Claim: Dileep is, in Malayalam cinema, the third highest paid actor.

Dileep -LRB- born Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai , on 27 October 1968 -RRB- is an Indian film actor , singer , impressionist , producer , and businessman . He 's best known for his slapstick comedy roles in Malayalam cinema and he is the Richest superstar and third highest paid actor of malayalm cinema . In a career spanning over a quarter-century , he has starred in more than 130 films .   Dileep began his film career in 1991 by assisting director Kamal . He attained popularity through his impressionist acts in stage shows and Comicola , a television comedy series aired on Asianet . His role as Dileep in Manathe Kottaram -LRB- 1994 -RRB- paved way to his acting career . Films such as Sallapam -LRB- 1996 -RRB- , Ee Puzhayum Kadannu -LRB- 1997 -RRB- , Punjabi House -LRB- 1998 -RRB- , Udayapuram Sulthan -LRB- 1999 -RRB- , and Chandranudikkunna Dikhil -LRB- 1999 -RRB- established his status as a prominent actor during the late-1990s .   After delivering back-to-back hits in the early-2000s with films such as Thenkasipattanam -LRB- 2000 -RRB- , Joker -LRB- 2000 -RRB- , Ee Parakkum Thalika -LRB- 2001 -RRB- , Ishtam -LRB- 2001 -RRB- , Mazhathullikkilukkam -LRB- 2002 -RRB- and Kalyanaraman -LRB- 2002 -RRB- , Dileep established himself as a bankable lead star in the Malayalam film industry with the blockbuster success of Meesa Madhavan -LRB- 2002 -RRB- . He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his role as Madhavan in Meesa Madhavan . He won his first Kerala State Film Award -LRB- Special Jury -RRB- for his performance as Vimal Kumar -LRB- Kunjan -RRB- in Kunjikoonan -LRB- 2002 -RRB- and later won the Best Actor Award for his performance as Mukkom Shajahan in the film Vellaripravinte Changathi -LRB- 2011 -RRB- .   Dileep ventured into production , and produced and starred in C.I.D. Moosa -LRB- 2003 -RRB- under the banner Graand Production . Kathavasheshan -LRB- 2004 -RRB- won Dileep the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film as a producer . In 2008 , under the banner of Graand Production , Dileep produced Twenty :20 by casting most of the mainstream actors of Malayalam cinema , which had become the highest grossing Malayalam film at that time . He produced the multi-starrer in order to raise funds for the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists -LRB- AMMA -RRB- .