Manikuttan

Television made Manikuttan widely known before films did, through the title role in the 2004 serial Kayamkulam Kochunni. His real name is Thomas James, and he was born in Thiruvananthapuram on 2 March 1986. He studied at St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, Pattom, and took a commerce degree from Mahatma Gandhi College. His first screen appearance was as a child artist in Varnachirakukal (1999). In Malayalam films, his first lead came with Oru Peelekanenta Oormakke (2004), and Vinayan's Boyy Friennd (2005) followed. Mamangam (2019) and Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021) are among his later films. For several seasons he played for the Kerala Strikers team in the Celebrity Cricket League, and in 2021 he won the third season of the reality show Bigg Boss. Coming up is Bouma, a mystery thriller written and directed by Rejin S. Babu, with Vineeth, Dileesh Pothan and Sagar Surya in the lead. The film is planned in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada, and Bhavana Release will distribute it in Kerala theatres from 12 November.