Sujatha Mohan is an Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. She has also sung for Kannada, Badaga, Hindi and Marathi and more languages movies. As of 2021, she had recorded more than 18,000 songs. She is celebrated as the Melody Queen of South India, she is known by various affectionate titles: Bhava Gayika in Kerala, and Innisai Kuyil in Tamil Nadu. She was affectionately known as "Kavikkuyil Sujatha" in Ceylon due to her association with the hit song from the movie Kavikkuyil. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration with music composers like A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, M. M. Keeravani, Koti, Vidyasagar, Mani Sharma, and with the playback singers K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, over the years. Her husky voice and versatile singing style have garnered her a massive fan base.
The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, to recognise artists in the state for their achievements.
Madhu Balakrishnan is an Indian playback singer who primarily sings in Malayalam. He has also sung songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada languages. He has sung over 10 thousand songs in films and several devotional albums.
Devayani Rajakumaran is an Indian actress known for her works primarily in Tamil films. She also appears in few Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali.
Sweety Shetty, known by her stage name Anushka Shetty, is an Indian actress known for her work majorly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards South, two Nandi Awards, two SIIMA Awards and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Having appeared over 50 films in a variety of roles, she is one of the highest-paid South Indian actresses. She was honoured with Kalaimamani in 2010 by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Pandari Bai was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Rajkumar, M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan. She was the heroine in Rajkumar's debut movie Bedara Kannappa and also Sivaji's debut movie Parasakthi. She has acted in over 1,000 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Bai was honoured by Kalaimamani from the Tamil Nadu government.
Ramani Bharadwaj is an Indian music composer and singer-songwriter, who is predominantly known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a recipient of the Kalaimamani Award in 2008 from the Tamil Nadu State Government.
Kumaresan Duraisamy, known professionally by his stage name Napoleon, is an Indian actor, entrepreneur and former politician. He was the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet. He has acted predominately in Tamil films apart from some Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and English movies.
Sankaramanchi Janaki, widely known as Sowcar Janaki, is an Indian actress known for her works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. In a career spanning over seven decades Janaki has appeared in close to over 390 films. She also performed on stage in over 300 shows and was a radio artist during her earlier years. She is the recipient of two Nandi Awards, a Kalaimamani and India's fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri. Her younger sister, Krishna Kumari, was also a noted actress.
Srinivasan Doraiswamy, known by his stage name Srinivas or Jeans Srinivas, is an Indian playback singer in the Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi music industries. Credited to 3000 songs, he is also a music composer, working on projects including films, jingles, albums, television serials, and devotional albums. He received the Kalaimamani award by the Tamil Nadu state government in 2005 and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award twice for the songs "Minsara Poove" (Padayappa) in 1999 and "Maargazhiyil" in 2008. He has also received the Best Male Singer Kerala State Film Award for the song "Bhasuri" in 2007, the Film Critics Award for Best Composer for the movie "Seetha Kalyanam" in 2009, and Best Playback Singer for "Kaisi Hai Yeh Ruth".
Ekambaresh Lakshmi Narayanan, better known by his stage name Tippu, is an Indian playback singer who has performed several songs in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, languages.
K. Jamuna Rani is an Indian playback singer who has sung over 6,000 songs in Telugu, Sinhalese, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages.
Immanuel Vasanth Dinakaran, better known as D. Imman, is an Indian film composer and singer, predominantly working in Tamil cinema. His first film as music director was Thamizhan in 2002. Since then he has composed music for more than 100 films. He is the fifth Tamil music composer to win the National Film Award for Best Music Direction. He has also won the Filmfare Awards South and he has received 4 Filmfare Awards South nominations. He has also won 1 Tamil Nadu State Film Award, 2 Vijay Awards, 1 Edison Award, 1 Ananda Vikadan Cinema Award and 1 Zee Tamil Award. D. Imman is appointed as the Ambassador for Tamil Chair in University Of Toronto, Canada (2019).
Rajhesh Vaidhya, is an Indian veena player born on 14 June 1973 hailing from Tamil Nadu. Besides performing on stage, he has worked with various film music composers. He also acted in the movie Viswa Thulasi and in Premi, a tele-serial aired in Sun TV. Vaidhya was a winner of the 2010 Kalaimamani award for his veena playing.
Kutty Padmini is an Indian actress who mainly works in Tamil cinema. She was a child star in her debut movie Abalai Anjugam (1959). She has also acted in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. She made her debut in Tamil cinema at the age of 3. She has acted with prominent personalities of Tamil cinema, including Sivaji Ganesan, M. G. Ramachandran, Gemini Ganesan, Jaishankar, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. She was the first female artist from Tamil Nadu to win the National Film Award for Best Child Artist for the movie Kuzhandaiyum Deivamum.
Dhina is an Indian film and television series composer from Tamil Nadu, India.
M. Saroja was an Indian actress and comedian who worked in Tamil cinema. She was frequently paired alongside K. A. Thangavelu.
Meenakshi Chitharanjan, an Indian classical dancer, teacher and choreographer, is known as an exponent of the Pandanallur style of the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. She is the founder of Kaladiksha, an institution promoting Bharatanatyam and striving to preserve the Pandanallur tradition. A disciple of the father-son duo of Chokkalingam Pillai and Subbaraya Pillai, she is a recipient of several honours including Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Natya Kala Sarathi of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for her contributions to classical dance.
B. Vasantha is a South Indian playback singer. She has received two state level awards, the Kalaimamani and the Ugadi Award.
Subbiah Muthulingam (Tamil:முத்துலிங்கம்) is an Indian songwriter. He wrote over 1,500 Tamil film songs, and was the winner of Kalaimamani, Pavender Bharathidasan Award, Best Songwriter Award, Artist Award. Muthulingam was appointed as the Tamil Nadu poet laureate in 1980s by the then Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran and was also a Member of Legislative Council (MLC), before it was abolished.
