Parthasarathy Srinivasan, known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, choreographer, playback singer, lyricist, television presenter, social activist and politician who works in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in some Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali films. Haasan is also known for introducing many new technologies to Tamil cinema. 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 eighteen Filmfare Awards South. He was awarded the Kalaimamani Award in 1984, the Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan in 2014 and the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier) in 2016.
Malayalam cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Malayalam language, which is widely spoken in the state of Kerala and Lakshadweep islands of India. Malayalam cinema includes the commercial film industry, sometimes known as Mollywood, as well as independent cinema made in Malayalam. According to recent trends and critical acclaim, the Malayalam film industry (Mollywood) is often considered the "best" film industry in India, known for its high quality storytelling, strong performances, and focus on social issues, even though the largest film industry in terms of viewership remains Bollywood
Mohanlal Viswanathan ), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Mohanlal has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 400 films. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2001, and Padma Bhushan in 2019, India's fourth and third highest civilian honours, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2009, he became the first actor in India to be awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army. Mohanlal was named as one of "the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema" by CNN.
Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran, commonly known as Balu Mahendra, cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil and Malayalam cinema. Born in Sri Lanka, Mahendran developed a passion for photography and literature at a young age, after witnessing the shoot of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) during a school trip in Sri Lanka, he was drawn towards filmmaking. After graduation he joined as an Aerial photographer in the Sri Lankan Government. In 1966, he moved to India and gained admission to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to pursue a course in motion picture photography. Upon completion of his diploma, he entered Malayalam cinema as a cinematographer in the early 1970s.
Bahuleyan Jeyamohan is an Indian Tamil and Malayalam language writer and literary critic from Nagercoil in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Kandukondain Kandukondain is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical film directed and co-written by Rajiv Menon. Based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility, it features an ensemble cast of Mammootty, Ajith Kumar, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai and Abbas. Veterans Manivannan, Srividya and Raghuvaran play supporting roles. The film's soundtrack was scored by A. R. Rahman and the cinematographer was Ravi K. Chandran.
Shalini Ajith Kumar, known mononymously as Shalini is a former Indian actress and child artist who worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in Malayalam and Tamil films.
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.
Prithviraj Sukumaran is an Indian actor, producer and director primarily active in Malayalam cinema. He has also featured in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films, adding to over 100 films involving diverse genres and variety of roles. Prithviraj's accolades include a National Film Award, four Kerala State Film Awards, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, seven SIIMA Awards and a South Filmfare Award.
Andrea Maria Jeremiah, known professionally as Andrea Jeremiah, is an Indian actress and playback singer who works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. She is a recipient of several awards including nominations for Filmfare Awards South.
Zero Degree is a 1998 postmodern, transgressive, lipogrammatic novel by Tamil author Charu Nivedita, who is based in India. It was later translated into Malayalam and English.
A.R. Venkatachalapathy is an Indian historian, author and translator who writes and publishes in Tamil and English. Currently he is a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). He is noted for collecting and publishing the works of Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan.
Devan Sreenivasan is an Indian film and television actor and politician. He is known for his character roles, mostly as villain, in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and a few Kannada and Hindi films. He has starred in over 380 films.
Vishnupuram Award is a literary award instituted by Vishnupuram Ilakkiya Vattam, the literary organization created by writer Jeyamohan and his readers. The award was named after the writer's famous novel in Tamil, Vishnupuram. This award was initiated to honour the under-recognized pioneers and senior writers in Tamil literature. This contains cash award of Rs 1,00,000 and a memento, a book on the author will be published and a documentary on the awardee release during the occasion.
Lit for Life is an annual literary festival organised by the English daily The Hindu in Chennai, India. The festival was inaugurated in 2010, where it was part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Hindu's Literary Review. In 2011 the Lit for Life became an independent one-day event. It has over the years developed into a three-day festival of literature and thought, featuring notable authors and speakers from all over the world. In 2020, the festival, that always takes place in mid-January, will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Main initiator and organiser of the Lit for Life is Dr Nirmala Lakshman, Director of The Hindu Group of Publications, and Chairperson of the Board of The Hindu Tamil.
Vishnupuram Ilakkiya Vattam is a literary organization created by Tamil writer Jeyamohan and his readers and fans. It is named after his noted work Vishnupuram. It is currently based out of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India and is being coordinated by K.V.Arangasamy. It awards the Vishnupuram Award every year.
Tirukkural, also known as the Kural, an ancient Indian treatise on the ethics and morality of the commoner, is one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. Authored by the ancient Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar, the work has been translated into 57 languages, with a total of 350 individual translations, including 143 different renderings in the English language alone.
Thathamangalam Damodaran Ramakrishnan is an Indian novelist, translator, and retired Chief Controller in Southern Railway. He has authored two best-selling Malayalam novels: Francis Itty Cora and Sugandhi Enna Andal Devanayaki. He is a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Vayalar Award.
G. Balasubramanian served as the Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University, Thanjavur, in Tamil Nadu, India, from 4 October 2018 to 3 October 2021.
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