List of Famous people born in Kerala, India

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, also known as Beypore Sultan, was an Indian independence activist and writer of Malayalam literature. He was a writer, humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer, noted for his path-breaking, down-to-earth style of writing that made him equally popular among literary critics as well as the common man. His notable works include Balyakalasakhi, Shabdangal, Pathummayude Aadu, Mathilukal, Ntuppuppakkoranendarnnu, Janmadinam and Anargha Nimisham and the translations of his works into other languages have earned him worldwide acclaim. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 1982. He was also a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Fellowship, Kerala Sahitya Academy Fellowship, and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Story.

Kummanam Rajasekharan is an Indian politician and former Governor of Mizoram (2018–2019). He began his political career as an activist of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Sangh Parivar in Kerala in 1970. From 2015 to 2018, he was the state president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala. He is also the first BJP leader from Kerala to become Governor.He currently serves as the administrative committee member of the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Mohanlal Viswanathan, known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, producer, playback singer, distributor and philanthropist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. One of the most admired Indian actors, Mohanlal has had a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 340 films. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema. In addition to Malayalam, he has also appeared in other Indian language films. Mohanlal has won five National Film Awards—two Best Actor, a Special Jury Mention and a Special Jury Award for acting, and an award for Best Feature Film, also nine Kerala State Film Awards and Filmfare Awards South and numerous other accolades. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2001, and Padma Bhushan in 2019, India's fourth and third highest civilian honours, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2009, he became the first actor to be awarded the honorary rank of Lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army. He received honorary doctorates from Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in 2010 and from University of Calicut in 2018.

Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian film actress and former model, who works predominantly in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam-language films. She is a recipient of National Film Award for Best Actress and three Filmfare Awards.

Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran, better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 150 films in various Indian languages. He is well known for his work in Malayalam cinema of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, although he directed a few Tamil and Hindi films as well. In 2015, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award, the highest award in Malayalam cinema.

Tirunellai Narayana Iyer Seshan was an Indian civil servant and bureaucrat who served with the Indian Administrative Service. After serving on various positions in Madras and in various ministries of the Central Government, he served as the 18th Cabinet Secretary of India in 1989. He was appointed the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India (1990–96) and became known for his electoral reforms. He won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service in 1996.

Vikram K. Kumar is an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Tamil cinema. In 1998, he directed his breakthrough non-feature film, Silent Scream, for which he won the National Film Award For Best Instructional Film. He made his directorial debut in Telugu cinema with Ishtam, and then directed the Tamil movie13B.

Mathunny Mathews was an Indian, a resident in Kuwait and was one of the people credited with the safe airlift evacuation of about 170,000 Indians from Kuwait during the 1990 Invasion of Kuwait, which is hailed as the world's largest civilian evacuation in history.

Anil Radhakrishnan Menon is an Indian film director working in Malayalam film.

Sruthi Hariharan is an Indian film actress and producer who appears primarily in Kannada films. She is a recipient of several accolades, including the Karnataka State film award, three Filmfare Awards South, a SIIMA award, and a special mention at the 66th National film awards for her performance in Nathicharami. She was voted Most Desirable Woman of 2018 by the Bangalore Times readers.