Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, Kannada Film Industry or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and was the first motion picture screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. The film was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma, known popularly as S. R. Puttanna Kanagal, was an Indian filmmaker known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is often considered one of India's most influential filmmakers.
Tikkavarapu Pattabhirama Reddy was an Indian film screenwriter, producer, director, social activist, poet, and writer known for his pioneering works in Telugu cinema, and Kannada cinema.
Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath, better known as Dwarakish, is an Indian actor, director and producer in the Kannada film industry. He was given the name Dwarakish by Kannada film maker C. V. Shivashankar.
Darshan Thoogudeepa known mononymously as Darshan, is an Indian actor, producer, and distributor who works predominantly in Kannada films. He began his acting career in soap operas and small films in the mid-1990s. His first film in a lead role was in the 2001 Kannada movie Majestic.
Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, also known mononymously as Bharathi, is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in Kannada cinema and television serials. She began her career in 1966, as a lead actress, with the Kannada movie Love in Bangalore. In a career spanning over 50 years, Bharathi has appeared in 150 films. Apart from 100 films in Kannada, she has also acted in a handful of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. In the course of her career, she became known for portrayal of the roles mythological and historical characters, and also that of a student, a romantic and a rural belle. Her role in Sri Krishnadevaraya (1970) as Chennambike won her the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress. In 2017, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
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 600 feature films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu and Konkani language films as well. He was a part of all of popular Kannada film director KSL Swamy's (Ravi) movies and was also known for his association with acclaimed directors Puttanna Kanagal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Gandhada Gudi is a 1973 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Vijay and produced by M. P. Shankar. Rajkumar in his 150th film portrays an honest forest officer Kumar while Vishnuvardhan plays the antagonist, Anand, though his character is redeemed at the end of the film. Kalpana, M. P. Shankar, Narasimharaju and Balakrishna performed other important roles.
Karaganahalli Subbaraya Ashwathanarayana was an Indian veteran actor who appeared in Kannada films He appeared in over 370 films during his five-decade-long career. His only memorial in the whole of Karnataka, India is in the Kengeri satellite town, Bengaluru. Memorial name - "K. S. Ashwath Memorial Children's Park".
Nanjundi Kalyana is a 1989 Indian Kannada romantic comedy film, directed by M. S. Rajashekar, starring newcomers Raghavendra Rajkumar and Malashri, with Girija Lokesh and Sunder Krishna Urs as the lead cast. The film was a major blockbuster of the year and was one among the biggest grossing Kannada films of 1989. The movie saw a theatrical run of 90 weeks.
Malaya Marutha is a 1986 Musical Kannada film starring Vishnuvardhan, Saritha and Madhavi in the lead roles. The film was directed and written by K. S. L. Swamy and produced by C. V. L Shastry under "Shastry Movies" production house. Vijaya Bhaskar has composed the soundtrack and the background score.
Mysore Srinivas, known by his stage name Thoogudeepa Srinivas was an Indian film actor who acted in Kannada films. He is remembered for having played negative roles in Kannada films. He is the father of Kannada film actor, Darshan Thoogudeepa.
Rattihalli Nagendra Sudarshan was an Indian film actor and producer who had mainly worked in Kannada cinema. He had also acted in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam films. During a career spanning more than five decades, he had acted in more than 250 films.
Mysore Mallige is a 1992 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed and co-written by T. S. Nagabharana and produced by Srihari Khoday. The story is based on a 1942 work of the same title by the acclaimed poet K. S. Narasimhaswamy. The film was an attempt to create a story based on the poetry.
Abhinetri – The Tragedy of a Legend is a 2015 Indian Kannada language film directed by Satish Pradhan. It stars Pooja Gandhi in the lead role. The film is based on the life of actress Kalpana. The supporting cast features Makarand Deshpande, Srinagar Kitty, Atul Kulkarni, P. Ravi Shankar and Neethu. After much delay in the post production, the film opened on screens on 30 January 2015.
Ring Road is a 2015 Indian Kannada crime drama film directed by Priya Belliappa and produced by Ranjini Ravindra Das. It stars Altmash Shakreen in the lead role. The supporting cast features Nikita Thukral, Duniya Vijay, Avinash, Malavika Avinash, Patre Ajith, Shrunga B. V. and Sagar Puranik. The film is based loosely on the infamous murder of software engineer Girish by his fiancée Shubha in Bangalore in 2003. The film was produced by an all-women crew, a first in Kannada-language cinema.
Bengaluru Vijaya Radha, commonly known as B. V. Radha, was an Indian actress and film producer. She began her career in the 1964 Kannada film Navakoti Narayana. She went on to play mostly supporting roles in over 300 films, 250 of which were in Kannada, and the rest in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu and Hindi.
Anant Nag is an Indian film actor and an occasional film producer who appears as an actor in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and Tamil films, but predominantly in Kannada films. In a career spanning over 47 years, he has appeared in over 270 films. After having had a successful theatre career, he made his debut in P. V. Nanjaraja Urs' Kannada film Sankalpa, and Shyam Benegal's Dakhani film Ankur, with the former seeing theatrical release first, in 1973, and won multiple awards at the 1972–73 Karnataka State Film Awards. In G. V. Iyer's 1975 film Hamsageethe, he played the role of Bhairavi Venkatasubbiah, a performance that won critical praise, and the film was awarded the Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 23rd National Film Awards.
M. Jayashree, was an Indian actress who worked mainly in Kannada films. She is known for her supporting roles in such movies including Rayara Sose (1957), Naagarahaavu (1972), Eradu Kanasu and Sri Srinivasa Kalyana.
Kollur Manjunatha Bhatta Rathnakar, popularly known as Rathnakar, was an Indian comedy actor and director, known for his work in Kannada film industry. He is best known for his comic roles in movies including Kanyarathna (1963), Satya Harishchandra (1965), Guru Shishyaru (1981), Hosa Belaku (1982) and Halli Meshtru (1992).
