10 Malayalam Actors Who Struck Gold By Entering Into Film Production

The actor is not just a Superstar in cinema, but also in entrepreneurship. He has floated many business enterprises in fields including hospitality, film production and distribution, animation, spice exports and even a college for dubbing artists at KINFRA, Trivandrum. He produced many popular movies under the banner of ‘Pranavam Arts’. The movies include ‘His Highness Abdullah’, ‘Kamaladalam’, ‘Bharatham’, ‘Mithunam’, ‘Kaalapani’ – some of the classics of Malayalam cinema. The star has also key importance in ‘Aashirvad Cinemas’ which is co-owned by Antony Perumbavoor.

Megastar Mammootty had earlier collaborated with Mohanlal and Sathyan Anthikkad to produce ‘Nadodikkattu’ under the banner of ‘Casino Films’. He has also produced ‘Adiyozhukkukal’ under the same banner. Later, Mammootty floated his own production and distribution company, ‘Playhouse Entertainments’ which released movies like ‘Chattambinadu’, ‘Ritu’ and most recently, ‘Charlie’. The banner is co-owned by Anto Joseph. The actor had successfully started the mega serial trend in Malayalam by producing ‘Jwaalayayi’ in 2000.

Young Superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran has his own production company which has produced films like ‘Urumi’, ‘Sapthamasree Thaskara’, ‘Indian Rupee’ etc. The banner is co-owned by cinematographer Santhosh Sivan, Shaji Nadeshan and Tamil actor Arya. ‘August Cinema’ is also a distribution company with film like ‘Manjadikkuru’, ‘7th Day’, ‘Bangalore Days’ and ‘Iyobinte Pusthakam’.

Janapriyanayagan Dileep has ‘Graand Production’ which has produced some pretty popular films in Malayalam. The first film rolled from the banner was ‘CID Moosa’ in 2003. The other films produced by the actor includes ‘Kadhavasheshan’ (2005), ‘Malarvadi Arts Club’ (the film which launched the careers of both Vineeth Sreenivasan and Nivin Pauly). The most important production to come out from Dileep was ‘Twenty: 20’, which starred almost all the biggest names of Mollywood including Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram.

One of the most bankable stars in Malayalam, right now, Nivin made his debut in film production with ‘Action Hero Biju’. Directed by ‘1983’ director, the film was produced under ‘Pauly Jr Productions’. The movie turned out to be a big hit.

Jayasurya produced movies under the banner ‘Dreams N Beyond’. The banner is co-owned by Ranjith Sankar who produced the first movie to roll out from it – ‘Punyalan Agarbathies’. The banner’s second movie was ‘Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam’ was a superhit and bagged Jayasurya a national award (Jury Special Mention). Ranjith and Jayasurya have announced ‘Pretham’, their next project.

The ‘original’ chocolate boy of Malayalam, Kunchacko Boban is the owner of a proud heritage. ‘Udaya Studios’ was started by the actor’s grandfather. Kunchacko recently revived the banner and the legendary studio will be making its comeback to film with ‘Kochouvva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho’ (directed by Siddhartha Siva) soon.

Young actor Asif Ali recently ventured into film production with ‘Kohinoor’ (2015). The film was produced under the banner of ‘Adam’s World of Imagination’. The banner is co-owned by Sajin Jaffer, Prajeesh Mohammed. Director of ‘Kili Poyi’ and ‘Kohinoor’, Vinay Govind is also a partner in the venture.

Popular actor Mukesh struck gold when his first venture as a producer, ‘Katha Parayumbol’ became a raging hit. The movie had Mammootty playing a superstar and Sreenivasan, his childhood friend (yeah, ‘Billu Barber’ is the remake of this one). The banner ‘Lumiere Film Company’ later made the blockbuster movie, ‘Thattathin Marayathu’. The banner is co-owned by Sreenivasan.

Actor Maniyan Pilla Raju has made a name for himself as a producer as well as an actor. He has produced an array of films from ‘Hello My Dear Wrong Number’ (1985) to the recent superhit, ‘Paavada’. Raju used to produce movies under the banner of ‘Saraswathi Chaithanya’ and ‘Thripthi Arts’. 2000’s saw the actor floating a company with his own name on it, ‘Maniyan Pilla Raju Productions’.