Girish Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
Sampath Kumar, known by his stage name Vishnuvardhan, was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam language films. Vishnuvardhan has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 220 films. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, and holds the status of a matinée idol amongst the Kannada diaspora. He is popularly called as Sahasa Simha, Dada and The Angry Young Man of Kannada Cinema. Vishnuvardhan's contributions to Kannada cinema have been praised by his contemporaries in the Indian film industry. The Government of Karnataka honoured him with the Rajyothsava Prashasthi in 1990 and the Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his contributions to Kannada cinema. He was called The Phoenix of Indian Cinema. In 2008, a poll conducted by CNN-IBN listed Vishnuvardhan as the most popular star in the Kannada film industry.
Arundhati Nag is an Indian actress. She has been involved with multilingual Theatre in India, for over 25 years, first in Mumbai where she got involved with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA), and did various productions in Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi theatre, and then in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and English, in Bangalore.
Sharaabi (transl. Drunkard) is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film produced and directed by Prakash Mehra. This was Mehra's sixth film with Amitabh Bachchan.
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 Sharath Lohitashwa, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Atul Kulkarni and Veda Sastry. 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.
Anuradha, known by her stage name Tara, is a National award winning Indian actress, known for her work in Kannada cinema and politics. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009 and is currently a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council.
The following is the list of Award winners for the Karnataka State Puttanna Kanagal award. Kanagal was among the front runners in Kannada cinema's most successful film directors. In his memory and honor, this award is presented to the directors every year during the Karnataka State Awards function.
Uma Shivakumar was an Indian film and theatre character actress, whose career included roles in more than 170 Kannada language films and more than 30 plays. She was nicknamed "Baddi Bangaramma" by audiences, after the popular 1984 film of the same name, in which she portrayed a moneylender.
Suresh Urs is an Indian film editor who works predominantly in Kannada and Tamil cinema. He has edited over 700 films and 40 documentaries and television shows. Urs is well known for his association with directors like Girish Karnad, Mani Ratnam, Shankar Nag, T. S. Nagabharana, Girish Kasaravalli, P. Vasu, Bala, Saran and Baraguru Ramachandrappa. He was awarded the National Film Award for Best Editing for his work in Bombay (1995), he is also a recipient of five Karnataka State Film Awards and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. He was also honored to win the Karnataka State Rajyotsava Prashasti. Lifetime Achievement Vishnuvardhan Award from Karnataka Government in 2014.
Channapatna Ramaswami Simha, better known as C. R. Simha, was an Indian actor, director, dramatist and playwright. He was best known for his work in Kannada films and for his work in stage shows. Starting his career in Prabhat Kalavidaru, a theatre group based in Bengaluru he acted in numerous Kannada plays which reached the cult status. He started his own theatre group called "Nataranga" in 1972 and directed many successful plays such as Kakana Kote, Thughlaq and Sankranthi.
Kakana Kote is a 1977 Indian Kannada biographical drama film adapted from Masti Venkatesh Iyengar's stage play of the same name. The film plot tells the story of Kaka Nayaka who was instrumental in stopping the exploitation of tribal people in Mysore district against the tax payment from middlemen who were representing the ruling kingdom government.
Kotigobba is a 2001 Indian Kannada-language action film starring Vishnuvardhan, Priyanka Upendra and Ashish Vidyarthi. The film was a remake of Rajinikanth's 1995 Tamil film Baashha which itself was inspired from the 1991 Hindi movie Hum. This movie was directed by Naganna and features soundtrack from Deva who also composed the music for the Tamil version. Vishnuvardhan was nominated for Filmfare Best Actor category.
Nee Bareda Kadambari is a 1985 Indian Kannada-language film directed and produced by Dwarakish in his directorial debut. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Bhavya, Hema Chaudhary and C. R. Simha. The music was composed by Vijay Anand and the dialogues and lyrics were written by Chi. Udaya Shankar along with R. N. Jayagopal. The film is a remake of the Hindi film Pyar Jhukta Nahin (1985). Dwarakish also directed the Tamil remake Naan Adimai Illai.
Tananam Tananam is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic musical film directed and written by Kavitha Lankesh. The film has Ramya and Rakshita teaming up together for the first time, and introduces Shaam, a Tamil actor, to Kannada cinema. The film was produced by N. M. Suresh and based on a Tamil short story written by Kalki.
Hrudaya Sangama is a 1972 Indian Kannada language drama film directed by Rashi Brothers and produced by MJM Productions. It starred Rajkumar and Bharathi. The film was part black-and-white and part color, thus making it a partial color film. Vijaya Bhaskar scored the music and the story was written by H. N. Muddukrishna.The movie saw a theatrical run of 18 weeks.
Nenapina Doni is a 1986 Indian Kannada film, directed by T. S. Nagabharana and produced by V. Verghese. The film stars Anant Nag, Girish Karnad, Geetha and Roopadevi in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Vijaya Bhaskar.
Simha Gharjane is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar and produced by A. R. Raju. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Vijayashanti, Kalyan Kumar and Sharada. The film was remade by the director himself in Tamil as Puthu Yugam (1985).
Durga Prabha, known by her stage name, Hema Chaudhary is an Indian actress who has predominantly acted in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. Starting her career as a lead actress in the Telugu film Pelli Kani Pelli in 1976, she switched over to supporting roles in the 1980s.
Vamshavriksha is a 1965 novel written by the popular Kannada writer, philosopher and thinker S. L. Bhyrappa. Vamshavruksha received the Kannada Sahitya Academy Award in 1966. A Kannada movie Vamsha Vriksha based on this novel, which was directed by B. V. Karanth and Girish Karnad secured Best Regional Film and National Film Award for Best Direction at 19th National Film Awards. Vamshavriksha is a nuanced exploration of love and loss, tragedy and triumph, and is interwoven with spiritual, historical and cultural insights.
Janani is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by C. Rajkumar and starring Shiva, Vibha Rai and Jayasudha.
