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.
Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath, known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted in Kannada cinema's "triumvirate" as its most celebrated actor.
Saritha is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 150 films and provided voice for many actress for more than 200 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu languages. She was one of the popular and critically acclaimed lead actresses during the 1980s. She also appeared in a television serial, Selvi. She is also credited as a dubbing artist. She has dubbed her voice for Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu movies for actresses like Nagma, Vijayashanti, Tabu, Sushmita Sen, Ramya Krishnan and Soundarya in 1990s.
Gangaraju, professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, dialogue writer, instrumentalist and conductor, having composed and written over 500 albums.
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.
Neravanda Chetticha Prema is an Indian actress known for her work predominantly in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and a few Tamil language films. She ruled Kannada industry in the 90s and early 2000s and she has appeared in many commercially successful feature films. She was a leading Kannada actress at the turn of the century and has received the Karnataka State Film Award and Filmfare Best Actress awards for her performances in Kannada films. She has featured in Om and Yajamana, which are the two major blockbuster and highest-grossing films of their time in Kannada cinema. After an eight-year hiatus, she returned to films with Upendra Matte Baa in 2017.
Veeraswamy Ravichandran, known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an Indian actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor working predominantly in Kannada cinema. The son of film producer N. Veeraswamy, he continues to produce and distribute films under his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly referred to as "Crazy Star" by the media and his followers.
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Through his over five-decade long career of over 200 films, he was regarded one of the most pivotal and influential figures of the Kannada film industry. His films were praised for acting as a bridge between the popular and art films because of the theme of the story and their treatment. He debuted as a child actor in the 1942 Kannada film Bhakta Prahlada. His first role as an adult came in Sri Srinivasa Kalyana (1952) and as a lead, two years later, in Bedara Kannappa, which gave him stardom. He debuted as a singer with the track Om Namaha Shivaya from the 1956 film Ohileshwara. In 1960, he made his debut as a producer by producing Ranadheera Kanteerava. According to Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen in the book Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Ranadheera Kanteerava was the first "big hit" in Kannada cinema. In a film career spanning fifty years, Rajkumar received eleven Karnataka State Film Awards, including nine Best Actor and two Best Singer awards, eight Filmfare Awards South, and one National Film Award. Along with Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh, he is counted in Kannada cinema's "triumvirate" as its most celebrated actor.
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 though Dudde Doddappa was her first release. 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. Through the course of her career, she became known for her portrayal of roles of 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. She has the distinction of having paired with Dr.Rajkumar as a lead actress in all the 26 movies she acted with him and is also paired with him the most no. of times in those movies where he played multiple roles.
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The awards were decided by a committee headed by a Judge. The awards were first given in 1967 and discontinued after 1970. The awards were given again in 1977 and continued till 1982. The awards were not given in the years 1971 to 1976. However, in the year 1977, the awards for Best Actress and Best Actor were announced for the years 1971 to 1976 by way of honorary certificates by the government led by the then chief minister M.G.Ramachandran. Since 1988, the awards were regularly given until it became defunct in 2008.
Janumada Jodi is a 1996 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by T. S. Nagabharana and written by Baraguru Ramachandrappa, based on Pannalal Patel's 1941 Gujarati novel Malela Jeev. The film was scripted by T. S. Nagabharana. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar and Shilpa in lead roles, while Pavithra Lokesh, Mukhyamantri Chandru and Honnavalli Krishna plays supporting roles. The film's plot follows Krishna and Kanaka (Shilpa), who fall in love despite belonging to different castes. The film follows the troubles they face in their love story.
Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada Language films.
Yelandur Narayan Ravindra, known mononymously by his stage name Avinash, is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Kannada and Tamil films. He has been working in films for more than three decades. Known for his authentic portrayal of complex characters and versatility, Avinash is one of the most sought actors in the supporting category. He is one of the few actors to enjoy both critical and commercial success.
The following is the list of Award winners for the Karnataka State Puttanna Kanagal award. Kanagal was among the front runners in Kannada cinema's most successful film directors. In his memory and honor, this award is presented to the directors every year during the Karnataka State Awards function.
The Dr. Vishnuvardhan Award, instituted in 2011 for the 2008–09 Karnataka State Film Awards is an award given by the government of Karnataka to long-serving film personalities in Kannada cinema. The award previously called Lifetime Contribution to Kannada Cinema Award, was named Dr. Vishnuvardhan Award in honour of Vishnuvardhan, one of Kannada cinema's actors, after his demise in 2009. The award carries a purse of ₹200,000 and a gold-plated plaque.
The Suvarna Film Awards is an award ceremony for Kannada films presented annually by Star Suvarna Channel, a Kannada-language division of the STAR India, from the south-Indian state of Karnataka. The awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence in the Kannada language film industry. Held since 2008, the awards' sponsors have been made by Ujala and Confident Group.
This is a list of winners of the Karnataka State's Dr. Rajkumar Award. Rajkumar was one of Kannada cinema's most successful actors. In his memory and honor, this award is presented annually during the Karnataka State Awards function.
Hemanth Subramanya known by his stage name as Hemanth, is a playback singer in Kannada cinema.
