Showing all artists born at Kochi

Jeethu Joseph (born 10 November 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter best known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He made his directional debut with the 2007 film Detective and later went on to direct four consecutive successes with Mummy & Me (2010), My Boss (2012), Memories (2013) and Drishyam (2013).


Drishyam, produced by Aashirvad Cinemas, is currently the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all-time.



Jeethu Joseph worked as Assistant Director with Jayaraj (Bheebhatsam). After Bheebhatsam, chance came in the form of a Dileep-starrer for Jeethu. At the end of a year-and-a-half of work, it didn't "pan out" and he was back where he started.



Jeethu had, in the meanwhile, developed the one-line plot of Detective, which went on to be his debut directorial venture. After failing to find any producers, his mother Leelamma Josesh offered to co-produce the film. Jeethu found a co-producer in a US-based friend. He met Suresh Gopi and signed him on. A month into the project, a producer evinced interest and took on the production. Detective was released in 2007. The film fared well at the box-office.


His next film was Kunchako Boban starred Mummy & Me, which was a success at the box-office. Mummy and Me, although it took close to three years in the making, marked a turning point in his career as director. "My first film was easy compared to the struggle I had to go through for my second, Mummy and Me." There were offers to make films like Detective, but Jeethu declined. "I wanted to do a different film" It was for this reason that, though he had one line scripts of Mummy and Me and Memories ready in 2008, he chose to make Mummy and Me.


His third film My Boss was also a success in theatres.This film was criticised for being a copy of the hollywood film 'Proposal'. Jeethu's fourth movie Memories, a suspense thriller, was released in 2013 which did perfectly well in box office. "In Memories, Jeethu Joseph dwells on a canvas ridden with a series of murders. His ploy works because there is conviction about the way he crafts the thriller that touches religion, psychology and basic human instincts. It's an engaging plot and Joseph slightly goes astray as he indulges a bit too much treading along the romantic, peaceful past of Sam (Prithviraj). The diversion slackens an otherwise well-conceived narrative. Still he strays for a while simply because he owns a pretty decent narrative constructed with attention paid to certain technical details which raise the movie to the standard of a real thriller," The Times of India wrote in their review of Memories.


Later in 2013, drama-thriller Drishyam starring Mohanlal was released to huge box-office success. Jeethu later said, "I knew it was a good film and was confident about it. But did I expect this kind of an overwhelming response? Never." Jeethu earlier had Mammootty in mind for Drishyam but as the actor found it difficult to give dates, decided on Mohanlal.'Drishyam' also was accused of being a copy of the Japanese film,"Suspect X" "Drishyam is an elegantly crafted piece of film which Mohanlal and Jeethu Joseph can proudly hold close to their hearts. Mohanlal owes this film to Jeethu Joseph, completely. It seems Joseph had saved his best for the script. It's a case of adept story-telling and playing to the gallery. Slightest doubts come from the characters themselves and he lets them answer as though each answer was his token of respect for the viewers," The Times of India wrote in their review of Drishyam.


Drishyam is set to be remade in Tamil by Jeethu with Kamal Haasan enacting Mohanlal's role. "Some sequences will be tweaked to suit the taste of the Tamil audience but the script will be the same. No scope for adding masala," he said. It is set to be made in Telugu with Venkatesh playing the lead role while talks are on for the Kannada version.


They were some allegations that Drishyam was reportedly inspired by Japanese author Keigo Higashino's book The Devotion of Suspect X, the rights of which Ekta Kapoor has acquired. Some industry people had reportedly asked Ekta Kapoor's creative team to watch Drishyam, pointing out that some elements are similar to the Japanese author's book. There was another report that Drishyam was based on Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. Jeethu Joseph refuted reports that his script drew inspiration from any Japanese or Korean authors' books. "The script is original, a work of three-six months," he said.


Jeethu Joseph has three back-to-back projects lined up in the coming months. First movie is a Dileep-starrer set to go on floors June 2014. Jeethu, who joins hands with Dileep once again after the success of My Boss, says the yet-to-be-titled film will have a tinge of fantasy as its USP. The script of the film is written by Rajesh Varma. Anil Johnson, who worked with Jeethu in Drishyam will once again compose the music of the new film. A New Zealand-based production house is producing the film. The other two films will have Prithviraj and Kavya Madhavan respectively in the lead roles, says Jeethu. And for both the movies, Jeethu will once again write the script. Central Pictures, Kottayam, will produce the Prithviraj-starrer. Jeethu is also writing the script for his friend Anzar Khan's début movie. The story idea of the film has been formulated by Anzar, who has been in the industry as an associate director.


Jeethu was born to former Muvattupuzha Member of the Legislative Assembly V. V. Joseph and Leelamma. His childhood was spent in Mutholapuram in Elanji panchayat, 10 kilometres from Piravom.


Jeethu wanted to attend Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) although his father wanted him to become an engineer. He later graduated in economics from Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha.

Sabitha Anand is an Indian actress in Malayalam movies . She was one of the lead actresses in the 1980s. She is the daughter of J. A. R. Anand, famous Malayalam actor of the 1950s and 1960s.

She made debut through Uppu in 1987 . She has acted as heroine for almost all lead actors such as Mammotty, Mohanlal, Ratheesh. She has acted more than 100 Malayalam films. She had acted in few Tamil, Kannada, Telugu movies as well. Later went on to supporting roles and Mother characters. She is concentrating on serials now.

Revathy (born as Asha Kelunni Kutty) is an Indian actress and film director. She has acted in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films, directed several feature-length films, and has acted in and produced multiple television programs, totaling over twenty years of experience in the entertainment industry and over a hundred films to her credit. She has won several accolades, including three National Film Awards, in three different categories, and six Filmfare Awards South.

Chitra (சித்ரா) is an Indian film actress best known for her work in "Malayalam cinema".  Shes has acted in more than 100 films.  She acted opposite Mohanlal in her first film Attakalasham.

Rajiv Menon kumar is an Indian cinematographer and film maker.He is known for directing critically acclaimed Tamil films like Minsara Kanavu and Kandukondain Kandukondain. Rajiv was born in Kochi, Kerala to the popular Malayalam and Tamil film playback singer Kalyani Menon. He had the chance to travel across India at a very young age as his father, a naval officer, got transferred often.

He later joined the film school to study cinematography. Menon did his schooling in Kendriya Vidyalaya, Madras. He met a man named Jason Globerman who inspired him to become cinematographer. He started off as cinematographer with Prathap K. Pothan's Telugu film, Chaithanya. However, he got his major breakthrough as a cinematographer with Mani Ratnam's Bombay; Menon's second film.

Unni Mary is a film actress and producer who works mainly in Malayalam films. She has also worked in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil films, where she acted under the screen name Deepa.

Unnimary was born to Augustine Fernandez and Victoria on 12 March 1962. She had her primary education from St.Teresa's Convent School, Ernakulam. She has a brother, Joseph Martin. She learned classical dance at the age of 3. Her mother owned a ballet troupe and she performed in many stages in India and abroad.

She married Rejoy, a Professor at St Alberts college, Ernakulam on 12 March 1982, and they have a son, Nirmal. Their son Nirmal is married to Ranjini and they have a son, Rihan.

Siddique (born 1 August 1960) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who mainly works in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as an assistant director to Fazil. The duo of Siddique and Lal was spotted by Fazil when he saw them performing in the Cochin Kalabhavan troupe.Siddique later teamed up with Lal to create many films and was credited as Siddique-Lal.

The duo has since split up, Siddique has continued with his directorial ventures, while Lal has turned to acting and producing. Siddique's films are all in the comedy genre. Siddique's films in Tamil have mostly been remakes of his Malayalam films.

His film Bodyguard in Malayalam has been remade into Tamil as Kaavalan by Siddique himself. He also remade the film into Hindi as Bodyguard; all three versions receiving tremendous response at the box-office.

Siddique Ismail was born to Ismail Haji and Zainaba. He got married to his first cousin Sajitha on 6 May 1984. The couple have three daughters Sumaya, Sara, and Sukoon.

Paul Michael (2 December 1958), better known by his stage name Lal, is an Indian film director, actor, script writer, producer, and film distributor widely known for his work in Malayalam cinema.



He is best known for teaming up with Siddique under the shared name Siddique-Lal to make films such as Ramji Rao Speaking (1989), In Harihar Nagar (1990), Godfather (1991), Vietnam Colony (1992), and Kabooliwala (1994). The duo broke off afterwards but he produced Siddique's Hitler (1996) and Friends (1999) under his production company Lal Creations. Other films he has produced include Thenkasipattanam (2000), Kalyanaraman (2002), Chathikkatha Chanthu (2004), Thommanum Makkalum (2005), and Chanthupottu (2005).



Lal's debut as an actor came in 1997 when he played Paniyan in Jayaraj's Kaliyattam. He is known for his serious as well as comedic roles and has twice won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in Thalappavu (2008) and Ayal and Zachariayude Garbhinikal (2013). After sixteen years, Lal returned to directing with sequels to In Harihar Nagar, 2 Harihar Nagar (2009) and In Ghost House Inn (2010).


Lal was born on 2 December 1958, as Paul Michael to M. A. Paul and Philomina in a Roman Catholic Latin Rite family of the Archdiocese of Verapoly at Ernakulam. He is married to Nancy. The couple have a son Jean Paul Lal, who is an upcoming movie director and a daughter Monica.Music director Alex Paul, who composed soundtracks for the sequels of In Harihar Nagar, is his younger brother.



He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, along with his childhood friend Siddique, who would later team up as Siddique-Lal to make many films. Lal and Siddique joined as assistant directors to Fazil in 1984.



The Siddique-Lal team became directors with Ramji Rao Speaking. They went on to make four more hit films in a row: In Harihar Nagar, Godfather, Vietnam Colony and Kabooliwala. Lal and Siddique were also associate directors for Fazil's Manichithrathazhu (1993). They are two of the most successful directors in the history of Malayalam cinema. All their movies were record-breaking blockbusters.




After that, both decided to part ways as a director pair and Lal turned producer with the Siddique-directed Mammootty-starrer Hitler.[2] Lal debuted in acting with a villain role as Paniyan in Suresh Gopi-starrerKaliyattam, directed by Jayaraj. Kaliyattam was a new take on Othello where Lal played Paniyan, the character standing for Iago.



Lal started acting in Tamil films with N. Linguswamy's Sandakozhi. Lal's other major roles include Sikkander Singh in Punjabi House, Jeevan in Ormacheppu, Devin Karlos Padaveedan in Black, Sathyan in Thommanum Makkalum, the title role in Banglavil Outha, Raveendran Pillai in Madhupal's Thalappavu, and Johny in A. K. Lohithadas's Kanmadam.



Lal became a producer and distributor in the Malayalam film industry in the mid-1990s and established a film production and distribution company named Lal Creations. The first film he produced was Hitler, which was directed by Siddique and starred Mammootty. He then produced Thenkasipattanam by the Rafi-Mecartin duo, in which he played a major role with Suresh Gopi. He also produced Rafi-Mecartin's Superman and Chathikkatha Chanthu. Other films he has produced include Siddique's Friends, Lal Jose's Chanthupottu and Renjith's Black.



Lal returned to directing with the 2009 film 2 Harihar Nagar, a sequel to In Harihar Nagar. After its success, he directed another sequel named In Ghost House Inn. It was released on 25 March 2010. It also became a box office success.Then he made two more directural ventures, one with some new commers titled as Tournament(2010) and the other one with Mammootty and himself named as Cobra

Salim Ahmed Ghoush (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010), better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to become one of the most popular comedians of Malayalam cinema.  He has acted in more than 300 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi.  As a director he is best known for the films Aankiliyude Tharattu (1987) and Valtsalyam (1993).

Haneefa was born in Kochi to Kochi Velthedathu Tharavattil A.B. Muhammed and Hajira. He studied at Kochi St. Augustine's School and St. Albert's College and graduated with a degree in Botany.

He was a member of the famed comedy troupe Cochin Kalabhavan, whose members included Jayaram, Kalabhavan Mani, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar, and Bindhu Panicker. He made his film debut in 1972 in Azhimukham directed by Vijayan and went on to act in over 300 films in Malayalam. He also acted in over 80 Tamil films, including popular movies like Mahanadi with Kamal Haasan, Sivaji and Enthiran with Rajinikanth.

Haneefa played memorable roles in many Malayalam films, including Mannar Mathai Speaking, Devaasuram, Kireedam, Punjabi House and Swapnakoodu, C.I. Mahadevan 5 Adi 4 Inchu.  He also directed around 20 films, including Valtsalyam and Moonu Masangalkku Munbu. The last Tamil films in which he appeared were Madrasapattinam and Enthiran. His final Malayalam film was the 2010 film Bodyguard.

Kerala State Film Awards:
2001 – Second Best Actor – Soothradharan
Death
Haneefa died on 2 February 2010, aged 58, in Chennai, from multiple organ failure. He had been treated for liver cancer.  He is survived by his wife Fasila and twin children Safa and Marwa.

Salim Ahmed Ghoush, better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to become one of the most popular comedians of Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 300 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. As a director he is best known for the films Aankiliyude Tharattu (1987) and Valtsalyam (1993).


Haneefa was born in Kochi to Kochi Velthedathu Tharavattil A.B. Muhammed and Hajira. He studied at Kochi St. Augustine's School and St. Albert's College and graduated with a degree in Botany. He was married to Fasila. The couple have a twins, Safa and Marva.

He was a member of the famed comedy troupe Cochin Kalabhavan, whose members included Jayaram, Kalabhavan Mani, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar, and Bindhu Panicker. He made his film debut in 1972 in Azhimukham directed by Vijayan and went on to act in over 300 films in Malayalam. He also acted in over 80 Tamil films, including popular movies like Mahanadi with Kamal Haasan, Sivaji and Enthiran with Rajinikanth.

Haneefa played memorable roles in many Malayalam films, including Mannar Mathai Speaking, Devaasuram, Kireedam, Punjabi House and Swapnakoodu, C.I. Mahadevan 5 Adi 4 Inchu. He also directed around 20 films, including Valtsalyam and Moonu Masangalkku Munbu. The last Tamil films in which he appeared were Madrasapattinam and Enthiran. His final Malayalam film was the 2010 film Bodyguard.