Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, 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. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film released in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and the first screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. It was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film at Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.
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.
Billa is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by R. Krishnamoorthy and produced by Suresh Balaje. The film stars Rajinikanth, Sripriya and Balaji. It is a remake of Don, a 1978 Hindi film written by Salim–Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan. The film revolves around Billa, a powerful ganglord who is fatally wounded during an encounter with the police. Wanting to uncover Billa's accomplices, DSP Alexander trains a lookalike simpleton Rajappa to pose as Billa and infiltrate the gang. The rest of the film deals with how Rajappa learns more about Billa's gang, and tries to get all of them arrested.
Aa Dinagalu is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language crime drama film based on the non-fiction novel Daadaagiriya Dinagalu by Agni Shridhar, and directed by K. M. Chaitanya. It stars Chethan Kumar in the lead role. The supporting cast features Veda Sastry, Sharath Lohitashwa, Ashish Vidhyarthi, and Atul Kulkarni. The plot revolves around mafia in Bangalore during the 1980s when gangsters Kotwal Ramachandra and M. P. Jayaraj dominated the Bangalore underworld. The film's soundtrack and background music was scored by Ilayaraja.
The Trafficante crime family, also known as the Tampa crime family or the Tampa Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Tampa, Florida. The most notable boss of the family was Santo Trafficante Jr. who ruled Tampa and the crime family with an iron fist. Author Scott Deitche reported that Santo Jr. was involved with the CIA to plot assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. After the death of Santo Jr. in 1987, the Tampa Mafia family has been controlled by Vincent LoScalzo.
Nettala Muthappa Rai Derla was an Indian underworld don, businessman, philanthropist and a social activist based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Agni Shridhar is a Kannada former gangster, writer, critic and artist. He founded Karunada Sene. Later he founded the weekly Kannada newspaper Agni, and turned a professional writer. He has written a book called "Daadagiriya Dinagalu", meaning the days of Goondaism.
Om, stylized as ॐ, is a 1995 Indian Kannada-language action crime film written and directed by Upendra. The film was produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar under the production company Sri Vajreshwari Combines. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar and Prema with Srishanthi, G. V. Shivanand, Sadhu Kokila in supporting roles with real-life gangsters - Bekkina Kannu Rajendra, Tanveer, Korangu Krishna and Jedaralli Krishnappa - portraying the role of gangsters in a small but important portion of the movie.
Mysore Puttaswamaiah Jayaraj, known as M. P. Jayaraj (1944/1946–1989) was an Indian mafia gangster who operated in Bangalore during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a hobbyist wrestler from his childhood who seriously practiced at Annayappa Garadi in Thigalrapete. He was brought into forefront of Bangalore underworld by M. D. Nataraj, the then son-in-law of the Chief Minister of Karnataka Devaraj Urs.
Kotwal Ramachandra was a gangster in Bangalore in the 1970s and 1980s. He covered Bengaluru North and operated in Kodandarampura and Srirampura there. He was a contemporary of rival M. P. Jayaraj. The two had a power struggle over who would rule the Bangalore underworld under the crime boss Oil Kumar. Jayaraj was successful in bumping off Ramachandra with the help of Agni Shridhar, Bachchan and Varadharaja Nayak.
Edegarike is a 2012 Indian Kannada crime drama film directed by Sumana Kittur. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Agni Shridhar and stars Aditya in the lead role, while Atul Kulkarni, Achyuth Kumar, Srujan Lokesh, Dharma and Aakanksha Mansukhani play supporting roles.
Syed Hussain Zaidi is an Indian author and former investigative journalist. His works include Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, Black Friday, My Name is Abu Salem and Mumbai Avengers.
Benakanahalli Alappa Shivakumar, was a ganglord and organized crime boss who headed the Bangalore underworld in the 1980s along with other notable figures such as M. P. Jayaraj and Kotwal Ramachandra. Activities include racketeering, substantial control of city's oil supply, labour unions, film distribution through his company SK Pictures in Gandhinagar, money laundering, monopolistic contract bidding and large-scale manipulation of state bureaucracy and politics. He was killed on 20 November 1990.
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.
This is a bibliography of Bangalore, books about the city, its history, culture, geography, and its people. Many books have been written on the city. Some of the most notable books are The Red Carpet (2005) by Lavanya Sankaran, Bangalored: The Expat Story (2006) by Eshwar Sundaresan, Multiple City: Writings on Bangalore (2008) by Aditi De etc. Other than the books written on Bangalore, there are fictions such as Riddle of the Seventh Stone (2010) by Monideepa Sahu, The Lilac House: A Novel (2012) by Anita Nair, The Lost Girl (2012) by Sangu Mandanna etc. which are set in the city.
C. Basavalingaiah is an Indian theatre director and theatre activist. He has been appointed as the first director of the National School of Drama Bangalore Centre. He directed several stage plays that received wide attention. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. The views expressed by him on challenges faced by theatre in India today are thought provoking He received many awards including Karnataka State Award Rajyotsava Award in 2001.
D. Suman Kittur is an Indian journalist, film director and lyricist working in Kannada cinema. She began as an independent director with Slum Bala (2008), before working on films such as Kallara Santhe (2009), Edegarike (2012) and Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu (2016). Most of her films deal with anti-social elements. She is one of the few women directors to win a state award.
A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The genre is differentiated from Westerns and the gangs of that genre.
Head Bush is a 2022 Kannada-language gangster film directed by Shoonya, written by Agni Shridhar, and produced by Dhananjaya and Ramco Somanna under the banner of Daali Pictures, SD Manna Talkies, and Zee Studios. The film features an ensemble cast of Dhananjaya, Balu Nagendra, Payal Rajput, Devaraj, Yogesh, V. Ravichandran, Raghu Mukherjee, Vasishta N. Simha, Sruthi Hariharan, and Prakash Belawadi.
