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 actors in the history of Indian cinema and a versatile actor, 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 singing. His 35 movies have been remade 58 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.
Sistla Janaki is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in India. She is referred to as 'Gaana Kogile' in Karnataka and 'Isaikkuyil' in Tamil Nadu She has recorded over 48,000 songs in films, albums, TV and Radio which includes solos, duets, chorus and title tracks in 17 languages including Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sanskrit, Odia,Tulu, Urdu, Punjabi, Badaga, Bengali, Konkani and also in foreign languages such as English, Japanese, German, and Sinhala. However the highest number of songs in her career were in Kannada followed by Malayalam. Starting in 1957 with the Tamil film Vidhiyin Vilayattu, her career has spanned over six decades.
Puthukavithai is a Tamil language romantic drama film, directed by S. P. Muthuraman. The film was a remake of the 1976 Kannada film Naa Ninna Mareyalare.
Rajan–Nagendra were an Indian musical duo who were prominent composers of film music in Kannada and Telugu cinema from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Rajan, along with his brother Nagendra, created a niche for themselves for nearly four decades. The duo scored music for about 375 films, over 200 of them in Kannada and the remainder in other languages like Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, Hindi and Sinhala. They composed innumerable hits, hundreds of melodious tunes in their career spanning four decades. They also hold the record for the longest active musical pair in the industry.
Jayanth Kaikini is a poet, short story writer, playwright, columnist in Kannada and a lyricist in Kannada Cinema. He has so far published six anthologies of short stories, four books of poetry, three plays and a collection of essays. He is valued as one of the best writers in Kannada literature and has revolutionized the field by giving it a fresh new perspective. He has bagged in many notable awards like 'Karnataka Sahitya Academy' award. Kaikini is regarded as one of the most significant writers in Kannada today. Kaikini has been conferred the honorary doctorate from Tumkur University.
Hombisilu is a 1978 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Geethapriya. It is based on the novel of the same name by Usha Navarathnaram. The film starred Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi and Leelavathi. Vishnuvardhan was awarded with Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in this film. The film was a musical blockbuster with all the songs composed by Rajan–Nagendra considered evergreen hits.
Satya Harischandra is a 1965 Indian Kannada epic film directed by Hunsur Krishnamurthy and produced by K. V. Reddy. It stars Dr. Rajkumar in the lead role, as Harishchandra, an Indian mythological king, who was renowned for upholding truth and justice under any circumstance. The film is based on poet Raghavanka's work, Harishchandra Kavya. The supporting cast features Udaykumar, Pandari Bai, Narasimharaju, M. P. Shankar, K. S. Ashwath and Baby Padmini. This was the second Kannada movie based on king Harishchandra, the first one being the 1943 movie Satya Harishchandra.
Ninne Premistha is a 2000 Indian Telugu-language romance film, produced by R. B. Choudary on the Super Good Films banner, directed by R. R. Shinde. It stars Nagarjuna, Srikanth, Soundarya, and Rajendra Prasad. The music was composed by S. A. Rajkumar, dialogues were written by Trivikram Srinivas and cinematography was by Shyam K Naidu. It is a remake of the 1999 Tamil film Nee Varuvai Ena. The film was a box office hit.
Cheluveye Ninne Nodalu is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language film written and directed by D. P. Raghuram. It stars Shiva Rajkumar and Sonal Chauhan. The film was notable in that it had scenes shot in the seven wonders of the world.
Hunsur Ramachandra Bhagyachandra, known mononymously as Bhargava, is an Indian film director who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. Originally a producer, he came to be considered one of the best directors in Kannada cinema, and he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award, the highest award in Kannada cinema, in 2012. he has directed 50 films.
B. Vijaya Reddy, better known as Vijay Reddy or Vijay, was an Indian film director who worked primarily in Kannada cinema with over 50 movies to his credit. His debut directorial venture was Rangamahal Rahasya (1970). He was known for his collaborations with leading Kannada actor Rajkumar for movies like Gandhada Gudi (1973), Mayura (1975), Naa Ninna Mareyalare (1976) and Sanaadi Appanna (1977) which are considered among the classic movies of Kannada cinema.
Leelavathi is an Indian actress who worked in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. She has acted in more than 600 films throughout her career for more than 50 years. She is known for her memorable performances in Bhakta Kumbara, Mana Mecchida Madadi and Santha Thukaram. She has been the recipient of the Dr. Rajkumar Award in 1999 and Filmfare Awards.
Matthe Hadithu Kogile is a 1990 Indian Kannada film, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by S. Shankar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Baby Shyamili, Anant Nag, Bhavya and Rupini. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra. The film was a romantic drama. Vishnuvardhan and Anant Nag co-starred together for the first time. They would follow it up a few years later with Nishkarsha.
Naa Ninna Bidalaare is a 1979 Indian Kannada-language horror film directed by Vijay and produced by C. Jayaram. The film stars Anant Nag and Lakshmi. The film was remade in Hindi as Mangalsutra, with Anant Nag reprising his role while Rekha appeared in the role played by Lakshmi. Na Ninna Bidalaare is regarded as one of best horror films of all time in the Kannada film industry. Na Ninna Bidalaare is the first movie where Anant Nag and Lakshmi acted together, later the pair become one of the finest onscreen couples in Indian cinema.
Shubha is an Indian actress who acted prominently in Malayalam films. She was a lead actress during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She also acted in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi films. She was the second lead in the cult Kannada classic Naagarahaavu (1972). For this, she received Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the year 1972–73.
Sandhya Raga is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by A. C. Narasimha Murthy and co-produced by him along with A. Prabhakara Rao. The film stars Rajkumar, Udaykumar, Narasimharaju and K. S. Ashwath. The film has musical score by G. K. Venkatesh.
Swayamvara is a 1973 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Y. R. Swamy and produced by C. R. Basavaraju. The film stars Rajkumar, N. Bharathi, Balakrishna and Dinesh. The film has musical score by Rajan–Nagendra. The movie is based on a novel of same name by Ma. Na. Murthy.
Anuradha is a 1967 Indian Kannada film, directed by Aruru Pattabhi and produced by Pandari Bai. The film stars Raja Shankar, Jayanthi, K. S. Ashwath and Pandari Bai in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Rajan Nagendra. Dr. Rajkumar appeared as himself in a cameo role in this movie. This was his first guest appearance role in a movie.
Nagappa Veeraswamy was Indian film producer and distributor, who produced under the house, Sri Eswari Productions. He produced 17 Kannada films and one Hindi film, from the early 1970s till his death in 1992. He is the father of Kannada film star and director V. Ravichandran.
Seetharama Kalyana is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language action drama film written and directed by Harsha and produced by Anitha Kumaraswamy under the Channambika Films banner. The film has an ensemble cast with Nikhil Kumar and Rachita Ram in the lead roles. The supporting cast includes R. Sarathkumar, P. Ravi Shankar, Madhoo, Bollywood actor Sanjay Kapoor making his debut in Kannada, Bhagyashree, Adithya Menon, Chikkanna, Sadhu Kokila among others.
