Malayalam Cinema's 8 Most Successful Star Siblings Ever

Sons of yesteryear (late) actor Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran, Prithviraj and Indrajith have established themselves as bankable stars and talented actors in Malayalam. Both made their debut around the same time, with Prithvi making his entry into films with ‘Nakshathrakannulla Rajakumaran Avanundoru Rajakumari’ and Indrajith with the Vinayan film ‘Oomappenninu Uriyadappayan’ in 2002. Prithvi has become one of the biggest stars of Malayalam right now with blockbusters like ‘Anarkali’, ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ etc, whereas Indrajith has proven himself to be an actor par excellence with movies like ‘Left Right Left’ and ‘Amen’ to his credit.

Fahadh and Farhaan Faasil are the sons of veteran Malayalam director-producer Faasil. Fahadh made his debut with ‘Kaiyethum Doorath’ but left to the US after the film’s failure. The actor made a stellar comeback through ‘Kerala Cafe’ and has since then earned the reputation of being one of the most talented actors of Malayalam. Farhaan Faasil, younger brother of Fahadh made his debut with the critically acclaimed ‘Njaan Steve Lopez’ in 2014.

Sons of actor-director-screenwriter Sreenivasan, Vineeth and Dhyan are your reference points if you argue that creativity is hereditary. Vineeth Sreenivasan made his debut through ‘Cycle’ before which he was already popular as a playback singer. He went on to play the lead in many movies like ‘Chappa Kurishu’, ‘Makante Achan’ etc. He proved his mettle as a director with the incredibly celebrated ‘Thattathin Marayathu’ and ‘Thira’. Brother Dhyan made his debut as a lead through ‘Thira’ and has starred in recent films like ‘Kunjiramayanam’ and ‘Adi Kapyare Kootamani’.

The first one to capture our minds was Shalini, who made a name for herself as Baby Shalini with films like ‘Ente Mamattikuttiyammakku’, ‘Onnanu Nammal’ etc. She also evolved into a fine actress, making her debut through ‘Aniyathipravu’ in 1997. Just like her sister, Shamili too made her debut in Malayalam as a child artist and then went on to become a heroine. Who can forget the adorable Malootty in ‘Malootty’? Shamili has already made her debut as a heroine in Telugu and Tamil and is making her Malayalam entry through Kunchacko Boban’s ‘Valliyum Thetti Pulliyum Thetti’.

Another trio well known across south India, Urvashi, Kalpana and Kalaranjini in their heydays were stars of their genres. All of them had starred as lead actors and later went on to specialise in comedy, supporting roles and lead roles. When Kalpana (who passed away recently) established herself as one of the best comedians in Malayalam, Urvashi became one of the top heroines of her time with films like ‘Spadikam’, ‘Bharatham’ and ‘Thalayanamanthram’. Kalaranjini on the other hand gradually moved to supporting role and later took a sabbatical from films.

Ambika was one of the top south Indian actresses in the 80’s. She made her debut in Malayalam and went on to star In Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films too. During the 80s she acted with most of the top actors of South India including Kamal Haasan, Madhu, Prem Nazir, Jayan, NTR, Rajinikanth, Mohanlal, Ambarish, Rajkumar, Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, Shivaji Ganeshan etc. Her sister Radha too was extremely popular at the same period. She acted in only six films in Malayalam, with one of them being ‘Irakal’, a landmark film in the industry. The two sisters along with their mother Sarasamma owned a studio complex called ‘ARS Studios’.

There was a time when three sisters from Malayalam ruled most of the South Indian film industries. Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini were dancers and actor from the capital city who starred in highly successful films in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and even Hindi. While Lalitha is famous for films like ‘Vellinakshathram’, ‘Kanchana’, ‘Minnalpadayali’ etc, Ragini tasted success with films like ‘Kalayum Kaminiyum’, ‘Puthiya Aakasham Puthiya Bhoomi’ etc. Padmini was the Superstar of the lot with films like ‘Mera Naam Joker’, ‘Aurat’, ‘Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai’, ‘Veerapandiya Kattabomman’, ‘Madhurai Veeran’ and ‘Marumagal’ to her credit.

Chirayinkeezhu Abdul Khader or more popularly known as Prem Nazir was one of the biggest stars Malayalam film industry has ever seen. He holds the Guinnes Book of World record for acting in the maximum number of movies as a lead. Along with Sathyan he formed the first Superstar duos in Malayalam. His brother Prem Nawaz also made a career as a lead hero. Nawaz has the unique record of being the hero of Malayalam’s first color film, ‘Kandam Becha Kottu’ (1961). It was Abdul Wahab who became Prem Nawaz on the big screen. Though he starred in a string of films as the lead, he couldn’t repeat his brother’s feat.