Malayalam Movie Review Odiyan - Cast & Crew

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.

Shreya Ghoshal, one of the most famous singers in Bollywood today, was born on March 12th, 1984, in Berhampore, West Bengal. Her father Biswajit Ghoshal is an electrical engineer and mother Sharmistha Ghoshal is a postgraduate in literature. She started singing since the age of 4 when her mother taught her. She started her formal training in Hindustani classical Gharana of music when she was only six years old. She was trained for 18 months after which she continued her training in Mumbai with Late Mukta Bhideji. She completed her graduation in Arts with majors in English. Her first on-stage performance was at their club’s annual function. Her first studio album was in Bengali in 19998 and was named Bendhechhi Beena, and her first onscreen performance was in Awaz Nayi Andaaz Wohi. In 1995, she became the winner of All India Light Vocal Music Competition. Her fame and career began with her winning a television singing reality show named Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Sana Althaf was born on the 6th of June 1999 in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. She pursued her education from Bhavan’s Adarsha Vidyalaya in Kochi. She started her career at a very young age of fifteen when she was a host of a reality show in a Malayalam T.V channel. Upon seeing her appearance on screen, director Lal Jose invited her to be cast in his 2014 film ‘Vikramadithyan.'

Actress Sreejaya Nair is a popular Malayalam film and T.V. Actress.  She is also a competent performer in classical dance. Later, she became a choreographer and even a teacher in classical dance. She has her own dance institution - Sreejaya's School Of Classical Dance, at Bangalore, which is functioning since 2004. She is also trained in Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi. In Chennai, she had followed the Kalakshethra style and is well versed in the Kalamandalam and Kalakshethra styles of Bharatnatyam. She also tried to get into Malayalam films, and she has been successful in acting in quite some movies with leading superstars of Malayalam cinema like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, etc. Later she opted for her break even in TV serials. 

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Antony Perumbavoor was a driver earlier in his life (he had been a driver to veteran actor Mohanlal) and later became a famous producer in the film industry. Eventually, his life took a drastic change, and he became Mohanlal’s business partner. Antony Perumbavoor owns a production house named Ashirvad Cinema and the first film that this production Studio produced was Narsimha.

Prakash Raj, born on 26th of March, 1965, as Prakash Rai, in Bangalore, is an actor, director, and producer. He is also a television presenter and has worked in films of many languages. He is best known for his work in the film industry of South India, and for playing roles of a villain in quite a few Bollywood films. He hails from a Tulu and Kannada-speaking household and is fluent in various other languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. He also has an actor brother named Prasad Raj. He studied at St. Joseph’s Boy’s School, and subsequently, at St. Joseph’s College of Commerce. Both institutions are in Bangalore. Prakash has three children, Meghana, Pooja, and Sidhu, from his earlier marriage to the actress Lalitha Kumari. His son, unfortunately, passed away in the year 2004. He is currently married to the choreographer Pony Verma. In the first few years of his career, he worked in Kannada Doordarshan, doing serials like Guddada Bhootha, and he also acted in supporting roles in Kannada movies like Nishkarsha.

Hari Krishnan, popularly called as Hari is an Indian film actor. He belongs to the Malayalam film industry. He was born and brought up in Kochi. He had his school and college education in Kerala.

He participated in a Reality show “The Screen Test” conducted by Asianet TV in 2007. He was selected as the best popular actor from the show. This opened the way towards the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut performance in Malayalam film through the famous movie “Malarvadi Arts Club”. Aju Varghese and Bhagath Manuel were the co-actors. The movie directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan was very well received. The story theme was about the deep friendship of 5 intimate friends and how they adjust to the callousness of life after completing studies.

Following the success of “Malarvadi Arts Club”, he took a guest role in “Om Shanthi Oshana” in which he appears as actress Nazriya’s high school classmate. He has also acted in “Sahasram” and “Chattakari”. “Sahasram” was a crime thriller movie in which he played the role of an energetic youth trying to fight corruption. “Chattakari” was the remake of an old film which shows the sexual frustrations of teenagers. His performance was classic in this movie.

A notable performance in his career was in movie “Monayi”. Even though the central personality was Aju Varghese, his role also received good appreciation. Presently he is acting in Director Joshy John’s movie “One Second Please” with Bhagath Manuel and Manu.

The camera being his life, Shaji Kumar has spent his life working behind the lens. A cinematographer with wild ideas and styles of his own, makes this man a true gem. He has targeted and gave blockbuster movies to Kollywood and Mollywood. Born in Kochi, Kerala, he started his professional career by using the lens of his camera for capturing the scenes written in scripts in Malayalam. He has spent many hours working with leading filmmakers like Shaji Kailas, Joshi, Vinayan and Vysakh and has learned from their styles and techniques to manage projects in Kollywood. He now has extended his work with the renowned hero in Tollywood actor Prashanth for the project ‘Saagasam’ in 2016. He has received laurels and applause for the movie ‘Ponnar Shankar’ in 2011 and also for shooting 'Mambattiyan' in 2011 and lately 'Saagasam' in 2016.

Prabha Varma is a veteran journalist, poet, and anchor. He was born on 24th July 1959 at Kadapra, Thiruvalla. His parents were T.K Narayan Namboothiri and N. Pankajakshi Thampuratty. An award-winning literati who got his primary education from Devasworm Board College, Parumala , and his degree of Master in English from NSS Hindu College and LL.B from Kerala Law Academy.  He was a political enthusiast since his college day. During the emergency in 1975-77, he was an active member of Student Federations of India, a youth wing of CPI (Marxist).

This singer got two national awards for his playback in his career. Once he got for a song “Nadha Roopini’ which was picturized on Mohan Lal for his film ‘His Highness Abdulla” (1990). In 1999, he got another national award for film ‘Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum’ for the song "Chanthu Pottum". Malayalam star Mohan Lal is one of the most natural actors to have graced the screen. He is spontaneous, lively and expressive, and there was something very refreshing about his every role, hence when Sreekumar sang for him – this became on a deadly combination. This singer has shown equal mastery and musical aesthetics while handing classical songs in other films too. The versatile playback singer had a depth of his musical knowledge and had handled the toughest of the songs with consummate ease. Every song that he had rendered will speak more on musical sensibilities that had emotive musical expression too. This singer was born on 25 May, 1957 in Haripad, Kerala. His family had a tradition of classical music, and his brothers are too singers and music composer in the industry. He also appeared as an anchor for musical reality TV shows for the younger generation( SaReGaMA and Star Singer).

Shankar Mahadevan, a well-renowned, talented and famous music composer, and singer. An accomplished musician in Tamil cinema, he is a part of the Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio team that provides music to Bollywood and other International films. He has won various Indian and multiple National Film Award. His most famous albums include, “Breathless“- Album that first gave him fame, including the song, "Breathless," in which he sings throughout the whole song without pausing to breathe and “Nine” - Nine is Shankar's most recent album. Each song is a representation of a "mood," including joy, sadness, love, etc. He was also invited by UNESCO and the US State Department to perform at the UN General Assembly Hall for the finale of the International Jazz Festival on 30 April 2012 which is a thing of pride. Shankar has always considered himself as a restless student wanting to learn more every time. He says he’s thirsty and want to learn every time and experiment with something new. He wants to be a perfectionist. Shanker also feels that Karnatak music is the most powerful form of music and he himself started with Karnataka classic which he says is the best to create a prominent base for music. Music is the thing which excites Shanker the most, and he would always be attached to it. Personal Life: Shanker Mahadevan was born in Chennai to a Tamil family but was later brought to Mumbai and was raised there. Being born into a Tamil family and later raised in Mumbai, he knows both Hindi and Tamil language but is not well versed with Tamil and Malayalam. He finished his schooling from OLPS High School in Chembur and his engineering in computer science from R.A.I.T (D Y Patil, Navi Mumbai). His wife, Sangeeta is Maharashtrian and oldest son Siddharth Mahadevan. Also, a singer, made his debut on the 2013 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’s song, Zinda. Shankar’s youngest son, Shivam Mahadevan, also a singer made his debut in 2013 in the movie Dhoom 3’s song, Bande Hain Hum Uske. Mahadevan is fluent in Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and English.

He is a famous Indian playback singer. He was born on 25th may 1975. He is currently 41 years old. He was born in Alappuzha, Kerala, India. His nationality is Indian. His zodiac sign is Virgo and religion is Hinduism. He started his singing career in 1992. His songs are available on the website sudeepsinger.com. He used to sing Indian classical music and devotional music. His songs are recorded in four languages: Malayalam, English, Tamil, and Hindi. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His father is Kainakary Surendran and his mother is Pajama. He completed his schooling at St Joseph’s High School. The school is situated in the Punnapra. He completed his graduation from the SD College. His college is situated in the Alappuzha. He did his graduation in Malayalam. He also completed law from Government College in Thiruvananthapuram.

Sabu Cyril was born on January 27th in Kerala’s Kozhikode district.

John Kutty is an Indian Editor. He works in the Malayalam Television and Film Industry. John started his career as an editor with Asianet channel. He used to edit the serial “Munshi” (2000). He later joined the Kerala State Film Development Corporation. He worked as an editor in the serials “Sumangali” and “Jagapoga.” He worked as an editor in the Cartoon Network TV show “Tenali Rama” an animated series.

A Chennai boy born in Karaikal to the immigrants of Vietnam is famous for his stunt sequences and action director and choreography. He was born and brought up in Chennai itself. He belongs to Tamil Chettiar community. He started off as an extra stunt fighter in many regional films. His first venture as a full-time action director is Murari. Earlier he has worked with pioneers like Kanal Kannan, Ram Gopal Verma, Vijayan, etc. he has done quite a plenty of films in Telegu, Tamil, and Malayalam. He earned critical appreciation and fame through his work in films such as Varsham, Anniyan, Athadu, etc. Ram Gopal Verma, impressed by Hein offered him to work for James and thus it was his ticket to Bollywood. His next Bollywood venture was Mani Ratnam’s Raavan.

Aneesh G Menon is a Mollywood actor who acts primarily in Malayalam movies. He has acted in very few movies but had tried to keep a good space in acting with veterans like Mammootty and Siddique, Mohanlal and others. He came to cinema through a talent search program that are being aired nowadays on many television networks. His participation, in a reality show, made his entry into the tinsel town a bit easy. He was the first runner-up for a reality show ‘Mammootty the Best Actor Award (season one)’ that was aired on Asianet TV channel. This fetched him recognition as a fresh talent for Malayalam cinema. The way he participated in the show was a bit accidental. His friend Ashraf Mohammed had sent his entry form to the show without his knowledge. 

Innocent Vareed Thekkethala is the real name of popular Malayalam actor Innocent Vincent. Born on 28 February 1945, Innocent is also a politician. He is an accomplished actor of Malayalam films and comedy is his strength. He delivers witty gestures, and his dialogues in the Thrissur accent is noteworthy. In fact, it is no exaggeration to tell that, Inncoent is a phenomenon in Malayalam films. Mimicking his mannerisms is like tasting sugar for mimicry artistes. His reputation is such that, he is a frequent actor of many Malayalam film directors’ films.

Whether it is comic or serious role, Innocent is very much at comfort. He was such a legend that, he held the position of President of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes for more than a decade. 

Manoj Joshi is an Indian television, theatre and film actor. He is better known for his roles in movies than in series. He is well known for his comic roles, and has been praised for his good comedy acting. His birthday is September third. The actor was born in a village called ‘Adapodara’ which is in the northern part of Gujarat. His family is versed in the acting profession, and even his brother Rajesh Joshi was an actor. Rajesh Joshi passed away in the year 1998.

One of his first roles was in the television serial Chanakya which he played before the turn of the millennium. He is also an actor in the Gujarati play of the same name, as well as its director. He won a best actor award for his portrayal of Chanakya in the series. He also acted in soap opera ‘Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka’ on Sony TV. He has also acted in several Marathi serials.

He has also acted in several films, notably comedies. His first major role was in the movie ‘Hungama’ after which he has appeared in several movies including ‘Bhagam Bhag’, ‘Ready’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’.

He was last planning to make a play on the life of Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

Santhosh Keezhattoor, born on 4th February 1976, in Taliparamba, Kerala is a Malayalam film actor. His debut film was Nadan. He started off his career as a model, an anchor, a programme producer and as a theatre artist, before trying his luck in the film industry. He first did theater in the year 2000, and his last performance was in the year 2015. He also said that “Theatre is an integral part of his life, and he can never ignore it.”

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.

Bio coming soon...