Malayalam Awards Film Critics Awards 2018 - Cast & Crew

Anaswara Rajan is a young actress working primarily for the Malayalam cine industry. She hails from a small town, Kannur. Anaswara was interested in acting and used to participate in many cultural events and competitions in school. Being part of a local acting club, she has won many prizes there too.

Wamiqa Gabbi is an Indian actress and a dancer. She started her career with dancing. She is a trained Kathak dancer. She participated in a Dance reality show which was judged by famous Bollywood actor Amir Khan. She was one of the top 5 finalists. During this Dance Reality show, she was noted and then she was given a role in the Bollywood movie Jab We Met starring famous Bollywood actors, Shahid Kapoor, and Kareena Kapoor. However, she was offered only a small role in the film.

Aswathy Sreekanth is a popular writer, TV host, and actress, born in Thodupuzha, Kerala, on 24^th February 1986. Her parents are Ashokan and Soma. She did her schooling at St George HSS Muthalakkodam and Govt. H.S.S. Thattakuzha. Ashwathi did her graduation in English Literature from Alphonsa College in Palai. She did her MBA in Human Resources at Mangalam College of Engineering. Aswathy started her profession as a radio jockey in Red FM 93.5. She worked for Flowers TV too. In 2010, she joined Surya TV in Cochin as a VJ. She worked there till July 2011. Aswathy married Srikanth and moved to Dubai. From July 2011 to June 2015, she worked for Radio Me in Dubai, UAE. In July 2015, she reentered the Malayalam TV and movie industry.

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.

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.

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.

Life usually is unexpected, and it takes a turn when we least expect it. Sanjeev Pazhoor’s life has been nothing but a series of unpredictable events and opportunities. From being an Indian novelist to screenwriter and a director and then a government employee, Sanjeev has been actively associated with the Indian Film Industry. Sanjeev Pazhoor was born on 8th April in the year 1974.

Bijibal Maniyil is an Indian composer and a singer born on 21 May 1973. Bijibal is not only a playback singer but also an expert Keyboardist. Bijibal field of interest includes film scores, classical and dance music. Bijibal is a very renowned composer and has won many prestigious awards including a National Film Award. Bijibal made his debut in the Malayalam film industry as a music director with the film Arabikatha in 2007. The film won him Mullassery Raju Music Award for the best music director in 2007. Some of the remarkable works of Bijibal includes Njaan, Balyakalasakhi, Kaliyachan, Salt N’ Pepper and Arabikatha. Bijibal won the Asiavision Movie Award for the Movie Salt N’ Pepper in 2011. Recently Bijibal is working on some movies My God, Salt Mango Tree, KL. 10 and much more.

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.

Joju George was born on 22nd October in 1977. He was born in Mala, Trichur, in Kerala. He was originally named Joseph George but is known in the industry by the name Joju George. He is a Malayalam actor who made his debut in the year 2003. Early Life George was born in Mala, a village in Kerala. He was born to Malayali parents, George and Rosy. He completed his schooling from GHS in Kuzhur. He later joined the Christ College before dropping out to pursue a career in acting. He started his career as an assistant director in 1991. His acting career began later in 2003. He holds a degree from Christ College in Irinjalakuda. Work Joju George started his career has a director. He has assisted for films like Friends and Dada Sahib. After a short stint in direction, Joju turned to acting. He made his debut in 2003 featuring in War and Love. His official debut was regarded in the film Pattalam in the same year. Since then he has been prolific in his work. Joju did many supporting roles in the beginning.

Alencier Ley Lopez is an Indian film actor and theatre artist, popular amongst the regional audience for his work in movies like Rosapoo (2018), Kala VIplavam Pranayam (2018), Oru Kuprasidha Payyan (2018), Parava (2017), Mayanadhi (2017), Vimanaam (2017), etc. Mostly known for his predominant involvement in Mollywood movies, Malayali TV shows, dramas, short films, and theatres, he was awarded the Best Character Award at the 48th Kerela State Film Awards for the film Thondimuthalum Drikasakhiyum (2017). Born on 11th December 1965, Alencier hails from a Latin Catholic family in Puthenthope, Thiruvananthapuram.

It is believed that a person cannot be great in many things, but Prajesh Sen, a journalist turned into a filmmaker, is an exception.

Sooraj Venjaramoodu was born on 30th June, 1976 in Kerala. He is an Indian actor, television presenter, and comedian. He has acted in over 250 films. His father is a retired soldier and, his mother is a housewife. Sooraj began his career as a stand-up comedian. He was successful in this and was most famous for his mockery of the Thiruvananthapuram accent. At first, when he started his acting career, he was not well- accepted by the audience.

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.

Shebin Backer is a famous Malayalam producer, an entertainment investor, and a Dubai – based businessman. His large volume of investment is based on real estate and LED lighting. He was born on 17th September 1976 in Kerala. His father’s name is Aboobacker, and his mother’s name is Subaida. His father was a driving instructor, and his mother was a homemaker. His wife’s name is Rejina, and he has one son and two daughters. In 1969, his father migrated to Karama, Dubai. After graduation, he applied for MA in History, which he could not pursue as he had to accompany his father in Dubai to support his family. He was the eldest of three sons. In Dubai, he ventured into the real estate business and wholesale trading. In 2008, he co-produced Mulla,

Anto Joseph is famous for producing spectacular films in the Malayalam cinema. He is the founder of the film making company called ‘Anto Joseph Film Company.’ He recently produced the film ‘Take Off’ which gained immense popularity. The movie showcased the ordeal of Indian nurses from the city of Tikrit in Iraq. The movie is hard-hitting and has a strong social message attached to it and that is what helped it to do a business of about 30 crores. Anto Joseph has produced a number of films and most of the time the list of films he produced in a year went over two movies.

Nedumudi Venu was born on 22nd May 1948. He is commonly known as Kesavan Venu Gopal. His parents are PK Kesavan Nair and Kunjikkuttiyamma in Nedumudi Alappuzha in Kerala. He had four siblings, all brothers. His father was a schoolmaster. Nedumudi completed his primary education at NSS Higher Secondary School and St Mary's Higher Secondary School, Champakulam. During school days, he was interested in music and arts.

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.

Sreekumaran Thampi is a director, producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He is known for his performances mainly in Malayalam cinema. Sreekumaran was born on March 16, 1940. He debuted in the Malayalam industry as a lyricist in the year 1966 by P. Subramaniam in the movie Kaattumallika. He has written more than a thousand songs, produced 22 films, written scripts for around 78 movies and directed 29 films. Sreekumaran believes that he is more of a lyricist than a producer. His works as a composer include "Hridayasarasile pranayapushpame", Chandrikayilaliyunna Chandrakaantham", Swonthamenna padathinendhartham.

Hariharan is a renowned Indian singer, who sings mainly for Hindi and Tamil films. Born in 1955, he is a well-known Ghazal singer. He was also instrumental in bringing fusion music to India. 

Colonial Cousins is the name given to Hariharan’s band, wherein he collaborated with Lesle Lewis. This band was featured in many private albums. Not only this, they have also composed music for a few movies in Hindi and Tamil. 

Hariharan is born and brought up in Mumbai and he is well-versed in Tamil, Malayalam, English and Hindi. Hariharan is the offspring of famous Carnatic vocalists H.A.S. Mani and Shrimati Alamelu. Hariharan inherited the music skills from his mother. Hindustani music was made known to him in his youth. Hariharan indeed, took great efforts to reach the position that he is in today; he used to practice singing for 13 hours. 

During the initial stages of his career Hariharan used to sing for television serials. After winning a prize in a competition at all India level Hariharan was offered to sing in the film “Gaman” by late music composer Jaidev. The song “Ajeeb Sa Neha Mujh Par Guzar Gaya Yaaron" from the film earned him recognition that he rightly deserved. 

The song “Thamizha Thamizha” from the movie Roja was an instant hit and Hariharan, who sung it was awarded the “Best Male Playback Singer” in the Tamil Nadu State Government Film Awards. 

Hariharan was introduced into the Tamil film industry by A R Rahman, who was also a newbie at that time. Since then, the duo created magic with soul stirring songs in films, including Minsara Kanavu, Jeans, Indian, Muthu, Taal, Mudhalvan, Iruvar, Indira, Rangeela, Alaipayuthey, Kannathil MuthamIttal, Sivaji etc. Hariharan is credited with the Padma Shri Award and has received National awards for a couple of times. Hariharan is the proud singer of around 700 songs. He had also sung in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi.

Mohan Lal is the Super Star of the Malayalam film industry. He is the Son in Law of a famous producer cum veteran actor Balaji. Mohan Lal is married to Suchithra, the elder daughter of Balaji. Mohan Lal was born in the year 1960 in Elanthoor in Kerala. He is very popular for his natural acting and simplicity. The first movie, he committed was Thiranottam, but the first to release was Manjil Virinja Pookal. This movie had Poornima Jayaram as his pair and that is the debut movie in Malayalam for her too. Rajavinte Makan was the movie that made him to reach super heights. Mohan Lal is not choosey in particular character; but he acts in all types of film that give him a good performance scope.

Born on December 10 1965, Jayaram’s main region of interest is the Malayalam film industry, though he had acted in some Tamil films too. Jayaram entered the Malayalam film industry with “Aparan” which was directed by Padma Rajan. They both worked together in two more films. Jayaram was known for his films Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal, Georgootty C/O Georgootty, Nagarangalil Chennu Raparkam and Thoovalsparsham. 

During the 90s his films with Rajasenan turned to be commercially successful. The family audiences embraced him with both arms. Jayaram has carved a niche for himself in films such as Ayalathe Adheham (1994), Aadyathe Kanmani (1995), Meleparambil Aanveedu, The Car and CID Unnikrishnan B.A B.Ed. 

Director Sathyan Anthikad’s Thooval Kottaram earned Jayaram accolades and he won an award from the Kerala State Film Award. Also, he has four Film Fare Awards to his credit. His performance in Tamil film “Thenali” didn’t go unnoticed; he was awarded with the Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Jayaram proved his mettle in Tamil films, including “Thenali”, Gokulam”, Murai Maaman”, “Priyanka” etc. “Thuppaki”, “Saroja”, “Aegan” “Pancha Thantiram” and “Uttama Villain” are some of the Tamil films in which he played supporting role. 

Jayaram’s Malayalam films used to seldom flop at the box office and he is renowned for acting in family dramas. But ironically all the films he did in 2012 were a disaster at the box office. Jayaram has also delivered hits for the films directed by Kamal. He shared screen space with happening actors Mammooty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi. 

Jayaram is wedded to actress Parvathy who quit films after marriage. They have two children Kalidasan and Malavika. Kalidasan was introduced in the Malayalam film “Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal” and the latter was awarded with the National Award. 

Apart from acting Jayaram is a good mimic too. He had also sung in films including “Kadhanayagan”, “Mayilattam”, “Salaam Kashmir” etc.

Siddique, who is a Malayalam film actor, producer, and a television host started his film career initially with comedy roles, and later he continued performing a variety of roles. Born at Edavanakkad, in Ernakulam Kerala, Siddique is the youngest child with two other siblings. Completing his primary schooling in his hometown, Siddique later took Diploma in Electrical Engineering. He worked as an Electrical Engineer at Kerala and worked for a few more years in Saudi Arabia. Later he quit his job and started exploring his inner talents. He started his artistic career as a mimicry artist. Married to Seena, Siddique has two sons. Shaheen Siddique is his eldest son from previous marriage, and he made his debut in the movie Pathemari.

Indrans, who was born as K. Surendran, is a Malayalam actor and costume designer. He has acted predominantly in many comedy films and over 250 films. He is the second child out of the seven children of Gomathi and Palavila Kochuvelu in Thiruvananthapuram, India in the year 1951. Indirans made his schooling at the Government Higher Secondary School in Kumarapuram until his fourth grade. 

Subsequently after, he assisted his uncle in his tailoring business. He participated in amateur arts and performed dramas. After this, he established a tailoring shop called Indrans, from where he got his stage name ever since he started acting in films. Indrans was debuted in Choothattam as a costume designer before he started his acting career. 

He is the cousin of the National award winning costume designer, Indrans Jayan. He got married to Santhakumari on February 23, 1985, and the couple was blessed with two children. When he debuted in the film industry, he had the chance to meet several filmmakers such as Prem Nazir, Jose Prakash, Sattar, Pappu and Jayabharathi, but he focused only in doing costume designing for many years and did small roles on the big screen. 

Later on, he started to receive many opportunities from prominent directors such as Padmarajan, Sibi Malayil, Shaji N. Karun, K. Madhu and Venu Nagavally. The 1994 Malayalam film, CID Unnikrishnan B.A. B.Ed is the turning point of his career, where he acted as the best friend of Jayaram’s character. His comedic action clicked among the audiences, and he became one of Kerala’s mainstream comedians. Since then, he became the busiest till date. 

As an actor, he used his slim and lean figure and his distinctive accent to win the attention of the audience. He made his very own style in cinema, and he never mimic the comedic acts of the veterans, Adoor Bhasi, Jagathi Sreekumar, Bahadoor and Innocent. He won the Special Jury Award at the Kerala State Film Award in 2014. Well-known directors T.V. Chandran and Adoor Gopalakrishnan offered him to appear in their films. Some of Indirans projects as a costume designer were Sammelanam, Namukku Parkkan Muthiri Thoppukal, Season, Njan Gandharvan, Sphadikam and more. He also sang in the 2004 Kadhavaseshan. 

He acted in films like Sammelanam, Aparan, Dhanam, Utsava Melam, Janam, Manathe Kottaram, Street, Mannar Mathai Speaking, The Fire, Kalavarkey, Balettan, Patham Adhyayam, Inganeyum Oral, April Fool, Cheriya Kallanum Valiya Policum, Sandwich, Killadi Raman, I Love Me, Swapaanam, Praise The Lord, Apothecary and Seconds to name a few. This year, he acted in the comical road film, Aadu, which stars Jayasurya and Oru Second Class Yathra.

Intro: Jackie Shroff is a well known Bollywood actor who also has presence on Indian television sector.

Jackie Shroff is a popular actor who has worked for more than 175 movies in various languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Oriya, and Punjabi. He was launched by Dev Anand in his movie Swami Dada in 1978. Subhash Ghai chose him for the movie Hero which became a huge hit and paved the way of success for Jackie Shroff in Bollywood. Some of his movies which became huge commercial success include Karma, Ram Lakhan, Izzat, Tridev, Rangeela, Saudagar, Angaar, Khalnayak, and Aina. He got his first Filmfare award for best actor for the movie Parinda which was released in 1989.

While Jackie Shroff is known for his work and success with Bollywood and regional movies industry, he still holds a good space in Indian television industry. It should be noted that Jackie Shroff and his wife Ayesha Shroff had 10% share of Sony TV since it was started and only in the year 2012, they decided to sell their shares. In the year 2010, Jackie Shroff appeared as a judge for a magic competition television show India’s Magic Star which was telecasted on Star One. Jackie Shroff appeared on television screens for this show as a judge from 3 July 2010 to 5 September 2010. Apart from that, Jackie Shroff also appeared on Comedy Nights with Kapil Sharma along with his son Tiger Shroff in the year 2014.

Shroff Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)

Mithun Ramesh Chandrashekaran Nair known as Mithun is an actor, Dubbing Artist, Presenter and a Dubai based Radio Jockey at Hit 96.7FM. He was born on 4t May 1981 to C. Ramesh Kumar and Sheela Kumari in Trivandrum. He has now moved to Dubai, due to his work commitments. He has acted in very well-known movies and dubbed for many actors like Unni Mukundan in Mallu Singh, Jishnu Raghavan in Nammal, Richard, Rajiv Pillai and Tom George in Akalae to name a few. He began his acting career through television, with hit serials like Sthreejanmam, Sooryakanthi, and Narmadipudava. His role as the brother of the female lead in Sthreejanmam, who had negative shades in beginning was very well appreciated. He is still remembered in the serial industry even though he has left it after his big screen debut. 

He made his movie debut as Ranjan Panicker in Fazil directed, Mohanlal starrer Life is Beautiful in 2000. That was a big break for Mithun as he was noticed for his acting and his voice. He has appeared in more than 25 Malayalam movies performing character roles. He has done more roles as an antagonist and his features matched with that, giving realness to each character. Mithun appeared as Reji the antagonist in Nammal, a college story about two friends Shyam and Shivan. He also dubbed for the actor who played Shiva and also for his own character. A matured brother to Kavya Madhavan in Gourishankaram, one among the 7 friends in Sevens, a rude guy in Dileep starrer Runway, the absconding lover in Vettam are some of his notable roles in movies. The Dileep starrer recent movie Avatharam had Mithun as the cruelest villain, Karimban Joy was very well appreciated. His movie 100 degree Celsius is ready for release starring Shwetha Menon. 

He moved to Dubai taking up the role of Head of Programming in Hit 96.7 FM. He is a Guinness book record holder for the longest Talkathon in history. He along with his Colleague Sindhu was On Air for 84 hours continuously without taking a break in 2013. He is also one of the highest paid Presenters for Stage shows in Dubai. He is working as RJ in a popular drive time show called Radioactive, and the segment 'Excuse me' on Radioactive is one of the most popular features of the station. 

He is married to Lakshmi Menon in 2008, and they have a daughter Tanvi and are settled in Dubai. He is a Law graduate from Kerala Law academy Law College.