Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, popularly known as Ariyakudi, was a Carnatic music vocalist, born in Ariyakudi, a town in the present-day Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. Ariyakudi developed a unique style of singing which came to be known as The Ariyakudi Tradition and is followed by his students. He is credited with establishing the modern katcheri (concert) traditions in Carnatic music.
The culture of Chennai, popularly called the "Gateway to the South India", is distinct from that of any other Indian city. Being a cosmopolitan hub, the city's culture reflects its diverse population that has resulted in a unique blend. Though a modern metropolis, Chennai continues to be traditional and conventional in certain ways. Traditional music, dance and all other art forms of Tamil Nadu are very popular in the city. One can find a peculiar cultural blend in city, from traditional foods to fast foods, from ancient temple architecture to modern high-rises, and from classical music and dance to the growing nightlife.
Thiruda Thiruda is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language black comedy caper film directed by Mani Ratnam written along with Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Prashanth, Anand, Anu Aggarwal and Heera Rajagopal while S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Salim Ghouse play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by A. R. Rahman while the cinematography was handled by P. C. Sriram. In 1994, the film premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival. It also won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects.This is the one and only film that Anu Aggarwal has acted in Tamil.
Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and composer. She was conferred the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1994, Padma Shri (2004) and Padma Bhushan (2015) by the Government of India, and Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy in 2013.
"Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung songs in multiple languages, including for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth generation of music practitioner's in her family. Trained by Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.R. Balamani. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2021. In December 2023, she was awarded the most prestigious award in the Carnatic Music Field, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi, by the Madras Music Academy. She was nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song (Oscar) for Pi's Lullaby from Life of Pi movie. She has become one of the most sought-after Carnatic musicians today.
Anuradha Sriram is an Indian carnatic and playback singer and child actress who hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She has sung more than 3500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Sinhala, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Hindi films.
Sirkazhi Govindarajan was an Indian Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.
Shweta Mohan is an Indian playback singer. She has received four Filmfare Awards South for Best Female Playback Singer, one Kerala State Film Award and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. She has recorded more than 800 songs and albums in all the four south Indian languages namely Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, she has also recorded songs for Hindi films and has established herself as a leading playback singer of South Indian cinema.
Sangita Kalanidhi Aruna Sairam is an Indian classical vocalist and carnatic music singer. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award from the Government of India and was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Academy by the Government of India until 2022. In 2011, Aruna was the first Carnatic musician to perform at the BBC proms in London. She is also the first Carnatic musician to perform in Oud Festival of Israel (Jerusalem).
Lakshmi Rajagopalan is a leading Carnatic vocalist in India.
Anuja Iyer is an Indian actress and model who works in the Tamil film industry. She made her acting debut in the low budget horror flick Sivi (2007) and became noted for her performances in Ninaithale Inikkum (2009) and Unnaipol Oruvan (2009). Since April 2010, she has been working as a columnist for the popular entertainment website Behindwoods.
Porayath Leela was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist, and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Odia, Gujarati, Marati. and also Sinhale. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration in the songs with Music Composers v.Dakshinamoorthy, MS Baburaj, G Devarajan, ghantasala, MS Viswanathan, K. Raghavan, Br Lakshmanan, LPR Varma, BA chithambara athletes, AT ummer, MK Arjun,Johnson, ouseppachan, ilaiyaraja, and with the playback singers KJ Yesudas and Ghantalasa over the years. Leela is known for her sweet and melodious voice that she named Ganamani. She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006. She made her debut as a playback singer in the 1948 Tamil film Kangkanam.
Deepa Miriam is an Indian playback singer of South Indian movies. Her debut film was Naan Avanillai. Deepa rose to fame with the song Kangal Iraandal in the Tamil movie Subramaniapuram.
Rahul Nambiar is an Indian playback singer and live performer. An MBA and M.Com-graduate, he won the Swapthaswarangal show in 2001 and began singing live. He sang more than 2000 songs in movies, and later ventured into playback singing, performing for many leading South Indian film composers in various languages.
Shalini Singh, popularly called as Pop Shalini, is a singer from Tamil Nadu, India. Born in 1984, she is a singer, performer, blogger, and also a writer. She released an album 'Shalini' when she was only 13. She has sung over 5000 songs in various Indian languages for Indian films and albums. She has sung for the likes of A. R. Rahman, Harris Jayaraj, Illayaraja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Vidyasagar and many others.
Sundar Geetha Rajashekar is a Carnatic singer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. She is an All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan artiste. She is on the panel of artistes selected by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi.
Sikkil C. Gurucharan is among the foremost young performing musicians of Carnatic music in India today. He is the grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani, elder of the internationally acclaimed flautists the Sikkil Sisters. Gurucharan has been under the tutelage Vaigal Shri S. Gnanaskandan and is currently being mentored by Shri B. Krishnamurthy. He is an 'A' grade All India Radio artist. The magazine India Today featured him among 35 Game Changers Under 35 in India, a list of young achievers from different walks of life.
Rita Thyagarajan alias Sucharitha Thyagarajan, known by the mononym Rita, is an Indian playback singer who sings in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English, Kannada and Malayalam languages.
Subramanian Jaya Jananiy, also known as Cuddalore Janani and S. J. Janani, is an Indian musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She was bestowed with National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in 2001 by Government of India. Jananiy was also awarded with Kalai Ilamani Award in 2003 by Government of Tamil Nadu. Jananiy is trained in Carnatic classical music, Hindustani classical music and Western Classical Music. She is also a keyboardist and pianist and plays violin, veena and guitar for studio recording. Jananiy is a B HIGH Grade Artiste at All India Radio.
Pradeep Rangaswamy Kumar is an Indian playback singer and music director who has worked in Tamil language films. After beginning his career as a Carnatic musician, in the 2010s, he has regularly collaborated with composers Santhosh Narayanan and Sean Roldan.
