- published: 25 Apr 2016
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Malayalam (pronounced /mæləˈjɑːləm/; മലയാളം, malayāḷam ?, IPA: [mɐləjaːɭəm]), is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Kerala. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages, and was spoken by 33 million people in 2001. Malayalam is also spoken in the Nilgiris district, Kanyakumari district and Coimbatore of Tamil Nadu, Dakshina Kannada, Mangalore and Kodagu districts of Karnataka.
Malayalam most likely originated from Middle Tamil (Sen-Tamil-Malayalam) in the 6th century. An alternative theory proposes a split in even more ancient times. In either case, Malayalam incorporated many elements from Sanskrit through the ages and today over eighty percent of the vocabulary of Malayalam in scholarly usage is from Sanskrit. Before Malayalam came into being, Old Tamil was used in literature and courts of a region called Tamilakam, including present day Kerala state, a famous example being Silappatikaram.Silappatikaram was written by Chera prince Ilango Adigal from Cochin is considered a classic among Sangam literature. Modern Malayalam still preserves many words from the ancient Tamil vocabulary of Sangam literature. The earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vattezhuttu script, and later the Kolezhuttu, which derived from it. As Malayalam began to freely borrow words as well as the rules of grammar from Sanskrit, Grantha script was adopted for writing and came to be known as Arya Ezhuttu. This developed into the modern Malayalam script. Many medieval liturgical texts were written in an admixture of Sanskrit and early Malayalam, termed as Manipravalam. The oldest literary work in Malayalam, distinct from the Tamil tradition, is dated between the 9th and 11th century.
Biju Menon is an Indian film actor who has mainly worked in Malayalam cinema, along with a couple of Tamil and Telugu films. He appears mostly in supporting roles, but has also acted in antagonistic roles. He made his debut in 1995 in Puthran.
Menon is noted for his performances in films such as Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995), Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu (1997), Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu (1999), Madhuranombarakattu (2000), Meghamalhar (2001), Shivam (2002), Marykkundoru Kunjaadu (2010) and Ordinary (2012).
Biju Menon started his acting career through Malayalam television serials such as Ningalude Swantham Chanthu and Mikhayelinte Santhathikal. He made his debut in films with Puthran, the sequel of Mikhayelinte Santhathikal. He acted in a number of movies as villain and second hero. During the second half of nineties, he was considered to be the superstar in making. But most of the films with Biju Menon as hero failed in box office though his roles as second hero were very popular. He acted with Suresh Gopi in a number of super hit movies like Pathram, F. I. R., and Chinthamani Kolacase. During the later 1990s and early 2000s he appeared in a few offbeat movies with directors like T. V. Chandran, Lenin Rajendran, and Kamal in the films Mazha, Madhuranombarakkattu, Anyar, and Meghamalhar.