D. Jayakanthan, popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, filmmaker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Malayalam and Hindi cinema. He was one of the first directors in India to introduce rich color grading, clear sound and quality dubbing through his early Malayalam films.
Meena Durairaj, known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the South Indian film industry as well as Hindi cinema. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. 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.
Jasmine Mary Joseph, known professionally as Meera Jasmine, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films.
Jayaram Subramaniam, known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit language films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasional playback singer. Jayaram has acted in more than 200 films and has received several awards, including the Padma Shri, two Kerala State Film Awards, one Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and four Filmfare Awards South.
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, popularly known as Anna, also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna, was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fourth and last Chief Minister of Madras State from 1967 until 1969 and first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 20 days before his death. He was the first member of a Dravidian party to hold either post.
Srikanth is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. He is credited as Sriram in Telugu films. He debuted in K. Balachander's tele serial Jannal – Marabu Kavithaigal (1999). His film debut was in the romantic film Roja Kootam (2002) and went on to star in more such films including April Maadhathil (2002), Parthiban Kanavu (2003) and Okariki Okaru (2003). He subsequently went on to portray action roles in Drohi (2010). In 2012, he starred in Nanban, the Tamil remake of 3 Idiots, directed by S. Shankar.
Ambazhathil Karunakaran Lohithadas was an Indian screenwriter, playwright, film maker, and producer who worked in the Malayalam film industry. In a career spanning over two decades, his films have won a National Film Award, six Kerala State Film Awards, and fourteen Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Script.
K. S. Sethumadhavan was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He also directed films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Vineeth Radhakrishnan is an Indian actor, classical dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also starred in a few Kannada and Bollywood films. He has won several awards including 2 Kerala State Film Awards, Kalaimamani from Government of Tamil Nadu and Filmfare Award South.
Yaragudipadi Venkata Mahalakshmi, known professionally as Lakshmi, is an Indian actress known for her works primarily in the southern film industry, along with some Hindi films. She made her film debut through a Tamil film Sri Valli in 1961. Her debut as an actress happened with the Tamil film Jeevanaamsam in 1968. In the same year, she also debuted in Kannada and Telugu films with Goa Dalli CID 999 and Bandhavyalu, respectively.
Thangar Bachan is an Indian film director and actor, cinematographer and novelist. He has served as jury member in National Film Awards.
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'. He rebelled against gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu. Since 2021, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu celebrates his birth anniversary as 'Social Justice Day'.
Bharathi is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language biographical film based on the life of Subramania Bharati starring Sayaji Shinde, Devayani and Nizhalgal Ravi. The film was directed by Gnana Rajasekaran and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for the year 2000.
Sindhu Rajasekaran is an Indian author and film maker. Her debut novel Kaleidoscopic Reflections was longlisted for the Crossword Book Award in 2011, while her prose and poetry have appeared in internationally acclaimed literary magazines. She co-founded an independent film production company, Camphor Cinema, and produced the critically acclaimed Indo-British feature film Ramanujan, based on the life and times of the mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. Her second book is a collection of short stories titled So I Let It Be; it released in 2019.
Vietnam Veedu Sundaram was an Indian playwright, screenwriter and film director. He wrote films such as Gauravam, Vietnam Veedu, Gnana Oli, Satyam, Grihapravesam, Justice Gopinath, Annan Oru Koyil, Naan Yen Pirandhen and Naalai Namadhe. He also directed a few films and is well known for his family themes. He written stories films in languages such as Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He also worked as an actor in films and television.
Ramanujan is a 2014 biographical film based on the life of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. The film, written and directed by Gnana Rajasekaran, was shot back to back in the Tamil and English languages. The film was produced by the independent Indian production house Camphor Cinema, ventured by Srivatsan Nadathur, Sushant Desai, Sharanyan Nadathur, Sindhu Rajasekaran. The cast consists of Indian and British film, stage and screen personalities. It marks the Tamil debut of Abhinay Vaddi, the grandson of veteran Tamil film actors Gemini Ganesan and Savitri, as the protagonist.
'K. Bharathi' also known as 'Marumalarchi K. Bharathi' is an Indian film director, actor who has directed village based stories. He made his directorial debut with the Mammootty-starrer with his caste Film Maru Malarchi.
Mogamul (transl. Infactuation) is a 1995 Indian Tamil language film directed by Gnana Rajasekaran based on a novel of same name written by Thi. Janakiraman. The film stars Archana Joglekar, Nedumudi Venu and Abhishek, while Vivek and Vennira Aadai Moorthy play supporting roles. The score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film opened in May 1995 to critical acclaim.
P. Krishnamoorthy was an Indian film art director, production designer and costume designer who worked predominantly in the South Indian cinema. As of 2015, he had worked in over 55 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Malayalam and English, and won five National Film Awards—three for Best Art Direction and two for Best Costume Design. In addition, he was the recipient of five Kerala State Film Awards and four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The five-time National Award winner died in Chennai on December 13 2020, due to age related ailments.
