Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South with 14 Nominations for Best Actress Category in three different south Indian languages. She was honoured with Kalaimamani by Tamil Nadu State Government in 2011 and numerous other awards. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Shobana has starred in 230 films across several languages.
Meena Durairaj, known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in South Indian films as well as Hindi cinema. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films She is one of the most sought after actresses in the South Indian film industry. In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Nandi Award for Best Actress and Cinema Express Awards. In 1998, she was honoured with the Kalaimamani Award by Government of Tamil Nadu.
B. Saroja Devi is an Indian actress who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. She acted in around 200 films over seven decades. She is known by the epithets "Abhinaya Saraswathi" in Kannada and "Kannadathu Paingili" in Tamil. She is one of the most successful actresses in the history of Indian cinema.
Ramanathan Sarathkumar is an Indian actor, politician and former bodybuilder who works predominantly in Tamil cinema in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. He has acted in more than 145 films and won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards South.
Urvashi is an Indian actress, dubbing artist, television host, screenwriter and film producer known for her works in the Southern film industry, predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, and also worked in Kannada and Telugu films. In a career spanning over four decades, she has won one National Film Award, six Kerala State Film Awards, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Award South respectively. Known for her distinct style of acting, she is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors in Malayalam and Tamil cinema.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Srividya, was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, she had acted in more than 800 films. In the latter part of her career, she concentrated on Malayalam films. In addition to acting, Srividya occasionally worked as a playback singer as well as carnatic singer. She was also a well trained Bharathanatyam dancer. She was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. She used her own voice for dubbing almost in all movies in all languages. She died in 2006 after battling metastatic breast cancer.
Kumaresan Duraisamy, known professionally by his stage name Napoleon, is an Indian actor, entrepreneur and former politician. He was the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet. He has acted predominately in Tamil films apart from some Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and English movies.
Anbe Vaa is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi, with S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh, T. R. Ramachandran, P. D. Sambandam, Manorama and T. P. Muthulakshmi in supporting roles. Based on the 1961 American film Come September, it follows JB, a wealthy industrialist who goes on vacation to his bungalow in Shimla, only to discover that his caretaker and his wife have left for Kasi after renting the bungalow to a family. The rest of the film revolves around JB's response to this situation.
Sankaramanchi Janaki, widely known as Sowcar Janaki, is an Indian actress known for her works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films.In a career spanning over seven decades Janaki has appeared in close to over 390, films, predominantly in Tamil and Telugu. She also performed on stage in over 300 shows and was a radio artist during her earlier years. She is the recipient of two Nandi Awards, a Kalaimamani and India's fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri. Her younger sister, Krishna Kumari, was also a noted actress.
Koondukkili is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and co-produced by T. R. Ramanna. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan and B. S. Saroja. Although a commercial failure, it gained historical reputation over time due to the fact it was the only film in which Ramachandran and Ganesan acted together.
Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress and comedian, who plays supporting roles in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times, for her performances in Sathi Leelavathi (1995), Poovellam Un Vasam (2001) and Uliyin Osai (2008). She has also won two Nandi Awards for Best Female Comedian and the Vijay Award for Best Comedian for her performance in Kanchana (2011). She is now part of Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam Party.
Latha, also known as Latha Sethupathi, is an Indian actress who starred in leading roles in South Indian films from 1973 to 1983. She is also known for her roles in various serials in the Tamil language.
Chowdasandra Honnappa Bhagavathar was an Indian theatre and film actor, producer, musician and singer. He was best known as a singer and as one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema. He was also active in Tamil cinema. Bhagvathar is known for bringing actress Saroja Devi into the industry. His son Bharath was also an actor who worked in Kannada films and serials.
Rajathi, better known by her stage name Indraja, is an Indian actress known for her work in Telugu and Malayalam films. She has also appeared in a few Tamil and Kannada films, in addition to television shows.
Bose Venkat is an Indian actor, director and dubbing artist who appears in Tamil films and television serials.
Petralthan Pillaiya is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju and written by Aaroor Dass. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, B. Saroja Devi and Sowcar Janaki. Based on the 1921 American film, The Kid, it revolves around a tramp finding a homeless boy and raising him as his own son until five years later the boy's biological parents try to find him.
Genova is a 1953 Indian war romance film, directed by F. Nagoor and produced by E. P. Eppan. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, B. S. Saroja and P. S. Veerappa. It was filmed simultaneously in Malayalam and Tamil, with the Tamil version releasing two months after the Malayalam version.
Lakshmanan Vijayalakshmi is an Indian actress and classical dancer whose career was from 1959 to 1969. She appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films.
Thalaivii is a 2021 Indian biographical drama film based on the life of Indian actress-politician J. Jayalalithaa. The film stars Kangana Ranaut as Jayalalithaa, Arvind Swamy as M. G. Ramachandran, Nassar as M. Karunanidhi, Raj Arjun and Samuthirakani as R. M. Veerappan in the Hindi and Tamil versions, respectively. Shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi, it is directed by A. L. Vijay and written by Madhan Karky (Tamil) and Rajat Arora (Hindi). The Movie is produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shailesh R Singh of Vibri Motion Pictures and Karma Media And Entertainment respectively. The film also features Nassar, Bhagyashree, Raj Arjun, Madhoo, Thambi Ramaiah, Shamna Kasim and Samuthirakani in supporting roles. The music, background score and the soundtrack for both languages is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar.
