Kamal Haasan is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the Indian cinema. Haasan is also known for introducing many new technologies and cosmetics to the Indian film industry. He has won numerous accolades, including Four National Film Awards, Nine Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, Four Nandi Awards, One Rashtrapati Award, Two Filmfare Awards and 17 Filmfare Awards South. He was awarded the Kalaimamani Award in 1984, the Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 2014 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) in 2016.
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam, known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter. who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.
Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and was the first motion picture screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. The film was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Chandramukhi is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film written and directed by P. Vasu. An official remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993), the film stars Rajinikanth and Jyothika with Prabhu, Vadivelu and Nayanthara in the principal roles along with an ensemble supporting cast. It revolves around a woman (Jyothika), who suffers from dissociative identity disorder that affects a family, and a psychiatrist (Rajinikanth) who intends to solve the case while risking his life.
Bimal Roy was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Devdas, Madhumati, Sujata, Parakh and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema. Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, he made Do Bigha Zamin after watching Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948). His work is particularly known for his mise en scène which he employed to portray realism. He won a number of awards throughout his career, including eleven Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards, and the International Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Madhumati won 9 Filmfare Awards in 1958, a record held for 37 years.
Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian model and actress who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. She gained prominence after winning the 1999 Miss Chennai pageant, which marked her entry into the film industry. Trisha is a recipient of several accolades including five Filmfare Awards South, one Nandi Award, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and seven South Indian International Movie Awards. Trisha is often referred as the "Queen Of South India" for her contributions to the film industries of all of the South Indian languages. She has been ranked among the best actresses of South India by The Times of India.
Jyothika Saravanan is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She has also acted in some Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She won one National Award, four Filmfare Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, one South Indian International Movie Award, International Tamil Film Award and four Dinakaran Awards. She is also a recipient of the Kalaimamani Award. She is regarded as one of the most prolific actresses in Tamil cinema. She has been ranked among the best actresses of South India by The Times of India and was referred as one of the Superstar women in Indian Cinema by The Hindu.
Shriya Saran Bhatnagar also known as Shriya Saran, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a well-known dancer, she became an actress and made her film debut with the Telugu film Ishtam (2001). Saran had her first commercial success with Nuvve Nuvve (2002). She is a recipient of one South Indian International Movie Award along with four Filmfare Awards South nominations.
Guru is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed and co-written by Mani Ratnam. It stars Mithun Chakraborty, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan and Roshan Seth. The score and soundtrack for the film was composed by A. R. Rahman. Incidentally, Mithun Chakraborty also previously acted in a 1989 film of the same name in Hindi, as well as a 2003 film of the same name in Bengali.
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She has also appeared in Hindi and Kannada films. One of the highest paid actresses in India, she was the only South Indian actress to be featured in the Forbes India "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual earning credited at ₹15.17 crore. Nayanthara has starred in more than 80 films spanning two decades, and has won numerous awards. She is popularly addressed as the Lady Superstar of Indian cinema.
Jamshad Cethirakath, known by his stage name Arya, is an Indian actor and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema and a few Malayalam and Telugu films. Arya has won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South and received two nominations each for Filmfare Awards and Vijay Awards. He was included on the 2015 edition of the Forbes India Celebrity 100, a list based on the top earning Indian celebrities.
Billa is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. It is a remake of the 1978 Hindi film Don. The film stars Ajith Kumar who plays a double role as an underworld don and his friendly look-alike alongside Nayanthara and Namitha, while Prabhu, Rahman, Adithya Menon, and Santhanam playing supporting roles. It is produced by L. Suresh and Abdurrahman M while featuring a score and soundtrack by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Nirav Shah and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Lakshmi Rai, professionally credited as Raai Laxmi, is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages.
Bharath Srinivasan, known professionally as Bharath, is an Indian actor, who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has mainly acted in Tamil films, along with few films in Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu.
Chiranjeevi is an Indian actor and producer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada films. He made his acting debut in 1978, with the film Punadhirallu. However, Pranam Khareedu was released earlier at the box office. Known for his break dancing skills, Chiranjeevi has starred in more than 150 feature films. He rose to stardom after playing the lead in the action film Khaidi (1983). His 1987 film Swayamkrushi premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival. He co-produced Rudraveena (1988), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. In a film career spanning forty-five years, he has won four state Nandi Awards and nine Filmfare Awards South.
Vijay Antony is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his debut as music composer in 2005. He is the first Indian Music Director to win the 2009 Cannes Golden Lion for the song Naaka Mukka advertising film in the Best Music category. The song was played at the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He made his debut film Naan in 2012. He is best known for his roles in action thriller films such as Salim (2014) and Pichaikkaran (2016).
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is known for his roles in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), The Lunchbox (2013), Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), and Manto (2018), among others. As many as eight films in which he features have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Pooja Ramachandran is an Indian actress, VJ and model. After her studies, she participated in beauty pageants, winning the 'Miss Coimbatore 2004' title and was the runner up for Miss Kerala 2005. She then went on to become a VJ at SS Music before venturing into acting. She entered as a wild card contestant in the Telugu reality TV show Bigg Boss Telugu 2.
