Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest and versatile actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is considered a cultural icon and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora, among whom he is popularly called as Nata Saarvabhouma, Bangarada Manushya, Vara Nata, Gaana Gandharva, Rasikara Raja, Kannada Kanteerava and Rajanna/Annavru. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1983 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for Playback singing. His 39 movies have been remade 63 times in 9 languages by 34 actors making him the first actor whose movies were remade more than fifty times and the first actor whose movies were remade in nine languages. He was the first actor in India to enact a role which was based on James Bond in a full-fledged manner. The success of his movie Jedara Bale is credited to have widely inspired a Desi bond genre in other Indian film industries. On the occasion of the "Centenary of Indian Cinema" in April 2013, Forbes included his performance in Bangaarada Manushya on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Upon his death, The New York Times had described him as one of India's most popular movie stars.
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.
Shiva Rajkumar is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, he has worked in over 125 films in Kannada and has received several awards, including four Karnataka State Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South and six South Indian International Movie Awards.
Naagarahaavu (transl. Cobra) is a 1972 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal, based on T. R. Subba Rao's three novels Nagarahavu, Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu and Sarpa Mathsara, and starring Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, K. S. Ashwath and Shubha. The supporting cast features Leelavathi, M. Jayashree, M. N. Lakshmi Devi, Ambareesh, Shivaram, Dheerendra Gopal, Lokanath and Vajramuni. The film has a musical score by Vijaya Bhaskar. Cinematography was done by Chittibabu.
Vijaya Bhaskar was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 720 films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu and Konkani language films as well. He was a part of all films of director KSL Swamy (Ravi) and also shared a great association with acclaimed directors Puttanna Kanagal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Vijaya Naarasimha was an Indian lyricist who worked in Kannada cinema.
Upendra Kumar was an Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada and Odia films. He was known for his strong association with Rajkumar and his family and scored some of his career best compositions for the films featuring Rajkumar and his sons. He had scored for 210 films including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Tulu films.
M. S. Rajashekar was an Indian Kannada film director based in Bangalore. He made his directorial debut with Dhruva Thare starring Rajkumar which earned the Karnataka State Award for Second Best Film. His second movie Anuraga Aralithu was remade in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. He went on to make successful films like Ratha Sapthami and Nanjundi Kalyana.
Jayakumari is an Indian actress in South Indian films. She was born in 1952 and was a prominent lead actress during the 1960s and 1970s in Tamil and Malayalam films. She was noted for her glamorous roles. She has acted around 50 Malayalam movies. She hails from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She made her debut through 1968 Malayalam movie Collector Malathi. She had acted opposite famous actors like Prem Nazir in Football Champion, Jaishankar in Nootrukku Nooru and Dr. Rajkumar in Mannina Maga . She acted more than 200 films in variety roles.
Naandi is a 1964 Kannada-language romantic drama film directed and written by N. Lakshminarayan, making his first venture in film direction. The film was produced by actor Vadiraj and Jawahar for Sri Bharathi Chitra studio house. The film starred Dr. Rajkumar and Harini along with Kalpana and Udaykumar playing guest roles. Actor Dinesh made his debut through this film in a supporting role.
Sri Krishnadevaraya is a 1970 Indian historical drama film in the Kannada language, produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. It stars Rajkumar as Krishnadevaraya, an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. R. Nagendra Rao, B. R. Panthulu, Narasimharaju and N. Bharathi appear in pivotal roles. The film was Rajkumar's first in color.
Baalu Belagithu is a 1970 Indian Kannada language drama film written and directed by Siddalingaiah. It stars Rajkumar, Jayanthi and Bharathi. The film was released under Chitrashree International banner and produced by K S Prasad, B V Srinivas and A S Bhakthavathsalam. It was remade in Telugu as Manchivadu, in Hindi as Humshakal and in Tamil as Oorukku Uzhaippavan.
Bidugade is a 1973 Indian Kannada language drama film directed by Y. R. Swamy and produced by T. P. Venugopal. It starred Rajkumar, Rajesh and Bharathi along with a host of supporting actors. Minugutare Kalpana made a special appearance in the film. M. Ranga Rao scored the music and the story was written and produced by Ramesh Movies. Chi. Udaya Shankar wrote the lyrics and dialogues. The cinematography by Annayya won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Cinematographer award.
Emme Thammanna is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. It stars Rajkumar, Dikki Madhava Rao, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan. The supporting cast features Narasimharaju, Subbanna, Krishna Shastry, B. R. Panthulu, Papamma, Jaya and M. V. Rajamma. The film was remade in Telugu as Govula Gopanna (1968), in Hindi as Jigri Dost (1969) and in Tamil as Mattukara Velan (1970). This was the first social drama movie of Rajkumar where he played dual roles in a full-fledged manner excluding Malli Maduve where his second character appears only for three seconds. The core plot was loosely based on a Marathi play.
Yaarivanu is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language thriller film, directed by Dorai–Bhagavan and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. The film stars Rajkumar, Srinath, B. Saroja Devi, Roopa Devi, Hema Choudhary and Puneeth Rajkumar. The screenplay, dialogues and lyrics were written by Chi. Udaya Shankar and story was by M. D. Sundar. Master Lohith played a double role in the movie, though both roles never appear together onscreen. It was his second dual role movie after the 1983 movie Eradu Nakshatragalu.
Bhagya Jyothi is a 1975 Indian Kannada film, directed by K. S. L. Swamy and produced by Gopal-Lakshman. The movie, based on a novel by Mangala Satyan is a mirror to society's take on the caste system. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan and Shubha in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Vijaya Bhaskar. The Sanskrit song 'Divya Gagana Vanavasini' sung by P.B. Srinivas and Vani Jairam and picturized for a sequence from the Kalidasa play 'Vikramorvasheeyam' is a major highlight of the film. This was Bharathi Vishnuvardhan's 100th film.
Annapoorna is a 1964 Indian Kannada language film directed by Aaroor Pattabhi and produced by actress Pandari Bai. Besides Pandari Bai herself in the title role, the film starred K. S. Ashwath, Mynavathi and Balakrishna in other main roles. Popular star Kalyan Kumar made a brief appearance in the first half of the film while Rajkumar makes an entry after one and a half hour into the movie. He appeared in the role of a lawyer for the first time on-screen. Chi. Udayashankar became full-fledged lyricist for the first time by writing all the songs of this movie. The movie is a remake of Pandari Bai's 1959 Tamil film Aval Yaar which had not performed well at the box-office.
Santha Thukaram is a 1963 Indian Kannada language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni and produced by B. Radhakrishna. The film stars Rajkumar and Leelavathi with Udaykumar, K. S. Ashwath and T. N. Balakrishna. The film has musical score by Vijaya Bhaskar. It was named the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 11th National Film Awards. The movie is based on the life of poet-saint Tukaram.
S. Shivaram, popularly known simply as Shivaram or Shivaramanna, was an Indian actor, producer and director whose Kannada cinema career has spanned six decades. He has played roles including lead hero performances, character roles, comedic roles, as well as supporting parts. He teamed up with his elder brother, S. Ramanathan and produced several films under the name Rashi Brothers apart from directing Hrudaya Sangama in 1972. They together produced movies directed by Puttanna Kanagal like Gejje Pooje and Upasane. They also produced Dr. Rajkumar 's 175th movie Nanobba Kalla and the Tamil movie Dharma Durai starring Rajinikanth which was a remake of the 1989 Kannada movie Deva. The brothers together produced few Bollywood films as well including the 1985 movie Geraftaar which is known to be the only Indian movie to star three stalwarts - Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth - in a single movie. As an actor, Shivaram has the distinction of working with many stalwart directors out of which his association with Puttanna Kanagal is much remembered. He has acted in all the seven Kannada movies directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao starring Rajkumar.
Sipayi Chinnayya is a 1969 Telugu-language drama film produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Suresh Productions banner and directed by G. V. R. Seshagiri Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, K. R. Vijaya, Bharathi with music composed by M. S. Viswanathan.
