Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, playback singer and film director. whose Chaplinesque-style on-screen movements and singing style made him popular from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. He had a mastery of the Madras Bashai, a dialect unique to the Madras region. His slapstick style of comedy has been emulated by subsequent actors. Many of his songs have remained popular.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar. It is one of the oldest studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. AVM has introduced numerous actors in Southern industries, some of the prominent actors are Superstar Rajinikanth, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajkumar, S. S. Rajendran, Vyjayanthimala, Kamal Haasan and many more. The AVM Studios besides the shooting floors, has recording, dubbing and a preview theatre. The complex also houses facilities for production and post production processing.
Thenkarai Ramakrishna Mahalingam born in Sholavandan Thenkarai was an Indian actor and playback singer of the 1940s and 1950s. He was known for his melodious songs mostly based on romantic or devotional themes.
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar, also known as A. V. Meiyappan, A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar or AVM, was an Indian film producer, film director and screenwriter who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, and one of three movie moguls of the South Indian film industry along with S. S. Vasan and L. V. Prasad. His production company AVM Productions is the only production company in Kollywood to run successfully for five decades and three generations.
Naam Iruvar is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and produced by A. V. Meiyappan. It is based on the play Thyaga Ullam written by Pa. Neelakantan. The film stars T. R. Mahalingam and T. A. Jayalakshmi. It was released on 12 January 1947 and became a success.
Dhaasippen, also Dhaasippenn is a 1943 Tamil-language film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and produced by Bhuvaneswai Pictures. The lead actors are T. R. Mahalingam and M. G. Ramachandran. The film was scored by Lalitha Venkatraman and S. Rajeswara Rao. The film has had three other titles: Jyothi Malar, Dasi Penn and Thumbai Mahatmyam, and Jothi Malar. The film is based on a folk tale about a girl becoming a devadasi and dedicating her life to worshipping Lord Shiva and refusing to follow the traditional path of marrying a man. Dhaasippen performed well and became a box office hit. But no print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singer for Tamil films.
Thiruchirappalli Govindarajulu Lingappa was an Indian music director who worked predominantly in Kannada language films. He also worked in Tamil and Telugu movies. He was the son of G. Govindarajulu Naidu who was also a musician.
School Master is a 1958 Indian Kannada-language film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Panthulu himself in the lead role along with Dikki Madhava Rao, M. V. Rajamma, Udaykumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi in important roles. This was the first Kannada film to complete a silver jubilee. The film had its children's dance drama in Gevacolor, taken by cinematographer W. R. Subba Rao. It was later remade in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi in spite of it being dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as Engal Kudumbam Perisu and Badi Pantulu respectively.
Jeevitham is a 1950 Indian Telugu-language social guidance film produced by A. V. Meiyappan with his company AVM Productions and directed by M. V. Raman. The film stars Vyjayanthimala in her Telugu cinema debut with S. Varalakshmi, T. R. Ramachandran and C. H. Narayana Rao forming an ensemble cast, with many actors appearing in other significant roles. Actresses Lalitha and Padmini made guest appearances as stage dancers.
Rathnagiri Rahasya is a 1957 Indian Kannada-language adventure film, directed and produced by B. R. Panthulu, starring Udaykumar and Jamuna. The film was made simultaneously in Tamil as Thangamalai Ragasiyam, released in the same year, with Jamuna reprising her role. Most of the technical crew remained the same for both Tamil and Kannada versions.
Naanum Oru Penn is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar and written by K. P. Kottarakkara. The film stars S. S. Rajendran and R. Vijayakumari, with S. V. Ranga Rao, M. R. Radha, S. V. Subbaiah, C. K. Nagesh, Rajan and C. S. Pushpalatha in supporting roles. It revolves around a dark complexioned and uneducated girl and how she convinces everyone that more than appearance and education, it is the character which is important for a woman.
Sri Valli is a 1945 Tamil-language film co-directed by A. V. Meiyappan and produced by him under Pragathi Studios. It was co-directed by A. T. Krishnaswamy who also wrote the script. The film stars T. R. Mahalingam and Kumari Rukmani.
K. Rani was an Indian playback singer who has sung songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali and Uzbek. Rani was the first female singer from India to sing in Sinhalese and Uzbek, and sang the national anthem of Sri Lanka.
M. S. Rajeswari was an Indian playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films.
A. G. Rathnamala was an Indian stage drama artist and playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films.
Vilaiyattu Bommai is a 1954 Indian Tamil language film directed by T. R. Raghunath. The film stars T. R. Mahalingam and Kumari Kamala.
S. C. Krishnan (1929-1983) was an Indian actor and playback singer who worked mainly in Tamil dramas and films.
Lalita Venkatram, also credited as Lalita Venkataram or Lalitha Venkataraman, was an Indian Carnatic singer and veena player. She is credited as the first playback singer in Tamil cinema and the first Carnatic musician to be featured on All India Radio, Bombay.
