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 among 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.
Joshiy is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and also directed Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada-language films. Joshiy is a pioneer of action thriller films in Malayalam cinema and his films are known for its stylized imagery, color grading and film noir.
Srinivasa Sarja, better known by his stage name Arjun Sarja or simply Arjun, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema in addition to Telugu and Kannada films and a few Malayalam and Hindi films. Referred to by the media and his fans as "Action King" for his roles in action films, Arjun has acted in more than 160 films, most of them being lead roles. He is one of few South Indian actors to attract fan following from multiple states of India. He has directed 12 films and also produced and distributed a number of films.
Ravi K. Chandran is an Indian cinematographer and film director who predominantly works in Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil-language cinema. His career began in 1991 with the Malayalam film Kilukkampetti. He is the founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) and has won two Filmfare Awards and one Southern Filmfare Award.
Veeramachaneni Jagapathi Chowdary, professionally known as Jagapathi Babu, is an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has also appeared in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. Babu has appeared in 170 feature films, and has received four Filmfare Awards and seven state Nandi Awards.
Yaragudipadi Venkata Mahalakshmi, known professionally as Lakshmi, is an Indian actress known for her works primarily in all 4 Southern Indian language film industries. She has also acted in some Hindi films. Her debut as a full fledged actress happened with the Tamil film Jeevanaamsam in 1968. In the same year, she acted in the Kannada film Goa Dalli CID 999 and Telugu film Bandhavyalu.
Priya Mani Raj, known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, and Kannada films. She is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards South.
Veeraswamy Ravichandran, known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an Indian actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor working predominantly in Kannada cinema. The son of film producer N. Veeraswamy, he continues to produce and distribute films under his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly referred to as "Crazy Star" by the media and his followers.
Babu Antony is an Indian-American actor and martial artist, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese, Hindi and English films. He started his career doing antagonistic roles and progressed to supporting and leading roles as well. Babu owns a mixed martial art academy in Houston.
K. Ramachandra Babu was an Indian cinematographer of over 125 films, out of which most are Malayalam films. He also worked for films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Arabic and English languages. He served as the cinematographer for several documentaries and advertisement films as well. He was the founder of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Amruthavarshini is a 1997 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film written, photographed and directed by Dinesh Baboo. It stars Suhasini, Ramesh Aravind and Sarath Babu. Nivedita Jain appears in a cameo role. It features Ramesh Arvind playing a negative role for which he was widely praised. The film revolves around the three central characters of a husband (Sharath), wife (Suhasini) and a friend (Ramesh) who intrudes into the couple's life and turns their life into tragic events.
Bandhana is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu from a screenplay by H. V. Subba Rao and Rajendra Singh Babu, based on a novel of the same name by Usha Navaratnanram. The film revolves around the relationship between a surgeon, Harish and his student Nandini. The film stars Vishuvardhan as Dr. Harish and Suhasini as his protégé Nandini, along with Jai Jagadish, Roopadevi and G. K. Govinda Rao in supporting roles.
Dhruvam (transl. Pole) is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Joshiy, story and dialogue by S. N. Swamy and A. K. Sajan, respectively, and screenplay by S. N. Swamy. It stars an ensemble cast, including Mammootty in the lead with Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Vikram, Janardhanan, Gauthami, and Tiger Prabhakar. The musical score and songs were composed by S. P. Venkatesh. It was Vikram's debut in Malayalam cinema.
A. K. Sajan is an Indian screenwriter and film director who is best known for his directorial debut Stop Violence (2002). The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Chandra Lakshman. He is also known for scripting many movies in the industry. His notable works include Dhruvam (1993), Butterflies (1993), Kashmeeram (1994), Crime File (1999), Chinthamani Kolacase (2006), Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri (2007) and Puthiya Niyamam (2016).
Vazhakku Enn 18/9 is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Balaji Sakthivel, starring newcomers Sri, Urmila Mahanta, Mithun Murali and Manisha Yadav. Pre-production of film began in 2008, with the filming commencing in 2010 only, following several delays. The cinematography was handled by Vijay Milton, while guitarist R. Prasanna scored the music.
Idu Saadhya is a 1989 Indian Kannada-language slasher film directed by Dinesh Babu and produced by Chandulal Jain under Chamundeshwari Studios. The film stars Shankar Nag, Anant Nag, Srinath, Revathi, Devaraj, Kavya, Disco Shanti, Mahalakshmi, Ramesh Aravind, Tiger Prabhakar and Bheeman Raghu. It is inspired from the 1987 Italian film Stage Fright. The music was composed by Vijayanand, while cinematography and editing were handled by Dinesh Babu and Suresh Urs.
Suprabhatha is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed, written and filmed by Dinesh Babu, making his debut as a director. The film stars Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini in lead roles, along with Srividya, Maanu and Vijay Kashi in other supporting roles. It tells the love story between a man who suffers from a inferiority complex because of speech defectiveness and a girl, a victim of traumatic experience of sexual assault.
Inspector Vikram is a 1989 Indian Kannada-language comedy thriller film directed and filmed by Dinesh Baboo, written by Chi. Udaya Shankar and produced by Raghavendra Rajkumar under the banner of Nikhileshwari Cine Combines.The film stars Shiva Rajkumar in the title role with Kavya, Chi Guru Dutt, Aparna and K. S. Ashwath in other supporting roles. It revolves around an undisciplined, but intelligent police inspector, Vikram. It is regarded as the first Kannada film of the comedy thriller genre and the first cop-comedy movie of Kannada cinema.
Priyanka is a 2016 Indian Kannada language thriller film written and directed by Dinesh Babu and produced by A. Mohan. Based on a real-life incident occurred in Bengaluru, the film stars Priyanka Upendra and Tejas in the lead roles. Prakash Raj plays a special role of an investigator in the film. The music is composed by Krupakar and cinematography is by the director, Babu.
Naanalla is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language murder mystery film directed by Dinesh Baboo and starring Tarun Chandra, Shubha Poonja and Ananth Nag. The film is inspired by the Hindi film Deewangee (2002), which itself was based on the English film Primal Fear (1996).
