Kunchacko Boban

Kunchacko Boban (born 2 November 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is referred to as Chackochan, and during the early 2000s, he was called "chocolate boy" because of his romantic image. He has acted in more than 100 films in more than two decades. He is a member of the Kunchacko family. Kunchacko's debut was as a child in the film Dhanya (1981) produced by his father Boban Kunchacko. He debuted as an adult leading role in Fazil's 1997 romantic drama Aniyathipraavu opposite Shalini, which became the highest-grossing Malayalam film till that point, establishing him as a bankable actor overnight. He appeared in a brief role in Harikrishnans (1998) starring Mohanlal and Mammootty, which was the top Malayalam box office grosser of the year. Kunchacko and Shalini joined again in the successful romantic films Nakshatratharattu (1998), Niram (1999) and Prem Poojari (1999). Niram (2000) emerged one of the highest-grossing films of the year, spawning several remakes. By then he had created a "romantic hero" image in Malayalam cinema, nevertheless, he also had success in other genres, as a villager in the comedy Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka (2001) and as a son to a debt-ridden family in the drama Kasthooriman (2003). His career took a setback after few box office failures during the mid-2000s. He took a break from films in 2006 and moved on to business. Post a hiatus of three years he returned to films with the 2009 comedy Gulumal: The Escape, a commercial success. After his comeback, Kunchacko completely changed his romantic hero image and he proved his versatility as an actor by doing various different roles. He regained his stardom with commercially successful films and reestablished himself as one of the popular lead actors of Malayalam cinema. His roles in critically and commercially acclaimed films like Traffic (2011), How Old Are You? (2014), Take Off (2017), Vettah (2016), Virus (2019), Anjaam Pathiraa (2020), Nayattu (2021), Pada (2022), Nna Thaan Case Kodu (2022), 2018 (2023), Bougainvillea (2024) and Officer on Duty (2025) were widely appreciated. He won the Kerala State Film Award for his performance in the satire, Nna Thaan Case Kodu and the ensemble survival thriller 2018 (2023) became the highest grossing Malayalam film up to that point. He is also known for his dancing skills. In 2016, Kunchacko produced the comedy drama film Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho through Udaya Studios, in the process of reviving the studio after a 30-year hiatus. He also launched another production house, Kunchacko Boban Productions, debuting with the Mahesh Narayanan directorial, Ariyippu (2022), which premiered in the Concorso internazionale of the 75th Locarno Film Festival on 4 August 2022, where it was nominated for Golden Leopard.