Famous Malayalees

A brief discription about malayalees The Malayali people (also spelled Malayalee or Keralites; Malayalam : Plural: Malayalikal) are a group of people, who speak Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala. The Malayali identity is primarily linguistic, although in recent times the definition has been broadened to include emigrants of Malayali descent who partly maintain Malayali cultural traditions, even if they do not regularly speak the language. While the majority of Malayalis belong to Kerala, significant populations also exist in other parts of India, the Middle East, Europe and NorthAmerica & various parts of India. According to the Indian census of 1991, there were 28,096,376 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala, making up 96.6% of the total population of that state. Hence the word Keralite is often used in the same context, though a proper definition is ambiguous. The slang Mallu is sometimes used by North Indians, and Malayalees themselves, to refer to a Malayali in informal contexts According to the Indian census of 2001, there were 30,803,747 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala making up 96.8% of the total population of the state. There were a further 701,673 (2.12%) in Karnataka, 557,705 (1.7%) in Tamil Nadu, and 406358 (1.2%) in Maharashtra. In all, Malayalis made up 3.22% of the total Indian population in 2001. Of the total 33,066,392 Malayalam speakers in India in 2001, 33,015,420 spoke the standard dialects, 19,643 spoke the Yerava dialect and 31,329 spoke non-standard regional variations like Eranadan. As per the 1991 census data, 28.85% of all Malayalam speakers in India spoke another second language and 19.64% of the total knew 3 or more languages.
Large numbers of Malayalis have settled in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai (Bombay), Pune and Chennai (Madras). A large number of Malayalis have also emigrated to the Middl East, Europe and North America. There were 179,860 speakers of Malayalam in USA, according to the 2000 census though the Keralite Population is thought to be more than 300,000. . The 2001 Canadian census reported 7,070 people who listed Malayalam as their mother tongue. There were 2,968 Malayalam speakers in Australia in 2001. The 2006 New Zealand census reported 2,139 speakers. 134 Malayalam speaking households were reported in 1956 in Fiji. There is also a considerable Malayali population in the Persian Gulf regions, especially in Dubai, where there is the biggest diaspora of Malayali's outside of India. They form the majority of the Indians residing in DubaiMalayali cultural genesis can be traced to their membership (around the 3rd century CE) in the historical region known as Tamilakam—a land defined by a common Tamil culture and encompassing the Chera, Chola, and Pandya kingdoms. Malayali culture was later elaborated upon by centuries of contact with other cultures such as Syrian, Judeo, Arabian, Portugese, English communities which have left their mark on the original Malayali culture. These foreign communities often settled in Kerala and assimilated with the local population resulting in different ethnic groups such as the Cochin Jews, Mappilas, Syrian Malabar Nasranis, and Anglo Indian.
World Famous Malayalees in Filim

Salim Kumar- Famomus Comedian.
K. J. Yesudas- Classical musician and famous play back singer.
M. Night Shyamalan- Hollywood film director.
Resul Pookutty - Sound Engineer and first ever Oscar winning malayalee.
Jijo Punnose - Film Director - Navodaya Films - Maker of first 70 mm film in malayalam "padayottam"/ 3D film in india " My dear Kuttichathan" - National / State Award Winner
Appachan - Film Producer- Navodaya Films
Mohanlal- Famous actor and winner of the national award for Best Actor in 1992 (Bharatham) and 2000 (Vaanaprastham).
Mammootty - Famous actor . Three time winner of the national award for Best Actor.
Murali - Famous actor and winner of the national award for Best Actor in 2002 (Neythukaran).
Jayaram- Famous actor
Suresh Gopi- Famous actor
Meera Jasmine - Popular South Indian Film Actress.
Monisha Unni - Famous Actress.
Manju Warrier - Malayalam Film Actress.
V. Dakshinamoorthy - Carnatic Music exponent and one of the greatest Malayalam Music Directors.
Raveendran - Famous music director.
Renjith - Film Director / Writer.
Alex Paul - Music Director
Adoor Gopalakrishnan- Internationally acclaimed director. Movies include Elipathayam (The Mousetrap) and Mathilukal (Walls).
Lohithadas- Film Director / Writer.
G. Aravindan - Noted film director and cartoonist. Movies include Kanchana Seeta, Kummatty (Bogeyman) and Chidambaram. His cartoon strip series 'Valiya lokavum Cheriya manushyarum' was very popular.
KP Kumaran - Film Maker
G. Devarajan- Famous music director.
P. Padmarajan (1945-1991)- popular film director, affectionately known a 'Pappan' whose films often blurred the line between artistic and commercial cinema.
P.T.Kunju Muhammed - Film Director / Writer.
Jayen Varma - Bass Guitarist
Gopal Menon - Documentary filmmaker
Bharathan- Popular Film Maker.
Blessy - Popular Film Maker.
Naveen Andrews - British Actor. Parents are Malayali.
K. S. Chithra - Renowned playback singer and winner of several state and national awards.
Unni Menon - Renowned Playback singer and multiple Tamil State Award winner.
Fazil - Film Director / Writer.
Kozhikode Abdul Kader - Abdul Kader made his debut as a playback singer in Malayalam films in 1951 in the film `Navalokam.' The 'Malabar Saigal' died on February 13, 1977.
Kavya Madhavan- Malayalm Film Actress.
Priyamani- Popular South Indian Film Actress.
M. G. Sreekumar - Playback singer.
M. T. Vasudevan Nair - Writer and cinema personality. Jnanpith Award, 1995.
Nedumudi Venu - Famous actor.
Asin-Tamil and Bollywood actress
Sreenivas - Play back Singer / Music Director - Kerala / Tamilnadu State Award Winner
Pradip Somasundaran - Playback singer who won "Lata Mangeshkar Trophy" in "Meri Awaz Suno" in 1996.
Prem Naseer - Popular actor of Malayalam cinema.
Priyadarshan- Bollywood Film Director.
Shaji N. Karun - Noted Film Director, whose movies include Piravi (Birth), Swam and Vaanaprastham.
Santosh Sivan - Famous Director and Cinematogrpher.
Shobana - Actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. Two-time National award winner.
Sujatha Mohan- Famous playback singer.
Thilakan - Famous actor.
Vayalar Ramavarma - Arguably the greatest lyricist in the history of Malayalam cinema.
Madhu - Actor
Shweta Menon--Popular South Indian Film Actress.
Shaji Kylas - Action film director
Kannur Rajan - Music composer
Thikkurussi Sukumaran Nair - Actor
Kay Kay Menon--Actor
K.K--Krishna Kumar Kunnath—Playback Singers
Navya Nair--Noted Actress
Sibi Malayil -- Malayalam Film Director.
Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma -- lyricist in Malayalam cinema, son of Vayalar Rama Varma
Arya - Tamil
MGR - M.G.Ramachandran Nair - Famous Tamil Actor. Parents are Malayali.
GOPI (Bharath Gopi) - Famous Film, Drama Producer, Director and Actor.He died on on 29 January 2008.
Kaviyoor Ponnamma - Famous actress.
K.P.A.C. Lalita - Famous actress.
Madhu Balakrishnan - Famous Play back singer
Sathyan Anthikkad - Malayalam Film Director.
Suresh Kumar - First Indian to win the 'Best Photography' Award in the San Francisco Short Film Festival in 2008.
Urvashi - Famous Actress.
Hariharan - playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam,Kannada and Telugu.
Vidya Balan- popular Bollywood actress born in Palakkad