Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician, statesman and poet who served as the Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. He was the first non-Congress prime minister to serve a full term in the office. Vajpayee was one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of the RSS, a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation. He was also a Hindi poet and a writer.
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.
Puneeth Rajkumar, affectionately known as Appu, was an former Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter and philanthropist who worked in Kannada cinema. He was the youngest son of legendary actor and matinee idol Dr. Rajkumar. He was one of the most popular actors in Kannada cinema. He appeared as a lead in 32 films. As a child, he appeared in many films. His performances as a child actor in Vasantha Geetha (1980), Bhagyavantha (1981), Chalisuva Modagalu (1982), Eradu Nakshatragalu (1983), Bhakta Prahaladha (1983), Yarivanu (1984) and Bettada Hoovu (1985) were praised. He won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist for his role of Ramu in Bettada Hoovu. He also won Karnataka State Award Best Child artist for Chalisuva Modagalu and Eradu Nakshatragalu. Puneeth's first lead role was in 2002's Appu. In a career spanning three decades, he has won one National Film Award, four Karnataka State Film Awards, six Filmfare Awards South and five SIIMA awards. He was conferred with the Doctorate by Mysuru University. The Karnataka Government conferred the state's highest civilian award, Karnataka Ratna, to Puneeth Rajkumar on 1 November 2022, posthumously.
Jogayya is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Prem and produced by Rakshita Prem under Prem's Pictures. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar in the titular role, alongside Sumit Kaur Atwal, Pooja Gandhi, Ravishankar Gowda. It is the sequel to the 2005 film Jogi. The music was composed by V. Harikrishna, while cinematography and editing were handled by Nanda Kumar and Srinivas P. Babu.
Chitnahalli Guru Dutt is an Indian actor primarily concentrating on Kannada films alongside a few Tamil films. He is the son of Chi. Udaya Shankar.
Samyuktha is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language thriller film directed by K. N. Chandrashekar Sharma. The story is based on a novel of same name by Kakolu Saroja Rao. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Balaraj, Chi Guru Dutt and debutant actress Veena. The film was widely appreciated for its songs and story upon release. The songs composed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao were huge hits. Singeetam also co-wrote the screenplay for this movie. The background score was composed by Shankar–Ganesh.
Yagna Shetty is an Indian actress known for her work in Kannada cinema. She made her debut in the 2007 film Ondu Preethiya Kathe, following which she appeared in Eddelu Manjunatha, a performance that won her a Filmfare Special Award. She got noticed for her performances in Sugreeva (2010) and Allide Nammane Illi Bande Summane (2011). Known for portraying deglamorous and serious roles, she went on to appear in other critical and commercial successes such as Love Guru (2009), Kalla Malla Sulla (2011) and Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014). She made her television debut in 2016 with Vaarasdaara.
Killing Veerappan is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language biographical crime film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, who co-wrote the film with K. Balaji. The film is based on the events leading to Operation Cocoon to capture or kill Indian bandit Veerappan. Featuring Shiva Rajkumar in the central role touted to be based on N. K. Senthamarai Kannan, the then Superintendent of police, with the Indian Special Task Force, and the spy who masterminded Operation Cocoon.
Ashika Ranganath is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Kannada films. She made her acting debut with the Kannada film Crazy Boy (2016). Ashika received SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Kannada nomination for Raambo 2, Raymo and Madhagaja, winning for the lattermost.
Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language epic historical action film directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Ram Charan under the Konidela Production Company banner. Reddy scripted the film based on an original story given by Paruchuri brothers. A work of fiction, the film is inspired by the life of Indian independence activist Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy from the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. The film stars Chiranjeevi in the title character, with an ensemble cast including Sudeepa, Vijay Sethupathi, Ravi Kishan, Jagapathi Babu, Nayanthara and Tamannaah Bhatia. Amitabh Bachchan and Anushka Shetty make guest appearances. Pawan Kalyan, Kamal Haasan, and Mohanlal gave narration in the film to their respective languages. The film tells the story of Narasimha Reddy in his fight against the rule of the British East India Company.
Events from the year 2019 in India.
Bigil (transl. Whistle) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language sports action drama film directed by Atlee and produced by AGS Entertainment. The film stars Vijay in the main dual lead role as father and son alongside an ensemble cast of Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek, Kathir, Daniel Balaji, Anandaraj, Yogi Babu, I. M. Vijayan, Arjan Bajwa, Indhuja Ravichandran, Reba Monica John, Amritha Aiyer and Varsha Bollamma. It is the third and final collaboration of Vijay with Atlee after Theri (2016) and Mersal (2017). The film follows Michael Rayappan a.k.a. "Bigil", a former footballer-turned-gangster, who ends up as coach of a women's football team.
Yuvarathnaa is a 2021 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the banner of Hombale Films. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar, Sayyeshaa, Dhananjay, Prakash Raj, Diganth and P. Sai Kumar. The music was composed by S. Thaman, while the cinematography and editing was handled by A. Venkatesh and Jnaanesh B. Matad respectively.
Guru Deshpande is an Indian film director, producer and distributor, known for his work in Kannada film industry. He is well known for Raja Huli starring Yash and Meghana Raj. In 2019, Guru Deshpande turned produced launching his banner G Cinemas and started a Film Institute under the name G Academy in Bengaluru.
