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.
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.
Asha Kelunni, better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films.
Divya Spandana, known professionally as Ramya, is an Indian actress, producer and politician. She served as the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She primarily works in Kannada and Tamil language films. Ramya is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards South, an Udaya Award, and a Karnataka State Film Award.
Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha, was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1979 Tamil film Pasi. She also received three Kerala State Film Awards: for Best Actress (1978), Best Supporting Actress (1977) and Best Child Artist (1971); and two Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress in Kannada (1978) and Tamil (1979) films. Considered one of the finest talents to have emerged in the Indian film world, her promising career was unexpectedly cut short as she committed suicide in 1980, due to unknown reasons. Her popularity resulted in considerable public scrutiny of the events that led to her death and also various conspiracy theories. The 1983 Malayalam film Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback is supposedly based on her life and death.
Kanaka Vijayalakshmi, known by her stage name Maadhavi, is an Indian former actress known for her works in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. In a career spanning of almost 2 decades she has been featured in around 300 films and was hailed as one of the leading actresses of South Indian Cinema in the 1980s.
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.
Neravanda Chetticha Prema is an Indian actress known for her work predominantly in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and a few Tamil language films. She ruled Kannada industry in the 90s and early 2000s and she has appeared in many commercially successful feature films. She was a leading Kannada actress at the turn of the century and has received the Karnataka State Film Award and Filmfare Best Actress awards for her performances in Kannada films. She has featured in Om and Yajamana, which are the two major blockbuster and highest-grossing films of their time in Kannada cinema. After an eight-year hiatus, she returned to films with Upendra Matte Baa in 2017.
Girija known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. She is the Winner of Bigg Boss Kannada Season 3, as an actress, she predominantly appears in Kannada film industry. She is currently serving as chief secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's women's wing in its Karnataka cadre.
Sumalatha Ambareesh is an Indian actress, politician who was served as Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka from May 2019 to 04 June 2024. She has acted in more than 220 films in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. She gained popularity in Telugu cinema and Malayalam cinema and later married Kannada actor-politician Ambareesh and has a son Abhishek Gowda.
Sripriya is an Indian former actress, film director and politician from Tamil Nadu. She has acted in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages.
Malashree is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. In a career spanning three decades, she has appeared in about 70 films. She began her career as a child artiste in the 1979 Tamil film Imayam. She made her debut as a adult in the 1989 Kannada-language film Nanjundi Kalyana. In the following years, she established herself as one of Kannada cinema's top heroines. She had been called, by the media and fans, "Kanasina Rani". She is popular for playing diverse roles in women-centric movies many of which were highly successful at the box-office.
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. 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.
Sujatha was an Indian actress who performed and starred in a variety of unique characters in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films- in addition to few in Kannada and Hindi languages as well. The actress was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. After starring in numerous Malayalam films in her mother-tongue, Sujatha later got introduced to the Tamil film industry by veteran director K. Balachander and producer P.R. Govindarajan as a protagonist in her first Tamil film, Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974). It was a critically acclaimed film and launched the actress's first commecrical breakthrough in her acting career. Whereas, her first Telugu picture happened to be a Telugu/Tamil bilingual titled as Guppedu Manasu (1979) in Telugu and was simultaneously shot as Nool Veli in Tamil of the same year. She died of a cardiac arrest on 6 April 2011 in Chennai.
Anuradha, known by her stage name Tara, is an Indian politician and actress active in the Kannada cinema. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009 and is currently a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council.
Sumathi is an Indian actress from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She started her career at the age of two. She starred in many Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi language films.
Chippy Renjith is an Indian actress and producer who works in the South Indian film industry, primarily in Malayalam and Kannada films. She has won several accolades including the Filmfare Award for Best Kannada Actress & Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Janumada Jodi (1996).
Sunitha is an Indian actress known for her roles in films made in South India from 1986 to 1996.
Roopa, known as Roopa Devi is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She is the daughter of Kalyanam Raghuramaiah and veteran actress Advani Lakshmi Devi. She became famous as the debutante heroine of the tragic romantic film Oru Thalai Ragam in Tamil that ran for 365 days in which she was paired with newcomer Shankar. For her performance in the movie Avala Antharanga, Roopa won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress in 1984–85.
Aruna Raaga is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language action drama film, starring Anant Nag and Geetha. It was directed by K. V. Jayaram and is based on the novel of the same name, written by Rekha Kakhandaki. It was produced by Jayadurga Films.
