milestones of malayalam cinema

1907 - the first cinema hall was established in trichur by k.w. joseph with a manual film projector.

1913 - jose kattukkaran established the first electrically operated film projector called the jose electrical bioscope.

1926 - after gathering enough knowledge about film-making, j.c. daniel established the first film studio, 'the travancore national pictures' by selling the land he had.

1928 - the first movie 'vigathakumaran', produced and directed by the dentist cum businessman j.c. daniel, who hailed from nagercoil in tamil nadu, also wrote, photographed, edited and acted in the socially significant movie when most indian films at that time were based on the puranas. the movie starred daniel and rosy. since it was a time when movies were considered on par with prostitution, the movie received the wrath of the orthodox groups since it had a woman in it. the movie did only moderate business and to overcome the debts, daniel had to sell of the studio, ending his film career.

1933 - the second movie was the 118 minute long 'marthanda varma' directed by p.v. rao. it was produced by r. sunder raj, and was based on the 1891 malayalam novel of the same name by c.v. raman pillai. the movie ran into copyright problems with the publishers of the novel and subsequently, the movie was withdrawn from screening after a couple of days.

1938 - the third movie was also the first malayalam talkie - 'balan'. it was directed by s. nottani, had the story written by sundaram pillai and the script by 'akshara guru' muthukulam raghavan pillai. the movie was shot at madras and starred k.k. aroor, allepey vincent and m.k. kamalam. it was produced by t.r. sunderam under the 'modern theatres' and so, had more of a tamil influence. it told the story of two children rescued by a lawyer from the evil clutches of their step-mother. it had 23 songs written by muthukulam raghavan pillai set to tunes by k.k. aroor and ibrahim. the songs were sung by palluruthi lakshmi, madanagopal, m.k. kamalam and sivanandan.

1948 - the first malayalam film by a malayali producer p.j. cherian was 'nirmala' which was directed by p.v. krishnayyer. it was the also first malayalam film to have songs with lyrics by noted poet g. sankara kurup and music by p.s. divakar and l. warrier. it had 08 songs sung by t.k. govindrao, vimala b. varma, sarojini and p. leela. it starred joseph cherian.

1951 - the first widely-accepted and money-minting movie was 'jeevithanouka' a musical drama that dealt with the ego clashes in a joint family. it was directed by k. vembu and made theatre actor thikkurissi sukumaran nair into the first super-star of malayalam cinema. films that were later produced closely mimicked its structure hoping to find a success formula, thus hampering creativity for a long time since the actors were given more predominance than the directors. the movie had 16 songs with lyrics by abhayadev, muisc by dakshinamoorthy and sung by mehboob, sebastian kunju kunju bhagavathar, kaviyoor revamma, t. lokanathan, alappuzha pushpa, p. leela.

1954 - 'neelakkuyil' directed by ramu karyat and p. bhaskaran. it is considered to be the first mature malayalam movie. it starred sathyan and miss kumari. it had its story by padmanabhan nair and was scripted by well-known malayalam novelist, uroob (p. krishnankutty). the movie captured national interest and became the first movie to win the national award for best second film(president's silver lotus award). the movie had 09 songs with lyrics by p. bhaskaran, music by m. raghavan and was cinematographed by a. vincent. the songs were sung by janamma david, k. abdul khader, k. raghavan, kozhikode pushpa, mehboob ans santha p. nair. malayalam film music, till then were cheap imitations of hindi and tamil film music but the songs of this movie became highly popular.

1955 - the first neorealistic film 'newspaper boy' directed by p. ramadas and starring child artist moni. the movie had elements of italian neorealism and was the product of a group of amateur collge film makers and told the story of a printing press employee and his family being struck with extreme poverty. upon his death, his children are forced to stop their education, the eldest son leaves to madras but fails in finding a job and returns to become a newspaper boy.

1961 - the first color film 'kandam bacha coat' directed by t.r. sundaram. it starred thikkurissi, prem nawaz and ambika.

1964 - the first horror family 'bhargavi nilayam' directed by cinematorgrapher a. vincent. it was written by vaikom muhammed basheer and starred madhu, prem nazir, vijaya nirmala and p.j. anthony. it had 07 songs with lyrics by p. bhaskaran, music by baburaj with songs sungs by kamukara, k.j. yesudas, s. janaki and p. susheela.

1965 - the landmark movie 'odayil ninnu' directed by k.s. sethumadhavan was based on the novel of the same name by p. kesava dev. it starred sathyan, prem nazir, vijaya k.r., thikkurissi, suresh gopi and baby padmini. it told the story of a rickshawala and his care towards a young girl he pulls out of the gutters.

1965 - 'murapennu' was the first movie to be shot extensively outdoors. it was directed by a. vincent and was the debut script of noted writer m.t. vasudevan nair. it starred prem nazir, p.j. anthony, adoor bhasi and sharada.

1965 - the epic 'chemmeen' directed by ramu karyat based on the 1956 novel of the same name by thakazhi sivasankara pillai. it starred madhu, sathyan, kottarakkara sreedharan nair, sheela and adoor bhavani. it was the first malayalam and south indian movie to win the national award for best film (president's golden lotus award). the script was by s.l. puram sadanandan, cinematography by marcus bartley and editing by hrishikesh mukherjee and k.d. george. it had 04 songs with lyrics by vayalar ramavarma, music by salil choudhary and songs sung by manna dey, k.j. yesudas, k.p. udayabhanu and p. leela. it was produced by 20 year old babu ismail.

1966 - one of the landmark movies 'iruttinte aathmaavu' which was noted for its sensitive attempt at story-telling. it was directed by p. bhaskaran on the script of m.t. and was appreciated for prem nazir's and shantha devi's stellar performances.

1968 - s.l. puram sadanandan won the national award for best script for 'agniputhri' directed by m. krishnan nair.

1969 - sharadha, hailing from andhra pradesh, won the national award for best actress (urvashi) for 'thulabharam' directed by a. vincent. the movie also won the national award for best second film.

1969 - 'janma bhoomi' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by john sankaramangalam.

1971 - 'thurakaatha vaathil' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by p. bhaskaran.

1972 - adoor gopalakrsihnan's debut directorial 'swayamvaram' brought malayalam cinema to global recognition by attending many international film festivals. it starred madhu, thikkurissi and sharada. through this movie, adoor became the first malayali director to receive the national award for best director. the movie also received the national award for best film. sharadha won the national award for best actress (urvashi) for the second time for this movie. m.c. ravi varma won the national award for best cinematography in the b/w category.

1973 - vayalar ramavarma won the national award for best lyrics for 'achanum baapayum'. for the same movie, kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the song 'manushyam mathangale srishtichu'. the movie also won the nargis dutt award for best film on national integration. the movie was directed by k.s. sethumadhavan and had tunes set by g. devarajan.

1974 - 'nirmaalyam' won the national award for best film. it was the debut directorial for m.t. vasudevan nair. for the same movie, p.j. anthony became the first malayali actor to win the national award for best actor (bharath) for his brilliant potrayal of an oracle.

1974 - kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the second time for 'padmatheerthame unaroo' from the movie 'gaayathri'. the movie was directed by p.n. menon, had lyrics by vayalar ramavarma and music by g. devarajan.

1975 - 'prayaanam' is considered to be the starting point for the middle-stream cinema, a mix of serious themes and mass appeal. the movie was the debut venture of director bharathan and scriptwriter p. padmarajan.

1977 - p.s. nivas won the national award for best cinematography in b/w category for 'mohiniattam'.

1978 - south india's first cinemascope film 'thacholi ambu' directed by appachan and starring prem nazir and jayan. it was produced by navodaya prodcutions.

1978 - govindan aravindan won the national award for best director for 'kanchana sita'.

1978 - v. gopinathan nair (bharath gopi) won the national award for best actor (bharath) for 'kodiyettam'. the movie was directed by adoor gopalakrishnan. gopi portrayed the transformation of a carefree individual to a mature responsible person. the movie also won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1979 - govindan aravindan won the national award for best director for the second time for 'thamp' for the same movie, shaji n. karun won the national award for best cinematography in the b/w category.

1981 - adoor gopalakrishnan's 'elippathaayam' won the british film institute award.

1981 - sivan won the national award for best cinematography in the b/w category for 'yaagam'.

1981 - balan k. nair won the national award for best actor (bharath) for 'oppol' for his potrayal of a reformed military officer. the movie was directed by k.s. sethumadhavan and scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair. for the same movie, aravind won the national award for best child artist. s. janaki won the national award for best female playback singer for 'ettumanoor ambalathil, with lyrics by p. bhaskaran and music by m.b. srinivas. the movie also won the national award for best second film.

1982 - the first 70mm indian movie 'padayottam' directed by jijo punnoose and starring prem nazir, madhu, mammootty, mohanlal and lakshmi. it was produced by navodaya productions.

1982 - p. devdas won the national award for best audiography for 'elippathaayam' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan. the movie also won the national award for the best feature film in malayalam.

1982 - 'pokkuveyil' directed by govindan aravindan won the national award for best second film.

1983 - vimal won the national award for the best child artist for 'aaroodam' directed by i.v. sasi on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair. the movie won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration.

1984 - the first 3d film in india, 'my dear kuttichathan' directed by jijo punnoose and starring kottarakkara sreedharan nair and child artists arvind and sonia. it was produced by navodaya productions. for the same movie, aravind, suresh, mukesh and sonia won the national award for best child artist in 1985.

1984 - 'nokkukuthi' won the special jury/special mention national award for director mankada ravi varma.

1984 - suresh won the national award for best child artist for 'malamukkalile daivam'.

1985 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best director for the second time for 'mukhamukham'. for the same movie, adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best script. p. devdas won the national award for best audiography for the second time.

1986 - john abraham's 'amma ariyaan' is perhaps the only film made in india with money collected from the public by 'odessa collective' which was founded by the director. the fund was raised by screening charlie chaplin's 'the kid'.

1986 - 'chidambaram' won the national award for best film. it was directed by govindan aravindan.

1986 - p. jayachandran won the national award for best male playback singer for 'sivasankara sarva' from the movie 'sri narayana guru', directed by p.a. backer. the movie also won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration. the movie had traditional lyrics by kumaranasan and sri narayana guru; and other lyrics by kollam jaffer and s. rameshan nair and music by g. devarajan.

1987 - govindan aravindan won the national award for best director for the third time for 'oridathu'.

1987 - monisha unni won the national award for best actress (urvashi) for her debut movie 'nakashathangal' directed by hariharan and scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair where she plays a maid caught between her love for a teenager and her devotion to the family that is supporting her. at the age of 15, monisha became the youngest recipient of the award. for the same movie, k.s. chitra won the national award for best female playback singer for the second time for 'manjal prasaadavum'. the movie had lyrics by o.n.v. kurup and music by bombay ravi.

1987 - venu won the national award for best cinematography for 'namukku paarkaan munthirithoppukal' directed by p. padmarajan.

1987 - 'amma ariyaan' won the special jury/special mention national award for director john abraham.

1988 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best director for the third time for 'anantharam'. for the same movie, adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best script. p. devdas won the national award for best audiography for the third time. he shared it along-with t. krishnanunni and n. harikumar.

1988 - kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the fifth time for the title track of 'unnikale oru kadha parayaam', directed by kamal with lyrics bichu thirumala by and music by ousseppachan.

1988 - thilakan won the national award for best supporting actor for 'rithubedham'

1988 - 'chitram' directed by priyadarshan becomes the first movie to have a theatrical run of over 300 days. it starred mohanlal, ranjini, nedumudi venu and sreenivasan.

1989 - cinematographer shaji n. karun's debut directorial 'piravi' wins the camaera d'or-mention at the cannes film festival. for this movie, shaji won the national award for best director and also the national award for best film. for the potrayal of an old man in search of his son during the emergency era, mullamangalath parameshwaran bhattathirippad (premji) won the national award for best actor (bharath). at the age of 81, he was the oldest recipient of the award. t. krishnanunni won the national award for best audiography for the second time.

1989 - o.n.v. kurup won the national award for best lyrics for 'vaishali' directed by bharathan on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair. for the same movie, k.s. chitra won the natonal award for best female playback singer for the third time for 'indraneelimayolum'. the music was composed by bombay ravi.

1989 - 'rukmini' directed by k.p.kumaran, won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1990 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best director for the fourth time for 'mathilukkal'. n. harikumar won the national award for best audiography for the second time. the movie also won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1990 - mammootty won the national award for best actor (bharath) for 'mathilukkal' and 'oru vadakkan veeragaadha'. in 'mathilukkal', directed by adoor gopalakrishnan, he enacted vaikom muhammed basheer during one of his jail terms. the movie was an adaptation of the novel by the same name. in 'oru vadakkan veeragadha', directed by hariharan and scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair, he portrayed the legendary chatiyan chandu.

1990 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for best script for 'oru vadakkan veeragadha'. for the same movie, p. krishna murthy won the national award for best art direction.

1990 - mohanlal won the special jury/special mention national award for his performance in 'kireedam' directed by sibi malayil on the script of a. k. lohithadas.

1991 - nedumudi venu won the national award for best supporting actor for 'his highness abdhulla' directed by sibi malayil and scripted by a.k.lohithadas where he plays the classical music and chess-loving patriarch of a royal kingdom who is unaware that his relatives are hatching a plot to murder him. for the same movie, m.g. sreekumar won the national award for best male playback singer for 'naadaroopini'. the lyrics were by kaithapram damodaran namboothiri and music by raveendran.

1991 - maheswari amma (kpac lalitha) won the national award for best supporting actress for 'amaram' directed by her husband bharathan and scripted by a.k. lohithadas where she plays a prominent member of the fishing community who is selfish about the welfare of her good-for-nothing son.

1991 - 'perumthachan' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for ajayan on the script of m. t. vasudevan nair. santosh sivan won the national award for best cinematography.

1991 - m.s. mony won the national award for best film editing for 'iyer the great' directed by bhadran on the script of malayatoor ramakrishnan.

1992 - mohanlal won the national award for best actor for 'bharatham' for his portrayal of a brother forced to conceal the death of his elder brother so that the marriage of their vocally disabled sister would take place. the movie was directed by sibi malayil and scripted by a.k. lohithadas. for the same movie, kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the sixth time for 'raama kathaa gaanalayam'. ravindran won the special jury/special mention national award for composing the music which had lyrics by kaithapram damodaran namboothiri

1992 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for best script for the second time for 'kadavu' a movie he directed.

1992 - santha devi won the national award for best supporting actress for 'yamanam'.

1992 - 'godfather' by the director duo of siddique-lal becomes the record-holding movie for having a theatrical run of over 400 days. it starred theatre doyen n.n. pillai, thilakan,mukesh, jagadish, kanaka and philomina.

1993 - india's first live-action/animation hybrid film 'o faby' directed by k. sreekuttan.

1993 - 'sargam' directed by hariharan was given the national award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment. for the same movie, m.s. mony won the national award for best film editing.

1993 - 'manichitrataazhu' directed by fazil and assisted by his students namely priyadarshan, sibi malayil, siddique and lal starred mohanlal, shobhana and suresh gopi. this movie had story by madhu muttom and was remade into kannada (apthamithra), bengali (rajmohol), tamil (chandramukhi) and hindi (bhool bhulaiya) which is a record.

1993 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for the best script for the third time for 'sadyam' directed by sibi malayil.

1994 - shaji n. karun's second movie 'swaham' becomes the second movie to get entry into the cannes film festival and nominated for palme d'or.

1994 - t.v. chandran won the national award for best director for 'ponthen maada'. for the same movie, venu won the national award for best cinematography for the second time. johnson won the national award for best music direction for the background score and the only song 'chakkara maavin' that had lyrics by o.n.v. kurup.

1994 - mammootty won the national award for best actor for the second time for 'ponthen maada' and 'vidheyan'. in 'ponthen maada' directed by t.v. chandran, he portrays the low-caste title character who forms a beautiful relationship with his colonial landlord who was expelled to british india from england for supporting the irish republican army. in 'vidheyan' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan, he enacts an aggressive tyrannical womanising landlord.

1994 - sobhana chandrakumar won the national award for best actress for 'manichitrataazhu' directed by fazil and scripted by madhu muttom where she plays a multiple personality disorder victim in the backdrop of an ancestral house which has the past of a landlord having imprisoned a bharathnatyam dancer who pined for her lover.

1994 - kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for a record seventh time for all the songs from the movie 'sopanam', directed by jayaraj. the movie had 13 songs with traditional lyrics and additional by kaithapram damodaran namboothiri and music by s.p. venkatesh.

1994 - 'manichitrataazhu' directed by fazil won the national award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

1994 - 'vidheyan' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1995 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for the best script for the fourth time for 'parinayam' directed by hariharan.

1995 - sabu cyril won the national award for best art direction for 'thenmavin kombathu'. for the same movie, k.v. anand won the national award for best cinematography.

1995 - 'swaham' won the special jury/special mention national award for director shaji n. karun.

1995 - bombay ravi and johnson (2nd time) won the national award for best music direction for 'parinayam' and 'sukrutham'. parinayam was directed by hariharan with lyrics by yusufali kecheri. sukrutham was directed by harikumar with lyrics by o.n.v. kurup. both the movies were scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair.

1996 - 'kathapurushan' won the national award for best film. it was directed by adoor gopalakrishan. for the same movie, aranmula ponnamma won the national award for best supporting actress.

1996 - sabu cyril won the national award for best art direction for the second time for 'kaalapaani'. for the same movie, santosh sivan won the national award for best cinematography for the second time. deepan chatterji won the national award for best audiography. venky won the national award for best special effects.

1997 - kumar won the national award for best child artist in 'deshadanam' directed by jayaraj where he plays a young boy who is chosen as a deity and who has to renounce the wordly relations including that he has with his parents.

1997 - t. krishnanunni won the national award for best audiography for the third time for 'kulam' directed by lenin rajendran.

1997 - 'kanakkinaavu' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by sibi malayil on a script by t.a. razzaq.

1998 - jayaraj won the national award for best director for 'kalliyaattam'.

1998 - balachandra menon won the national award for best actor for 'samaantharangal' in which he portrays a station master in a railway station who finally lays down his life to save the tracks from the explosives placed by his revolutionary son. the movie was direced by menon.

1998 - suresh gopi won the national award for best actor for 'kaliyattam' where he portrayed othello in the backdrop of the kathakalli artists. the movie was directed by jayaraj.

1998 - 'bhoothakannadi' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for a.k. lohithadas.

1998 - jomol won the special jury/special mention national award for her performance in 'ennu swantham janakikutty' directed by hariharan on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair.janakikutty sampath won the national award fo best audiography.

1999 - mammootty won the national award for best actor for the third time for 'dr. ambedkar', directed by jabbar patel, where he portrays dr. babasaheb ambedkar. with his third national award, mammootty is tied with kamal hassan with the recipient of the best actor for the highest number of times.

1999 - manju warrier won the special jury/special mention national award for her performance in 'kannezhuthi pottumthottu' directed by t.k. rajeev kumar.

1999 - rajivnath won the national award for best director for 'janani'.

1999 - 'daya' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for cinematographer venu on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair. s.b. satheeshan won the national award for best costume design.

1999 - murali nair's 'marana simhaasanam' won the camera d'or at the cannes film festival.

2000 - mohanlal won the national award for best actor for the second time for 'vaanaprastham'. for the same movie, he won the national award for best film. directed by shaji n. karun, mohanlal potrayed the role of a kathakkali artist from a lower caste who is rejected by his upper-caste father and later, he is not allowed to meet his illegitimate son forcing him to portray demonic characters on the stage. a. sreekar prasad won the national award for best film editing.

2000 - madampu kunjikuttan won the national award for best script for 'karunam' directed by jayaraj.

2000 - m.g. sreekumar won the national award for best male playback singer for the second time for the song 'chaanthu pottum' from the movie 'vaasanthiyum lakshmiyum pinne njaanum'. the lyrics were by yusufalikecheri and music by mohan sithara. kalabhavan mani won the special jury/specal mention national award for his performance in the movie, which was directed by vinayan.

2000 - 'punaradhivasam' directed by v.k. prakash won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

2000 - ashwin thampi won the national award for best child artist for 'jalamarmaram'.

2000 - the first movie to collect a gross amount of 20 crores, 'narasimham' directed by shaji kailas on the script of ranjith. it starred mohanlal, thilakan and aishwarya.

2001 - 'shantham' won the national award for best film. it was directed by jayaraj. for the same movie, maheswari amma (kpac lalitha) won the national award for best supporting actress, where she plays a mother whose son is killed in a political strife by his best friend, both of whom the mother had loved deeply.

2001 - 'saayahanam' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for r. sharath.

2001 - yusufali kechery won the national award for best lyrics for the song 'geyam harinamadheyam' from the movie 'mazha' directed by lenin rajendran. the music was composed by raveendran.

2001 - 'sayaanam' directed by m.p. sukumaran and 'kochu kochu santoshangal' directed by sathyan anthikkadu shared the national award for the best feature film in malayalam.

2001 - saleem padiyath won the national award for best children's film for 'karaaksharangal'.

2001 - aiding to satellite digital television and film piracy crisis, a slew of soft porn movies headed by shakeela and reshma ruled the industry for nearly two years.

2002 - murali won the national award for best actor for 'neythukaaran' directed by priyanandan where he portrays a veteran communist who cannot come to terms with the death of e.m.s. namboothiripadu and compares the old days where they toiled hard for the communist party even risking their lives and the present generation comprising of his son-in-law who have discarded their ideologies for material gains.

2003 - jyothirmayi won the special jury/special mention national award for her performance in 'bhavam'.

2003 - 'nizhalkuthu' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

2004 - meera jasmine won the national award for best actress for 'paadam onnu: oru vilaapam' directed by t.v. chandran on the script of aaryadan shoukath where she played an innocent school-going muslim girl who is forced into marriage and then given talaaq; she is happy she can now go back to school but realises that she is on the verge of motherhood.

2004 - 'margam' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for rajiv vijaya ragahvan. nedumudi venu won special jury/special mention national award for his performance.

2004 - kalidasan won the national award for best child artist for 'ente veedu appontem' directed by sibi malayil on the script of sanjay-bobby where he plays a child whois unable to cope with the affection that his parents shower to their new baby; a freak accident causes him to spend time at a juvenile home.

2004 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the dadasaheb phalke award for his lifelong contribution to indian cinema.

2005 - sheela won the national award for best supporting actress for 'akale' directed by shyamaprasad and based on the tenesse williams play 'the glass menagerie' where she plays an overbearing single mother who tries to live vicariously throught her children; her devotion to them has made her ignorant of their wants. the movie also won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

2005 - 'oridam' won the special jury/special mention national award for director pradeep nair.

2005 - the highest grosiing movie, 'raajamaanikyam' directed by debutant anwar rasheed starring mammootty, rahman, manoj k. jayan and padmapriya.

2006 - kavitha (urvashi) won the national award for best supporting actress for 'achuvinte amma' directed by sathyan anthikkadu and scripted by ranjan pramod where she plays a mother who brings up a child that is not hers but still wishes the best for her, but the daughter fails to understand her intentions when the mother doesnt accept her romance with an orphan.

2006 - 'daivanaamathil' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by jayaraj.

2006 - 'thanmaathra' directed by blessy won the national award for best fetaure film in malayalam.

2006 - 'moonamathoraal' directed by v.k. prakash was the first movie to be shot and exhibited in digital format.

2007 - 'pulijanmam' won the national award for best film. it was directed by priyanandan.

2007 - thilakan won the special jury/special mention national award for his performance in 'ekantham'. the movie also won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for madhu kaithapram.

2008 - the first movie which saw all the actors in the industry, 'twenty 20' was produced by amma for raising funds. it was directed by joshiy on the script of sibi-uday.