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.
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. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and was the first motion picture screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. The film was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Anant Nagarkatte is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and English films. He has featured in theatre plays, parallel cinema and television shows.
Namitha Vankawala is an Indian actress, model and politician who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema along with a few films in Kannada and Malayalam. She serves as a state executive member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu.
Kamala Kumari, known by her stage name Jayanthi, was an Indian actress known for her work in Kannada cinema and Tamil cinema. She was noted for her contributions to different genres of films from the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. She had appeared in over 500 films in various languages, including Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi.
Girija, known by her screen name Shruti, is an Indian actress, television personality and politician. As an actress, she predominantly appears in Kannada film industry. She is currently serving as chief secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party's women's wing in its Karnataka cadre.
Priyanka Upendra is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Kannada and Bengali Language films.
Radhika Pandit is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Kannada films. Pandit is recipient of three Filmfare Awards South, one Karnataka State Film Award and one South Indian International Movie Award.
Jayashree, known by her screen name Sudha Rani, is an Indian actress, voice artist and a former model. She has primarily worked in Kannada films. She also acted in a few Telugu, Tulu and Malayalam films.
Talakadu Srinivasaiah Nagabharana, commonly known as T. S. Nagabharana, is an Indian film director, in the Kannada film industry and a pioneer of parallel cinema. He is one of the few film directors to have straddled the mainstream and parallel cinema worlds.
Nithya Menen is an Indian actress and singer who works primarily in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. She appeared first on-screen as a child, when she was eight, in the French-Indian English film, Hanuman (1998), playing the younger sister to Tabu's character. At the age of 15, she appeared in a supporting role in the Kannada film 7 O' Clock, which was released in 2006. She started her film career by playing the lead role in the Malayalam film Aakasha Gopuram, which was released in 2008.Her debut in leading roles in Telugu and Tamil films were Ala Modalaindi (2011) and Nootrenbadhu (2011). Her Hindi debut was Mission Mangal (2019).
Chiranjeevi Sarja was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films. Hailing from a family of actors, Sarja acted in more than 20 films in a career spanning 11 years.
Varadhanayaka is a 2013 Indian Kannada-language action film Ayyappa P. Sharma and stars Sudeepa, Chiranjeevi Sarja, Sameera Reddy and Nikesha Patel. The film marks the Kannada debut of Sameera Reddy. The film is a remake of Telugu film Lakshyam. Arjun Janya is the music director of the film. Shankare Gowda has produced the venture under Shankar Productions banner.
Harshika Poonacha is an Indian actress who mainly works in Kannada films. She rose to fame with the 2008 Kannada film PUC.
Benki Birugali is a 2013 Indian Kannada action comedy film directed and produced by S. K. Basheed. It was his debut in Kannada cinema as a lead actor. The film also has Rishi, Kadhal Sandhya, Rekha, Monica, Banu Mehra, "Bullet" Prakash, Layendra and Janardhan. K. S. Cheluvaraj was the cinematographer and M. M. Srilekha composed the music. The film was announced in January 2011. It was shot at various locations in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Pavitra Lokesh is an Indian film and television actress. She appears primarily in Kannada and Telugu films playing supporting roles. The daughter of stage and film actor Mysore Lokesh, she made her film debut at the age of 16 and has since appeared in over 150 Kannada films. At 5 feet 10 inches she was the tallest actress at that time, but managing to do several noteworthy roles even acting against shorter heroes. For her performance in the Kannada film Naayi Neralu (2006), she was awarded the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress. Her husband Naresh is also an actor.
Kode Nagu is a 1974 Indian Telugu-language romance film directed by K. S. Prakash Rao and produced by M. S. Reddy. It is a remake of the Kannada film Naagarahaavu (1972) which was based on three Kannada novels: Nagarahavu, Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu and Sarpa Mathsara, all written by T. R. Subba Rao. The film stars Sobhan Babu, Lakshmi, Chandrakala and Jaggayya.
Nathicharami is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language film written by Sandhya Rani, directed by Manjunatha Somashekara Reddy (Mansore) and produced by M. Ramesh, under the banner Tejaswini Enterprises. Jaganmohan Reddy and Shivkumar Reddy are the other producers. The music of the film is scored by Bindhu Malini. The film stars Sruthi Hariharan and Sanchari Vijay with Sharanya, Poornachandra Mysore, Balaji Manohar and Gopal Deshpande in key roles. The sound design is done by Mahavir Sabbanavar and cinematography by Guruprasad Narnad. Manasa Mustafa has designed the costumes for the film.
Sreeleela is an American film actress who predominantly appears in Telugu and Kannada films. She began her career with a leading role in Kiss (2019), winning a SIIMA Award, and has since starred in the Telugu films Pelli SandaD (2021) and Dhamaka (2022).
Alaiyadikkuthu is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language thriller film written and directed by Kalimuthu and starring Sindhu Tolani, Naveen Dhanush and Akhil Kumar. It was released on 10 August 2005.
