Kapila Vatsyayan was a leading scholar of Indian classical dance, art, architecture, and art history. She served as a member of parliament and bureaucrat in India, and also served as the founding director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
Bansi Kaul was an Indian theatre director and the founder of Rang Vidushak, a theatre group in Bhopal. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor, in 2014, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995. Some of his notable plays included Aala Afsar, Kahan Kabir, and Sidhi Dar Sidhi urf Tukke pe Tukka. He was a designer and associate show director for the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and also the art director for the 1986 and 1987 Khajuraho Festival.
Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, composer, and dramatist known for his works in the Kannada theatre, Kannada cinema, and Hindi cinema. One of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema, Karanth was an alumnus of the National School of Drama (1962) and later, its Director. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1976), six National Film Awards, and the civilian honor Padma Shri for his contributions towards the field of art.
Sonal Mansingh is an Indian classical dancer and Guru in Bharatanatyam and Odissi dancing style. She has been nominated by the President of India to become a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She is the recipient of Padma Bhushan in 1992 and Padma Vibhushan in 2003.
Ram Niwas Mirdha was an Indian politician from Rajasthan. He served as member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from 1953 to 1967 and as speaker of the assembly from 1957 to 1967. Mirdha was a cabinet minister of the Government of India for several departments during the 1970s and 1980s and became of member of the Lok Sabha for Barmer, Rajasthan, from 1991 to 1996. He was a member of the executive board of UNESCO from 1993 to 1997. He served as chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi until his death from multiple organ failure. He also served as Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha from 1977 to 1980.
Kavalam Narayana Panicker was an Indian dramatist, theatre director, and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiyam, Shakuntalam (1982), Bhasa's Madhyamavyayogam (1979), Karnabharam, Uru Bhangam (1988), Swapnavasavadattam, and Dootavakyam (1996). He was the founder – director of theatre troupe, Sopanam, which led to the foundation of Bhashabharati: Centre for Performing Arts, Training and Research, in Trivandrum.
Arundhati Nag is an Indian actress. She has been involved with multilingual Theatre in India, for over 25 years, first in Mumbai where she got involved with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), and did various productions in Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi theatre, and then in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and English, in Bangalore.
Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company, which played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre field. He has been conferred the title Nataka Ratna meaning "A Precious Jewel" in the theatre world. Gubbi Veeranna laid the foundation stone for the Kannada film industry. He established a studio, produced silent films in early days of cinema and produced good Kannada short films, He built theaters and introduced many actors including Dr Rajkumar, G.V Iyer, B.V Karanth, Girish Karnad and others to the Kannada film industry.
Heisnam Kanhailal was an Indian art theatre personality. For his work, he was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan civilian award in 2016 by the Government of India. He was the founder-director of Kalakshetra Manipur, a theatre laboratory established in 1969 that explores a new vocabulary in the existing language of theatre.
Chindodi Leela was an Indian stage and film actress, politician, and writer from Karnataka.
K. S. Narayanaswamy, was a Carnatic veena exponent of the Thanjavur style, in which nuances and subtleties are given more importance over rhythm based acrobatics. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1979.
Dr. Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry is a Chandigarh-based theatre artist who has worked around the world. She was awarded the 2003 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the Theatre Direction category. She was the recipient of the 2011 Padma Shri Award. She is Professor Emeritus at Punjab University. Her well-known plays include Kitchen Katha, The Suit, Yerma, Nagamandala, The Mad Woman of Chaillot, Little Eyolf, Bitter Fruit, Naked Voices, Stree Patra and Gumm Hai.
Vyjayanthi Kashi is an Indian classical dancer, a kuchipudi exponent. She is from the family of Dr Gubbi Veeranna who was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. Vyjayanthi Kashi is a reputed kuchipudi dancer,a celebrated performer and choreographer and artistic director of a dance school Shambhavi School of Dance where they teaches this traditional dance form kuchipudi. She was also the chairperson of Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy.
B. C. Gowrishankar was an Indian cinematographer and an occasional film director and screenwriter who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. He was known for his unorthodox style as a cinematographer and was recognised for his work in both art and commercial films. Gowrishankar won six Karnataka State Film Awards during his career as a cinematographer. In 1988 he directed the fairly successful Elu Suttina Kote with Ambareesh, Gautami and a young Ramesh Aravind.
Nanna Preethiya Hudugi is a 2001 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed and written by Nagathihalli Chandrashekar. It stars newcomers Dhyan and Deepali in lead roles and actors such as Lokesh, Bhavya and Suresh Heblikar in other prominent roles. The film is produced by Jyothi Shankar and Uma Shankar for East West Creations India (Pvt) Ltd.
Jaishankar Bhudhardas Bhojak, better known by his theatre name Jaishankar Sundari , was an Indian actor and director of Gujarati theatre. Starting at the young age, he rose to fame for his roles of female impersonator in early Gujarati plays. He retired from acting in 1932 but returned to theatre direction and teaching in 1948. He directed and acted in several successful plays. He was awarded the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1951 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1971.
Hunsur Krishnamurthy was an Indian playwright, film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist in Kannada cinema.
R. Nagarathnamma (1926–2012) was an Indian theatre personality and the founder of Stree Nataka Mandali, an all-women theatre group based in Bengaluru. A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, she was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Bharati Shivaji is an Indian classical dancer of Mohiniyattom, choreographer and author, known for her contributions to the art form by way of performance, research and propagation. She is the founder of Center for Mohiniyattam, a dance academy promoting Mohiniyattom and the co-author of two books, Art of Mohiniyattom and Mohiniyattom. She is a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Sahitya Kala Parishad Samman. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for her contributions to Indian classical dance.
Govind Ram Nirmalkar (1935–2014) was an Indian actor and folk theatre artist, known for his contributions to the Nacha folk theatre of Chhattisgarh. His portrayal of the protagonist in Charan Das Chor, an award winning play by Habib Tanveer, won him critical acclaim. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2009, for his contributions to Arts. He was also a recipient of the 2012 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
