10 Celebrities of Malayali Origin We Miss in Malayalam
- KK
Krishnakumar Kunnath, also known as KK, was an energetic presence in Indian cinema music for 25 years despite only having one song sung in Malayalam. He was born in Delhi in 1958 to Malayali parents. The only Malayalam song sung by KK was “Rahasyamay” in Puthiya Mukham. Appadi Podu, Andakaaka Kondaikaari, Aankhon Main Teri, India Wale, and other songs by KK gave young people a pulse. Despite the fact that he was not formally trained in music, he gained a huge fan base across the country.
- Vidya Balan
Being a Malayali, Vidya Balan attempted to act in Malayalam movies even while she was still in college. Vidya was cast as the female lead opposite Mohanlal in the Malayalam movie Chakram while she was pursuing her master’s degree. Following this, Vidya was offered with numerous Malayalam movie opportunities, leading to her signing a contract for 12 Malayalam movies. Chakram, however, never saw the light of day due to production issues. Because of the industry’s strong superstitions, she was blamed by the producers for bringing bad luck to the film. All other signed projects were dropped as a result of this. She made a cameo appearance in the Malayalam movie Urumi. Her 2003 Malayalam film Kalari Vikraman, on which she had worked, was never released in theaters.
- Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon was born in Ottapalam, a village in Kerala’s Palakkad district. Vasudeva Menon, his father, was a Malayali. Since he is a native speaker, Gautham speaks Malayalam well. Despite never having directed a Malayalam film, he appeared in Malayalam movies such as Naam, Trance, Lovefully Yours Veda, and Anuragam.
- Malaika Arora
Malaika Arora has some Malayali origins as well. Her mother Joyce Polycarp is a Malayali Catholic. Malaika gave an iconic performance in the song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the 1998 Bollywood hit “Dil Se,” which was directed by Mani Ratnam. Despite having Malayali ancestry, she hasn’t acted in any Malayalam movies.
- Kay Kay Menon
Kay Kay Menon was born in Thiruvananthapuram the capital of Kerala and brought up in Pune. Krishna Kumar Menon, popularly known as Kay Kay Menon, is a Malayali by birth but works primarily in Hindi cinema as well as in Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, and Telugu.
- MGR
Maruthur Gopala Menon Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was born in Kandy, British Ceylon, in the Malayali family of Melakkath Gopalan Menon born in the Kingdom of Cochin and Maruthur Satyabhama, from Palakkad, in the present-day state of Kerala. He was a politician and actor who held power as Tamil Nadu’s chief minister from 1977 until his demise in 1987.
- John Abrahaam
John Abrahaam, a well-known actor and director, has Malayali roots as well. His mother is an Irani Zoroastrian, and his father is a Malayali Syrian Christian from Kerala. John Abraham hasn’t appeared in any Malayalam movies despite being a Malayali. He has produced a Malayalam film named Mike in 2022.
- Asin
Asin was born into a Malayali Syro-Malabar Catholic family in Kochi, Kerala. Her first film was Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka directed by Satyan Anthikkadu in Malayalam. This is her only Malayalam film.
- Kenny Sebastian
The stand-up comedian Kenny Sebastian was raised in Bangalore after being born to Catholic parents in Pala, Kerala. Even though he frequently portrays a Malayali cultural background in his comedies, he only occasionally speaks Malayalam onstage.
- Arundhati Roy
Mary Roy, a Malayali Jacobite Syrian Christian activist for women’s rights from Kerala is the mother of famous writer Arundhathi Roy. Her family completely relocated back to Kerala when she was five, where her mother opened a school. Her first and the Booker Prize winning novel, The God of Small Things is semi-autobiographical and a major part of the book captures her childhood experiences in Aymanam, Kerala.