Girish Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu is a film director, stage designer and art director from India. He is best known for his directorial Garm Hava (1973), which was based on the partition of India. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975.
Vasundhara Das is an Indian playback singer and former actress. Vasundhara's acting career includes Hey Ram (Tamil/Hindi), Monsoon Wedding (English), Citizen (Tamil), Ravana Prabhu (Malayalam), Lankesh Patrike (Kannada) and several others. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil for the song, "Shakalaka Baby" from the film Mudhalvan
Palya Lankesh was an Indian poet, fiction writer, playwright, translator, screenplay writer and journalist who wrote in the Kannada language. He was also an award-winning film director.
Lankesh Patrike is an Indian vernacular weekly published in Kannada language from Bangalore, Karnataka.
Kavitha Lankesh is an Indian film director, screenwriter and a lyricist known for her work in Kannada cinema industry. She began as a documentary film-maker before directing her first feature film, Deveeri (1999), which went on to win international, national and state awards. She is considered to be one of the renowned film-makers of Kannada cinema. She has directed and produced more than fifty documentaries/informational films and more than forty corporate films. Some of the films Kavitha directed have won awards and accolades from critics.
Aishwarya is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Indrajit Lankesh, starring Upendra, Daisy Bopanna with Deepika Padukone in her film debut. The film is an official remake of Manmadhudu (2002) with the flashback portion inspired by Ghajini (2005). The film featured Upendra as a rich advertisement executive and changed his mass image into a classy one.
Hemanth Kumar, better known by his stage name Darshan Thoogudeepa or simply Darshan, is an Indian actor, film producer and distributor who works predominantly in Kannada films. In 2017, he was the highest paid actor in Kannada cinema. Darshan established the production house Thoogudeepa Productions in 2006. Its first production was Jothe Jotheyali, with Darshan in a special appearance. His performances in Anatharu (2007) and Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (2012) won him praise from critics; his performance in the latter as the 19th-century warrior Sangolli Rayanna won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor.
K. M. Chaitanya is a film director, documentary maker and theater person. His first feature film Aa dinagalu in Kannada, won several awards including the Filmfare Awards South for Best Director and Best Feature Film in 2007. Chaitanya also won awards for Best Debutant Director by the South Indian Cinematographers' Association, Chennai Film Fans Association and Raghavendra Chitravani Award. Aa Dinagalu was listed by The Week among the top 10 Indian films of 2007. Chaitanya studied Journalism at Christ College.
Amruthadhare is a 2005 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed and co-produced by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar and written by actor Ramesh Aravind and Chandrashekhar. The film was released on 7 October 2005 starring Dhyan and Ramya in the lead roles. The music was composed by Mano Murthy. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has made a guest appearance as himself in this movie. The film ran for twenty-five weeks, thereby becoming a silver jubilee film.
Huduga Hudugi is a 2010 Kannada-language comedy film written and directed by Indrajit Lankesh. The film features Dhyan and Lekha Washington in the lead roles, whilst other noted actresses play roles in the film. The film was launched in 2008 as Thunta Thunti with Ganesh and Praneetha in the lead roles and then a second launch was conducted in March 2010 with Ganesh and Ishita Sharma but the pair later opted out of the project.
Thuntata is a 2002 Kannada romantic-comedy film directed by Indrajit Lankesh featuring Anirudh, Rekha Vedavyas and Chaya Singh. The film was released on 24 May 2002. The film won the V Shantaram Award for Best Debut Director.
Monalisa is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language romance film written and directed by Indrajit Lankesh. The film stars Dhyan and Sadha in lead roles. The film's storyline is inspired by Parthiban Kanavu (2003).
Nanna Preethiya Hudugi is a 2001 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed and written by Nagathihalli Chandrashekar. It stars newcomers Dhyan and Deepali in lead roles and actors such as Lokesh, Bhavya and Suresh Heblikar in other prominent roles. The film is produced by Jyothi Shankar and Uma Shankar for East West Creations India (Pvt) Ltd.
Tananam Tananam is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic musical film directed and written by Kavitha Lankesh. The film has Ramya and Rakshita teaming up together for the first time, and introduces Shaam, a Tamil actor, to Kannada cinema. The film was produced by N. M. Suresh and based on a Tamil short story written by Kalki.
B. Ajaneesh Loknath is an Indian music composer who works predominantly in Kannada and Tamil films besides few Telugu films. His film music career began with the 2009 Kannada film Shishira. He rose to fame with the film Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2015) for which he received the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director. He is known for his works in films such as Kirik Party (2017), Kurangu Bommai (2017), Avane Srimannarayana (2019), Dia (2020), Vikrant Rona (2022) and Kantara (2022). He is noted for his frequent collaborations with filmmakers Rakshit Shetty, Rishab Shetty and Anup Bhandari.
Doddarangegowda is an Indian poet and lyricist working in Kannada cinema. He is a retired professor of Kannada and has published a number of anthologies in Kannada. He has released several audio cassettes and CDs of his poems. Some of his noteworthy songs are Tera Yeri Ambaradaage and Notadaage Nageya Meeti of Parasangada Gendethimma, Nammoora Mandara Hoove of Aalemane, Sri Rama Bandavne of Paduvaaralli Pandavaru. He was also a Bharatiya Janata Party MLC. In 2018, he was awarded with the civilian award Padma Shri.
Gauri Lankesh was an Indian activist and journalist from Bangalore, Karnataka. She worked as an editor in Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh, and ran her own weekly called Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She was murdered outside her home in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on 5 September 2017. At the time of her death, Gauri was known for being a critic of right-wing Hindu extremism. She was honoured with Anna Politkovskaya Award for speaking against right-wing Hindu extremism, campaigning for women's rights and opposing caste based discrimination.
Pallavi (transl. Refrain) is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by novelist P. Lankesh, in his directorial debut. He also stars, alongside Vimala Naidu and T. N. Seetharam. The film is based on his own 1967 novella Biruku (transl. Crack), and focuses on two lovers whose relationship ends when the man fails in life while the woman succeeds.
Lankesh Patrike is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language political thriller film directed by Indrajit Lankesh and starring Darshan and Vasundhara Das. Darshan played a journalist in the film and Vasundhara Das made her Kannada acting debut with this film. Despite releasing to positive critical reception, the film was a box office failure.
