen was the birth place of Deepika. She was raised in Bangalore. She frolicked badminton in national level championship in her teenage but later on she switched her career from spots and became a model. In 2006 she did receive some offers for Indian films and did her film debut. In 2007 she did double role in her first Indian bestseller film Om Shanti Om. In the same year she won the film fare award for best female debut. In 2009 she performed in an Indian film Love Aaj Kal and in 2010 she acted in a drama Lafangey Parindey. Her performance in Bachna Ae Haseeno in 2008 and Housefull in 2010 got negative reviews.

In 2012 her performance in the super hit movie Cocktail was turning point of her career and she won many awards in different ceremonies and she was nominated as the best actress. After that she acted in many super hit films of Bollywood such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in 2013, Chennai Express which is also released in 2013 and Happy New Year in 2014. She won film fare in 2013 for the performance and lovely acting in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. Deepika Padukone also did many stage shows as well. She has also inscribed posts for Indian newspapers. She is a prominent celebrity and brand ambassador for many brands and products.

Singh Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)

Aishwarya Rajesh, commonly known as Iyshwarya, is an Indian actress who works in the Tamil film industry. She was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on 10th of January, 1990. She was born into a family that was famous and had its mark in the film industry for three generations.

Anu Sithara is an Indian Film and Television Actress. She works in the Malayalam and Tamil Film Industries. Anu hails from Wayanad district in Kerala. Anu was born on the 21st of August in the year 1995. Her father’s name is Abdul Salam, and her mother’s name is Renuka Salam.

Versatile and talented, Shanthi Krishna is an actress who is also one of India’s leading Bharatha Natyam dancers. She is most popular for her exceptional work in the Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada movie arena, having also won the prestigious Kerala State Film Award for best actress in 1994.

Born to parents R. Krishan and Sharada in Mumbai, her Tamil Brahmin roots only strengthened her foray in to Malayalam movies where she earned several accolades. Her career with the movie industry began with the Malayalam movie Shalini Ente Kootukaari.  Her success was also seen in movies including Chaoram, Ennum Nanmakal, Pakshe, Visa, Ithu Njangalude Katha, Saagaram Santham, Mangalam Nerunnu  among others.

Her career has spanned nearly 32 years, from 1980 with her Malayalam Debut in Shalini Ente Koottukari, to her last movie in 2012, Karppoora Deepam and has included Pandu Pandoru Rajakumari, Sriman in Malayalam; Lalli in Kannada; and Nerrukku Ner, Manal Kayiru, Panneer Pushpangal, and others in Tamil.

She has acted opposite several of the leading actors in the south including Mohan lal, Srinath, Siddique, Mammootty, Srinath, Venu Nagavally, Balachandra Menon, and Devan. She is however, remembered most for her pairing against her ex-husband Srinath.

She is a trained classical dancer, and performs in various events in temples, and other concerts. She currently works with her husband as the Director for Cultural Activities at the Rajiv Gandhi Group of Institutions where she promotes Indian dances and programs. She has won several awards of note as an artist, but as an actress, she won one award for her role in Chakoram, where she won the Best Actress Award in 1994. She also won the Second Best Actress award for her role in the movie Savidham.

Abhaya Hiranmayi is an Indian playback singer hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She was born on the 24 th May, 1989. This gorgeous South Indian singer made her debut as a playback singer in the Malayalam music industry at the age of 24. It was in the year 2014 that a new angelic voice was first heard by the folk of Kerala. She made her mark in the Malayalam music by her first song Naku Penta, Naku Taka from the movie of the same name. She came into limelight on many occasions after that. Along with the famous composer Gopi Sundar, she lent her voice in some of the finest Malayalam songs of the modern times. She has been a playback singer since her debut in 2014 and has backed up nine songs until now.

Asha Sarath, famous for her role in 'Kumkumapoovu', is a Malayalam serial actress hails from Perumbavoor, Ernakulam. She was born in Perumbavoor as a daughter of famous classical dancer Smt. Kalamandalam Sumathy. At a very young age, Asha was bought into the field of classical dance by her parents. She got trained in all forms of classical dance including: Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam as well. In college days, Asha always used to get prizes for her performances on classical dance. In 1992, she got first prize in All India Dance Fete held in Benares. She is married to Sarath a business entrepreneur in Dubai.

As her title may be suggesting, Aditi the talented and versatile actress origins from Hyderabad. But her introduction should not end up just there. On the side of performing arts, she is a trained classical dancer, specializing in Bharata natyam, while in respect of family lineage she comes from the confluence of two distinct blue blooded families of the South - that of Akbar Hydari former Prime Minister of Hyderabad on one hand and from the Wanaparthy royal family on the other. Her family also had a distinctly accomplished educational background and she herself also did complete her graduation before entry into films.

Manju Warrier is a South-Indian film actress, born on November 1, 1978, in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, to an accountant father and a homemaker mother. She completed her schooling from Chinmaya Vidyalaya and further from Chovva Higher Secondary School, both situated at Kannur. She graduated from SN College, Kannur. Manju was only seventeen when she made her debut in the film industry with ‘Sakshyam’, a classic Malayalam drama directed by Mohan.At the age of eighteen, she worked in ‘Sallapam’, a love story by Sundar Das. In the first three years of her career, she was awarded for her work in four major films. First is with the film ‘Ee Puzhayum Kadannu’, a drama thriller starring Dileep in the lead role, won her the Kerala State Film Award, Filmfare, and the Screen-Videocon Award.

Bhumi Pednekar is Maharashtrian unconventional actress. Bhumi was initially an assistant to the casting director of Yash Raj Films; and recently made her debut under the Yash Raj Films banner by starring in Dum Laga Ke Haisha starring Ayushmann Khurrana. She holds that it was like a “Cinderella moment” for her when she was asked to play the role of the leading actor in the movie. Bhumi plays the role of Sandhya an over-weight girl in her debut movie. She had to gain about 15 kilograms for her role in the movie but has now lost a lot of weight and is back at being fit.

Bhumi Pednekar might not be a well-known name in the Bollywood industry just yet but given her performance in her first movie that released in February 2015, the days are not far. Bhumi dreams of romancing with Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan on screen. Her favorite actress is Karisma Kapoor and mentioned that she was obsessed with her role in Raja Hindustani when she was 12 years old. She is being called an unconventional Bollywood actress due to her weight issues. Bhumi always had weight issues which make her different from the other stick-thin actresses of Bollywood; and the part where she loves herself and her body despite being a little over-weight is what makes her command respect.

Bio coming soon...

The precious icon of the Indian music industry, Gopi Sundar has composed his soulful music for more than fifty movies to date. In 2014, he composed the songs & background score for the Malayalam movie "1983" and was awarded the National Award.the movie got a good critic rating of 3.5 out of 5.abrid shine, the debut director of the movie was awarded the Kerala State Awards in the category of the best debut director. Alongside the film bagged two more awards for the category of best & second best actor in the same award ceremony of 2014. He was born in Kochi & opted for joining the music industry for his career. Gopi has a good knowledge of instruments like Tabla & keyboard & has worked as a keyboard programmer in some of Bollywood hit films.

Actor Sarath Kumar made a headline in Kollywood by bagging a role in "Bench Talkies- The First Bench" which was an independent anthology film that had six independent writers and directors. The film had a limited release as there was no right channel to screen the movie in theatres, but was screened in PVR Cinema houses in Bengaluru and Coimbatore including Sathyam Theatre in Chennai.

July 29, 1959, was the day when the two legends of cinema Sunil Dutt and Nargis gave birth to the ‘Munna Bhai’ of Bollywood, Sanjay Dutt in Bombay. Almost all are aware that Sanjay Dutt’s life is like a roller coaster ride with so many ups and downs in his personal as well as professional life. But this man has never lost hope and is still struggling to get into a normal life as he is behind the bars since 2013 because of the TADA case. He went to Lawrence School, Sanawar in Himachal Pradesh. In his teenage years, due to peer pressure, he started taking drugs. For almost nine years he took heroin and cocaine as drug intakes and after a long period he realized that he should quit it all and wished to live a normal life.

Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi was not born with silver spoon. Neither did he have a family background that had deep roots in cinema field. He was rejected even for the role of a junior artist. But it was his hard work and continuous struggle, that made him a star that he is today.

Tovino Thomas is a well-known face in the Malayalam Film Industry. He is an eminent model and actor in Mollywood. He has a huge female fan following owing to his muscular physique and smart personality. He was voted as the most desirable man in the newspaper Kochi Times, a subset of the Times of India. He was born into a Roman Catholic family in Irinjalakuda, Kerala. His father, Ellikal Thomas, is an advocate, and he has an elder brother, Tingston, and a sister, Dhanya. Tovino studied in Irinjalakuda at the Don Bosco High School and then moved to Coimbatore to finish his college. He obtained his graduation degree in engineering, majoring in the field of electronics in Coimbatore from the Tamil Nadu College of Engineering. After finishing college, he started working as a software engineer at Cognizant Technology Solutions for a few years. Thomas is a fitness freak and has been modeling since his college days. He has also done endorsements for a few top brands of Kerala such as Silver storm Theme Park in Athirappilly, Indulekha Hair Care Oil, and a few others. He has also done a few short films among which his roles in Grisaille and Jaalakam were appreciated widely. Sajeevan Anthikad spotted him upon seeing these short movies and advertisements and cast him in his first movie Prabhuvinte Makkal in the year 2012.

A 15-year-old boy of Kerala had augmented many followers with due respect to his talented and soulful voice. Vaishnav Girish, a resident of Kodungallur in Trichur district, endured a standing ovation when he gave audition for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champ while back in 2017. He is the latest sensation in India, astonishing millions of Indians with his voice.

Vineeth Srinivasan is known to the music industry for his popular and hit song, Karale, karalinte. Being the son of film star Sreenivasan, he never had even thought of singing as a career. But of course, he likes popular Hindi songs and admires voice of K.J. Jesudas, Brad Paisley, and Udit Narayan.

Shaan Rahman is a widely recognized personality in the Indian film Industry due to his various talents. He is an Indian music composer, cinematographer, and singer who has worked extensively in the Malayalam film industry. He has given a lot of commendable works which are acclaimed by superiors till now. His notable credits include Malarvaadi Arts Club (2010), Thattathin Marayathu (2014), and Ormayundo Ee Mukham (2014). He was born on 30 December 1979, in Ras AL Kaima, UAE, to a well-do family. He was brought up in Thalassery, Kannur district, Kerala, by his parents. His father works in a Union Cement Company (UCC), and his mother is a full-time housewife. Also, he has a younger sister named Sherry, a doctor, and his brother, Shaheer is studying B.A. Visual Effects at ICAT.

Ashish Bisht is an Indian Actor who has enacted in numerous TV advertisements and has appeared in a movie called Shab. The very talented Ashish is from Delhi. He has this chocolate boy look. The brilliant and young actor is all set to kick-start his debut in Bollywood. The picture is a production by Sanjay Suri, Bhavna Talwar, Onir, and Mohan T. Mulani. Ashish has appeared in the role of Mohan, who aspires to become a model and luckily meets Raveena Tandon in his voyage. The film is a direction of Onir, and the music in the flick is by Mithoon. The other stars in the movie are Arpita Chatterjee and Gaurav Nanda. Ashish Bisht is an Indian film actor and a model who has done many commercials with the high and foremost brands like Pepsi, FedEx, Nokia, and various others.

Soubin Shahir is a well-known actor and an assistant director in Malayalam films. He assisted many renowned directors in his career before his acting career started. He made his first debut film with Kaiyethum Doorath. He earned wide fame for Alphonse Putharen’s Premam in which he played the role of a P.T Master. Soubin also featured in some of the recent hit movies stealing the hearts of many people. On his foray in direction, he said “I always wanted to be a director.” He believes that director Rajeev Rai brought him in front of arc lights. The actor is still uncomfortable when it comes to facing the camera and says that he becomes a bit nervous when it comes to acting.

Born on 18th of Oct in the year of 1977 to a Punjabi family whose ancestors are from Punjab, Kunal Kapoor is one of the promising actors in Bollywood today. Kunal, who is nicknamed as Kunnu, hails from Mumbai, India. Kunal had been in a relationship with the great fame of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan’s niece, Naina Bachchan, who was an investment banker in London, now pursuing theater arts as her profession. They got married in Feb 2015. It was a private marriage with just their family members at Seychelles.

Dharmajan Bolgatty is a Malayalam actor, writer, television presenter and stand-up comedian. He was born in Mulavukad, Kochi in India to Madhavi and Kumaran. After finishing his primary education at Mulavukad High School, he attended St. Albert’s College in Ernakulam. He started his career as a mimicry artist, but became popular on Asianet’s Bluff Master, along with Ramesh Pisharody, who became his partner. The two had met while working as writers for Cinemala and when they realized that their tandem clicks, they have decided to put up their show. Later on, he has done over 30 films, and he is now part of Asianet’s Badai Bungalow. He turned film actor through the 2010 Malayalam film, Paappi Appacha, which stars Dileep, Innocent and Kavya Madhavan in the lead roles. He played as Dileep’s driver/side-kick in the film and the reason he owes everything to Dileep is that he was first introduced as an actor in this film. In 2011, he was seen in Thaha’s Pachuvum Kovalanum. Dharmajan has five releases in the year 2012, which include Ordinary, Naughty Professor, My Boss, Puthiya Theerangal and Chapters.

Antony Varghese, of Angamaly Diaries, is pleased that he got selected to retain his position in Angamaly instead of taking an aircraft to Singapore. Or else, this new chap who generated a Tsunami of all kinds in Mollywood with his entrance in the cult flick would have taken a seat in an agency at Singapore organizing logistics for some Multi-million corporation.

Dulquer Salmaan is a popular Malayalam actor, who appears in Tamil films too. He is the son of the Malayalam Super Star Mammooty. Dulquer Salmaan is married to Amal Sufiya in the year 2011, before his film entry. Dulquer Salmaan has plans to act in Telugu films too, and discussions are going on. Dulquer wanted to make his debut through his friend’s film and hence rejected many opportunities. His debut was through the film Second Show by Srinath Rajendran in the year 2012. His second movie was Ustad hotel by Anwar Rasheed and the film was a hit. In the year 2013, he starred in ABCD American Born Confused Desi. This film revealed his singing talent too. Dulquer Salmaan sang a song Johnny Mone in this film ABCD. He entered the Tamil film industry through Vaayai Moodi Paesavum, a bilingual movie in Malayalam, Samsaaram Arogyathinu Haanikaram. It was a different movie and the movie has Nazriya and Madhu Bala with him. Bangalore Days was his next venture with lots of stars like Praveena, Nazriya, Nivin Pauly, Fahath Fazil, Parvathy Menon, Kalpana and Nithya Menon. It was a super hit movie and it is being remade in Tamil with Aarya in the lead. 100 Days of Love was another hit from Dulquer Salmaan, which got released in 2015. Popular director Mani Ratnam, molded Dulquer Salmaan in his tent with the film O Kadal Kanmani and the film was a super hit with the music by Rahman and performance by Prakashraj. Dulquer’s next film is Charlie, which is set to release on Onam. 

This Vicky donor worked as radio jockey, Video jockey, television anchor, host, actor, lyricist, singer, theatre actor anything left… huhh ya reality show contestant in Roadies too is Ayushmann the multi talented.

Mahesh Narayanan is an Indian writer and film editor, popular amongst the regional audience for his work in movies like Take Off (2017), Traffic (2011), Vishwaroopam (2013), and Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015). Mostly known for his predominant involvement in Mollywood movies and Malayali TV shows, he has been working in the film industry for more than ten years now.

Dileesh Pothan is a prominent Malayalam film actor-turned-director. He was born as Dileesh Philip on February 19, 1981, in Manjoor, District of Kottayam in Kerala, India. He studied at Emmanuel’s High School in Kothanalloor and later pursued a pre-degree at KE College in Mannanam. Later, he took Bachelor of Science at St. Philomena’s College in Mysore. He showed deep interest in cinema and drama, and so he decided to take a Master of Arts (MA) in Theatre Arts and attended the Sree Sankaracharya University of Kerala and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Theatre Arts at the MG University in Kottayam. Initially, he has worked as an actor and associate director in several films including director Aashiq Babu’s Salt N’ Pepper (2011), 22 Female Kottayam (2012), Da Thadiya (2012), 5 Sundarikal (2013), Idukki Gold (2013), and Gangster (2014). Dileesh is also the associate director of Dileesh Nair’s Malayalam satirical comedy film,