Sampath Kumar, known by his stage name Vishnuvardhan, was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam language films. Vishnuvardhan has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 220 films. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, and holds the status of a matinée idol amongst the Kannada diaspora. He is popularly called as Sahasa Simha, Dada and The Angry Young Man of Kannada Cinema. Vishnuvardhan's contributions to Kannada cinema have been praised by his contemporaries in the Indian film industry. The Government of Karnataka honoured him with the Rajyothsava Prashasthi in 1990 and the Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his contributions to Kannada cinema. He was called The Phoenix of Indian Cinema. In 2008, a poll conducted by CNN-IBN listed Vishnuvardhan as the most popular star in the Kannada film industry.
Anant Nagarkatte is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and English films. He has featured in theatre plays, parallel cinema and television shows.
Channarayapatna Ashwath was an Indian music composer and exponent of Bhavageete in the Kannada language. He was also a singer, and sang many of his own compositions. He was credited with singing Bhavageete songs and making sure that they reached the common man.
Honnasandra Narasimhaiah Chandrashekar, known popularly as Mukhyamantri Chandru, is an Indian actor and politician. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada theatre and cinema. The sobriquet Mukhyamantri stuck to his name after the play of the same name that sees him portray the title role became widely popular. Having portrayed mostly comic and negative roles throughout his career, Chandru is a character actor, and has acted in over 500 films since making his debut in 1983.
Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath, better known as Dwarakish, is an Indian actor, director and producer in the Kannada film industry. He was given the name Dwarakish by Kannada film maker C. V. Shivashankar.
Narayana Swamy, known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. He holds the position of vice-president of the Kannada television channel Udaya TV. He is popular for presenting the Game Show, Adarsha Dampatigalu. Srinath has earned the nickname Pranaya Raja meaning 'King of Romance' because of his stupendous success in romantic movies during the 70s. In 2003, he was conferred the ‛Kalaratna’ Award by the Government of Karnataka.
Parashuram is a 1989 Indian Kannada action thriller film directed by V. Somashekar and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. The film starred Rajkumar, Mahalakshmi and Vani Viswanath. This was V. Somashekhar's last movie with Rajkumar, who incidentally started his directing career with Rajkumar's Bangaarada Panjara (1974). Also this was last movie of Puneeth Rajkumar as a child actor, who later returned as a fully fledged hero in the movie Appu (2002). The film's score and soundtrack was composed by Hamsalekha.
Ramesh Bhat is a multiple-award–winning Indian actor. He has worked predominantly in Kannada films and television serials.
Ganeshana Maduve is a 1990 Kannada romantic comedy-drama film directed by Phani Ramachandra. It stars Anant Nag, Vinaya Prasad, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Ramesh Bhat among others. It was a big box-office hit in its time and is considered to be one of the great Kannada comedy films. The film is based on Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy's comedy novel Vinayaka Rao Pelli.
Jadalathimmanahalli Krishnappa Srinivasa Murthy, known popularly as Srinivasa Murthy, is an Indian actor and television director. He is mostly known for his work as a director having made many television series in Kannada, beginning in 2001, based on the lives of various Kannada philosophers and poets, and adaptations of the works of popular Kannada writers. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada cinema, appearing often in supporting roles. He began his career as a stage artiste in both professional and amateur theatre, before taking to films in 1977.
Vaishali Kasaravalli was a noted Kannada actress, television serial director, and costume designer.
Baraguru Ramachandrappa is an Indian essayist, lyricist, screenwriter, film director, socialist, writer, novelist, predominantly works in Kannada language and President of the Textbook Revision Committee, in Karnataka Text Books Society (KTBS) from May 2015. In 2008, he was given an honorary doctorate by the Kuvempu University and Rani Channamma University, Belagavi, Karnataka.
Kakana Kote is a 1977 Indian Kannada biographical drama film adapted from Masti Venkatesh Iyengar's stage play of the same name. The film plot tells the story of Kaka Nayaka who was instrumental in stopping the exploitation of tribal people in Mysore district against the tax payment from middlemen who were representing the ruling kingdom government.
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.
Kuppur Yalappa Narayanaswamy, also known as KYN, is a popular Kannada poet, scholar, critic, and playwright. He is currently a Kannada professor in the Maharani Cluster University, Bangalore. He is the author of many popular Kannada plays including Kalavu, Anabhigna Shakuntala, Chakraratna, Huliseere, and Vinura Vema. He has also translated Kuvempu's Shudra Tapaswi into Telugu. He is credited with adapting Kuvempu's magnum opus Malegalalli madumagalu into a 9-hour play. He has also written the screenplay for the films Kalavu and Suryakaanti.
Girija Lokesh is an Indian theatre and film actress and occasional film producer who works in Kannada cinema. She is wife of actor Lokesh, and is the mother of actor and television presenter Srujan Lokesh and Pooja Lokesh. In recognition of her contribution towards Kannada cinema, she was honoured with Rajyotsava Award by the Government of Karnataka in 2013.
C. Basavalingaiah is an Indian theatre director and theatre activist. He has been appointed as the first director of the National School of Drama Bangalore Centre. He directed several stage plays that received wide attention. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. The views expressed by him on challenges faced by theatre in India today are thought provoking He received many awards including Karnataka State Award Rajyotsava Award in 2001.
Raja Shankar or Rajashankar was an Indian actor in Kannada cinema. His films include Bhakta Kumbara (1974), Sampathige Saval (1974) and Sri Srinivasa Kalyana (1974). He also co-produced the 1974 Kannada movie Bangaarada Panjara starring Dr. Rajkumar and the 1976 Kannada movie Vijaya Vani.
Sa. Ra. Govindu is an Indian film producer in Kannada film industry. He was the president of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), till May 2022.
