The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor is an award, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to an actor for best performance in a Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala. Since 1998, the awards have been constituted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous, non-profit institution functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs. The awardees are decided by a jury constituted every year. They are announced by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented by the Chief Minister.

Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the government has presented 54 Best Actor awards to 35 actors. The recipients receive a figurine, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹100,000 (US$1,200). Several actors have won the honour for more than one film in a given year. As of 2020, the only actor to have won the prize in consecutive years is Bharat Gopy, in 1982 and 1983. ( Full article...)

American singer Katy Perry has released two video albums and has appeared in various music videos, films, television shows, and television commercials. After appearing in several music videos between 2004 and 2007, including " Goodbye for Now" and " Cupid's Chokehold", a video for " Ur So Gay" was released to introduce her to the music industry. In 2008, she released videos for " I Kissed a Girl" and " Hot n Cold", both taken from her second album One of the Boys. Videos for " Thinking of You" and " Waking Up in Vegas" were released the following year.

Perry's third album Teenage Dream (2010) spawned the single " California Gurls", whose music video is set in the fictional land of "Candyfornia" and features rapper Snoop Dogg. The Yoann Lemoine-directed video " Teenage Dream" depicts her as a euphoric teenager. Her " Firework" video is based on self-empowerment, and won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. The video for " E.T." takes place in outer space, and features rapper Kanye West. Perry also released " Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—a video based on a hangover after a house party—and " The One That Got Away"—which focuses on flashbacks of days with a deceased lover. In 2012, she reissued her third album as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, and also released videos for the singles " Part of Me" and " Wide Awake". The following year, Perry released her fourth studio album Prism, with " Roar" as its lead single, whose music video features her in a jungle after a plane crash. The video for her next single, " Unconditionally", is based on unconditional love. In the " Birthday" video, she impersonates five different characters to entertain at birthday parties. She became the first artist to have multiple videos, " Dark Horse" and "Roar", each gain one billion views on Vevo. Perry's fifth album Witness spawned music videos for the songs " Chained to the Rhythm", " Bon Appétit", " Swish Swish", and " Hey Hey Hey". She has 23 vevo certified videos, including for Roar, Last Friday Night, E.T., Never Really Over and Wide Awake. 2 videos have over 3 billion views and a further 3 have over a billion views. ( Full article...)

Raveena Tandon is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi films. She made her acting debut in the 1991 action film Patthar Ke Phool, which earned her the Filmfare Award for New Face of the Year. This was followed by a series of unsuccessful films including Ek Hi Raasta (1993) and Parampara (1993 film). In 1994, she appeared in eight Hindi films, most of them were commercial successes. Among these were two of the top-grossing films – the romantic musical drama Dilwale and the action drama Mohra. The success of the latter marked a turning point in her career, establishing Tandon as a leading actress in Hindi cinema. The same year, her performance in the drama Laadla, earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other film was the comedy Andaz Apna Apna, which though initially a box office disappointment, attained cult status over the years.

Tandon subsequently played leading roles in the action thrillers Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) and Ziddi (1997). Both films were among the highest grossing Bollywood films of their respective years. In 1998, she starred opposite Govinda in the commercially successful comedies Dulhe Raja, and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Tandon had five film releases in 1999. While the comedy Anari No.1 was a commercial success, her other four releases that year performed poorly at the box office. Nevertheless, she received praise for her performance in the crime drama Shool. ( Full article...)

Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of the Titanic, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.

Titanic grossed a worldwide total of over $2.2 billion on a production budget of $200 million, being the first and second film to reach the mark of one and two billion dollars, respectively. It became the highest-grossing film of all time in 1998, and remained so for twelve years, until Avatar (2009), also written and directed by Cameron, surpassed it in 2010. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 237 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama." Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average rating of 75 out of 100, reports the film has "generally favorable reviews" based on the reviews of 35 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale. In 2017, on its 20th anniversary, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". ( Full article...)

Woody Harrelson is an American actor who made his film debut as an uncredited extra in Harper Valley PTA (1978). His breakthrough role was as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985–1993), which garnered Harrelson a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from a total of five nominations. He would later reprise the character in other television shows, such as Frasier and The Simpsons. In 1992, Harrelson starred opposite Wesley Snipes in White Men Can't Jump. He then appeared in the Oliver Stone-directed Natural Born Killers (1994) alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Downey Jr. For his performance as free-speech activist Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award for Best Actor. He next appeared in The Thin Red Line (1998).

From 1999 to 2000, Harrelson acted in the Broadway revival of The Rainmaker. He then had a minor role in the 2003 comedy Anger Management. From 2005 to 2006, Harrelson played Rev. Shannon in a London production of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana. His next film role was as hit-man Carson Wells in the Coen brothers-directed No Country for Old Men (2007), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. That year he also portrayed physician Robert O. Wilson in the documentary Nanking. In 2008, Harrelson starred opposite Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro and Will Smith in Seven Pounds. His work in The Messenger (2009) garnered him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. He then starred in Zombieland (2009), later returning to the franchise in Zombieland: Double Tap (2019). ( Full article...)

Aadukalam ( transl. Arena) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran and produced by S. Kathiresan. Vetrimaaran co-wrote the dialogues with Vikram Sugumaran. The film stars Dhanush and Taapsee Pannu with Kishore, V. I. S. Jayapalan, Naren, and Murugadoss playing supporting roles. The musical score was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar while the cinematography and editing were respectively handled by Velraj and Kishore Te. The film's story revolves around Karuppu who is the understudy of an experienced cockfighter, Pettaikaran. When Karuppu wins in a cockfight against Pettaikaran's rival Rathnasamy, Pettaikaran, who is initially happy, becomes jealous of Karuppu's newfound popularity and plots his downfall.

Produced on a budget of ₹150-200 million, Aadukalam was released on 14 January 2011 and grossed ₹300 million according to a February 2011 report by The Economic Times. The film garnered awards and nominations in several categories, with particular praise for its direction, screenplay, Dhanush's performance, music, cinematography, and editing. The film has won 33 awards from 52 nominations. ( Full article...)

Christian Bale is an English actor who has starred in various films. Bale's role in Empire of the Sun, as a young boy interned in China by the Japanese, received praise from most film critics. Two years later, Bale had a minor role in Henry V, a drama film based on William Shakespeare's play The Life of Henry the Fifth. It has been considered one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever made. In 1992, Bale starred as Jack Kelly in the Walt Disney musical drama Newsies, which was a critical and commercial failure; however, it gained a cult following. He received a role in the 1994 drama Little Women, which garnered positive reviews. Bale lent his voice to the Disney animated film Pocahontas in 1995; it received a mixed reception, but attained box office success. He starred as British journalist Arthur Stuart in the Todd Haynes-directed drama Velvet Goldmine (1998). Although critics were divided on the film, Bale's role was "eagerly anticipated". Bale portrayed Demetrius in the critically praised 1999 film A Midsummer Night's Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play of the same name, directed by Michael Hoffman. The same year, he portrayed Jesus of Nazareth in the television movie Mary, Mother of Jesus.

In 2000, Bale starred in the psychological thriller American Psycho in which he played the serial killer Patrick Bateman. His portrayal received positive reviews from critics and is often considered his breakthrough role. The same year, he starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson in the critically praised action crime film Shaft. He co-starred with Nicolas Cage and Penélope Cruz in the romance drama Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001). The film was panned by film critics and had a poor commercial performance. For the portrayal of Trevor Reznik in the psychological thriller The Machinist (2004), he lost 63 pounds (28.5 kg). Although the film was commended by critics, it was a commercial failure. Bale starred as Batman in Batman Begins (2005), a reboot of the Batman film series directed by Christopher Nolan. His portrayal of Batman was critically acclaimed and the movie became a box office success. He subsequently lent his voice in the Batman Begins based video game with the same title. In 2006, he portrayed German-American aviator Dieter Dengler in the war drama Rescue Dawn. Despite positive reviews, the film was a box office flop. The same year, he starred in The Prestige (2006) alongside Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson. It received positive reviews and was a commercial success at the box office. Bale co-starred with Russell Crowe in the Western 3:10 to Yuma (2007), which was positively received by movie critics and performed moderately at the box office. ( Full article...)

Jennifer Lawrence is an American actress who has received multiple awards and nominations throughout her career, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, four Critics' Choice Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

After playing minor roles in several films and television shows, Lawrence starred in her first major role on the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show (2007–2009), which earned her a Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Performer in a TV Series. In 2008, she won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 65th Venice International Film Festival for the drama The Burning Plain. For her breakout role as a poverty-stricken teenager Ree Dolly in the 2010 acclaimed independent coming-of-age mystery drama Winter's Bone, 20-year-old Jennifer received her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, becoming the second-youngest Best Actress nominee at the time. The film also garnered her Best Actress nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press, BAFTA, SAG, and Critics' Choice award ceremonies, and won a Breakthrough Performance Award from the National Board of Review. In 2011, she received several nominations for her portrayal of Mystique in X-Men: First Class, including the People's Choice and Teen Choice Awards ceremonies. ( Full article...)

The Scottish actor Alastair Sim (1900–1976) performed in many media of light entertainment, including theatre, film and television. His career spanned from 1930 until his death. During that time he was a "memorable character player of faded Anglo-Scottish gentility, whimsically put-upon countenance, and sepulchral, sometimes minatory, laugh".

After studying chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, he was employed, between 1925 and 1930, as a lecturer in elocution at New College, Edinburgh, and also established his own school of drama and speech training. In 1930 he made his professional stage debut as a messenger in Othello at the Savoy Theatre, London—with Paul Robeson and Peggy Ashcroft in the lead roles. During the next five years he appeared on stage in New York and the UK, and spent two years at the Old Vic. ( Full article...)

The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.

When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, to honor films released in 1927–28, there was no separate category for foreign language films. Between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented Special/Honorary Awards to the best foreign language films released in the United States. These awards, however, were not handed out on a regular basis (no award was given in 1953), and were not competitive since there were no nominees but simply one winning film per year. For the 1956 Academy Awards, a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since then. ( Full article...)