Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa, popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He was the first Kannada writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.
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.
Kota Shivaram Karanth, also abbreviated as K. Shivaram Karanth, was an Indian polymath, who was a novelist in Kannada language, playwright and an ecological conservationist. Ramachandra Guha called him the "Rabindranath Tagore of Modern India, who has been one of the finest novelists-activists since independence". He was the third writer to be decorated with the Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honor conferred in India. His son Ullas is an ecological conservationist.
Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, composer, and dramatist known for his works in the Kannada theatre, Kannada cinema, and Hindi cinema. One of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema, Karanth was an alumnus of the National School of Drama (1962) and later, its Director. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1976), six National Film Awards, and the civilian honor Padma Shri for his contributions towards the field of art.
Thirthahalli is a panchayat town located in the Shimoga district of the state of Karnataka, India. It lies on the bank of the river Tunga and is also the headquarters of the Thirthahalli Taluk of Shimoga district.
Kuppali Puttappa Poornachandra Tejaswi was a prominent Indian writer and novelist in Kannada. He also worked as a photographer, publisher, painter, naturalist, and environmentalist. He made a great impression in the Navya ("new") period of Kannada literature and inaugurated the Bandaaya Saahitya genre of protest literature with his short-story collection Abachoorina Post Offisu. He is the son of noted Kannada poet Kuvempu.
Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company, which played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre field. He has been conferred the title Nataka Ratna meaning "A Precious Jewel" in the theatre world. Gubbi Veeranna laid the foundation stone for the Kannada film industry. He established a studio, produced silent films in early days of cinema and produced good Kannada short films, He built theaters and introduced many actors including Dr Rajkumar, G.V Iyer, B.V Karanth, Girish Karnad and others to the Kannada film industry.
Chandrashekhara Kambara is a prominent Indian poet, playwright, folklorist, film director in Kannada language and the founder-vice-chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi also president of the Sahitya Akademi, country's premier literary institution, after Vinayak Krishna Gokak (1983) and U.R. Ananthamurthy (1993). He is known for effective adaptation of the North Karnataka dialect of the Kannada language in his plays, and poems, in a similar style as in the works of D.R. Bendre.
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.
Modern Kannada literature refers to the body of literature written in the Kannada language, a language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka. The Kannada script is the writing system used in Kannada literature. In the last forty years, eight modern Kannada authors have been awarded the Jnanpith award, a prestigious private literary award in India. In addition, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the second-highest award for literature granted by the Government of India, has been conferred upon Kannada writers fifty times.
Bhargavi Prabhanjan Rao, a Sahitya Akademi awardee, was an eminent translator in Telugu Literature. She was actively involved in translating various works of author and playwright Girish Karnad. Her most famous works include Noorella Panta, a compilation of one hundred short stories by women writers of the twentieth century. She died due to a heart attack on 23 May 2008 in Hyderabad.
Anuradha, known by her stage name Tara, is an Indian actress, known for her work in Kannada cinema and politics. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009 and is currently a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council.
Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane or Godhuli is a 1977 Indian drama film co-directed by Girish Karnad and B. V. Karanth, starring Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Manu, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. It is based on the Kannada novel Tabali Neenade Magane, written by S. L. Byrappa as an allegory for nation-building and the clash of modernity with tradition in rural India. It portrays the story of a modern agriculturist who returns from US after studying agriculture and brings his American wife to the village. The film won the Filmfare for ‘Best Film’ (Kannada) and Manu won ‘Best Actor’ (Kannada) at the 25th Filmfare Awards South (1978). The film was made in Hindi and Kannada versions: Godhuli.
Kempe Gowda is a 2011 Kannada-language action film starring Sudeepa and Ragini Dwivedi in the lead roles. The film was directed by Sudeepa and produced by Shankar Gowda. It is a remake of the Tamil-language film Singam directed by Hari. Arjun Janya has composed the music. A namesake sequel titled Kempegowda 2 was released in 2019.
Kaadu (transl. Forest) is a 1973 Indian Kannada-language film written and directed by Girish Karnad. The screenplay was based on a novel of the same name by Srikrishna Alanahalli. It stars Master G. S. Nataraj, Amrish Puri and Nandini Bhaktavatsala. The film won awards at the 21st National Film Awards and the 21st Filmfare Awards South.
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.
K. Suchendra Prasad is an Indian theatre, film and television actor. Before beginning his career in Kannada cinema, he worked as theater actor with playwrights such as B. V. Karanth and D. R. Ankur. During this time, he also directed, choreographed, composed music for films, television and radio, and wrote plays.
Kanuru Heggaditi or Kanooru Heggadithi(meaning: Proprietress of Kanuru) is a Kannada language novel written by author and poet, Kuvempu, in 1936. Based on the novel, a Kannada movie Kanooru Heggadithi directed by Girish Karnad, was released in 1999.
