Chinna Pillai is a community leader from Pulliseri, [1] a small village near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. She had started a very successful banking system in the villages of Tamil Nadu, and has made many contributions to attempt to reduce poverty and debt grievances by empowering women. [2] She made efforts in starting a savings unit among the women of the village of Pullucheri. Chinna Pillai is illiterate and can only sign her name. She was recognized as a leader because of people find her negotiation skills effective. She bargained on behalf of workers and eventually the employers realized that there may be some benefit in paying higher wages.
Chinna Pillai was one of five women to receive the Stree Shakti Puraskar in 1999. In a picture perfect moment for the press, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee bowed down in respect and touched her feet while presenting her with the award. [3] She had received the Padma Shri for her service in 2019. [4]
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai ; known mononymously as Shobana, is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer, who works predominantly in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil films. She is a recipient of two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards South. In 2011, Shobana received the Kalaimamani by Tamil Nadu Government. She established herself as one of the leading South Indian actresses of her time.
Khushbu Sundar is an Indian politician, actress, film producer and television personality. She is known for her work predominantly in Tamil language films and in a few Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She has appeared in over 185 films, and has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, a Kalaimamani Award and a Kerala State Film Award.
Thyagaraja Aradhana is an annual aradhana of Telugu saint composer Tyagaraja. The music festival is observed in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, primarily in Tiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district of Tamilnadu, the place where Tyagaraja attained Jeeva Samadhi. The aradhana is observed on Pushya Bahula Panchami day when the saint attained Jeeva samadhi, where the musicians render the saint's Pancharatna Kritis.
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, popularly known as Ariyakudi, was a Carnatic music vocalist, born in Ariyakudi, a town in the present-day Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. Ariyakudi developed a unique style of singing which came to be known as The Ariyakudi Tradition and is followed by his students. He is credited with establishing the modern katcheri (concert) traditions in Carnatic music.
Padma Subrahmanyam, is an Indian classical Bharata Natyam dancer. She is also a research scholar, choreographer, teacher, Indologist and author. She is famous in India as well as abroad; several films and documentaries have been made in her honor by countries such as Japan, Australia and Russia. She is well known as the developer and founder of the dance form Bharata Nrithyam.
Mungara Yamini Krishnamurthy was an Indian classical dancer recognized for her contributions to Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She was a recipient of the Padma Shri (1968), Padma Bhushan (2001), Padma Vibhushan (2016) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1977).
Roja is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed and co-written by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Arvind Swamy and Madhoo. The film was produced by K. Balachander under his Kavithalayaa Productions and distributed by G. Venkateswaran. The film's cinematography was handled by Santhosh Sivan, music by A. R. Rahman in his debut and editing done by Suresh Urs.
Perazhagan is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Sasi Shanker and produced by AVM Productions. It is a remake of the director's 2002 Malayalam film Kunjikoonan. The film stars Suriya and Jyothika, each in dual roles, while Vivek, Manorama, Bobby, Thalaivaasal Vijay, and Devan play supporting roles. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by R. Rathnavelu and editing by Anthony. The film released on 7 May 2004. For his performance, Suriya won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil and Jyothika won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.
Sukumari Amma was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, along with few Hindi and one each in Sinhala, French, Bengali, Tulu, English and Kannada films. Sukumari began acting at the age of 10. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions toward the arts. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Tamil film Namma Gramam (2010). Sukumari died on 26 March 2013 in Chennai, following a heart attack.
"Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung songs in multiple languages, including for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth generation of music practitioners in her family. Trained by Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.R. Balamani. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2021. In December 2023, she was awarded the most prestigious award in the Carnatic music field, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi, by the Madras Music Academy. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (Oscar) for Pi's Lullaby from Life of Pi movie. She has become one of the most sought-after Carnatic musicians today.
Krishnammal Jagannathan is an Indian social activist from the state of Tamil Nadu. She and her husband, Sankaralingam Jagannathan, protested against social injustice and they are Gandhian activists. Her work includes upliftment of the landless, and the poor; she has sometimes fought against governments as well as big industries. She was earlier involved in the Indian independence movement, along with her husband, and was also a close associate of Vinoba Bhave. In 2008 she received the Right Livelihood Award, which she shared with her husband. She was given the Padma Bhushan; India's third highest civilian award; in 2020.
Rohini Molleti, known professionally as Rohini, is an Indian actress, screenwriter, dubbing artist and lyricist. She has mainly acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films along with few Kannada films. Having started her acting career at five, she has about films to her credit. She received National Film Award – Special Mention and Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Special Jury Award for Best Performance as Rangi in the 1995 film Stri.
Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan Ravi mononymously called as Radha Ravi is an Indian actor and politician who played supporting roles throughout his career. He is the son of actor M. R. Radha and the uncle of Vasu Vikram and half-brother of Radhika. He is a former chief member of the Tamil Nadu Film Artistes' Association. He is known for his roles as antagonists in Tamil films and a he acted in the serial Chellamae. He is also known for his controversial criticism of other film personalities.
Gayathri Raguram (born 22 April 1984) is an Indian politician for All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party and a former choreographer and actress who has worked in the South Indian film industry.
Saroja Vaidyanathan was an Indian choreographer, guru, and notable proponent of Bharatanatyam. She was conferred the Padma Shri in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013 by the Government of India.
Madras Kadiravelu Saroja, was an Indian classical dancer, known for her expertise, as an exponent and as a teacher, in the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. The Government of India honored her, in 2011, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of art and culture.
Meenakshi Chitharanjan, an Indian classical dancer, teacher and choreographer, is known as an exponent of the Pandanallur style of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. She is the founder of Kaladiksha, an institution promoting Bharatanatyam and striving to preserve the Pandanallur tradition. A disciple of the father-son duo of Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai, she is a recipient of several honours including Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Natya Kala Sarathi of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to classical dance.
Narthaki Nataraj is an Indian trans woman Bharatanatyam dancer. In 2019, she was awarded the Padma Shri, making her the first transgender woman to be awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award.
R Muthukannammal is a seventh generation veteran Sadir dancer from the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. She is the only surviving person among the 32 Devadasis who served the deity at the Viralimalai Murugan temple and she is the last woman to have the ceremony pottukkattutal of dedicating oneself to God performed at the Viralimalai temple. In the year 2022, Govt of India honoured Muthukannammal by conferring the Padma Shri award for her contributions in the field of art. The dance form Sadir, variously called as Sadiraattam or Parathaiyar Aattam or Thevarattam, is a classical Indian dance from which was reinvented, modified and rechristened as Bharatanatyam through the efforts of E Krishna Iyer in 1932. However, Muthukannammal has chosen to call her art form Sadir, making her the only Sadir exponent today.