Kasinadhuni Viswanath is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South, and a Filmfare Award in Hindi. In 1992, he received the Andhra Pradesh state Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and the civilian honor Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of arts. He was awarded the 2017 Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema, at the 64th National Film Awards.
Cinema of India consists of films produced in India, where more than 1800 movies are produced annually. Major centres of film production in the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Amritsar, Kochi, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, and Guwahati. For a number of years the Indian film industry has ranked first in the world in terms of annual film output. In terms of box office it ranked third in 2019, with total gross of around US$2.7 billion.
Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South, with 14 Nominations for Best Actress Category in three different south Indian languages, Tamil Nadu State's Kalaimamani Award in 2011 and numerous other awards.
Sattiraju Lakshminarayana, known professionally as Bapu, was an Indian film director, painter, illustrator, cartoonist, screenwriter, music artist, and designer known for his works in Telugu and Hindi cinema. In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri, for his contribution to Indian art and cinema. He has garnered two National Honors, two National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, two Filmfare Awards South, a Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South.
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, a neighbourhood of Hyderabad, India. The nickname Tollywood is a portmanteau of the words Telugu and Hollywood. By 2021, it has emerged as the largest film industry in India in terms of box-office.
Sunanda Nair is an Indian dancer trained in Mohiniattam. She did her master's degree in this dance form from Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya affiliated to the University of Mumbai. She has completed her PhD from University of Mumbai for her thesis "Intrinsic Lyrical Feminism in Mohiniattam". She was born in Mumbai, India.
"Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and musician. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth generation of music practitioners in her family. Trained by Lalgudi Jayaraman and T R Balamani, she was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the Padma Shri in 2021. She has become one of the most sought after Carnatic musicians today.
Vijaya Krishna Naresh, known mononymously as Naresh, is an Indian actor, politician and social activist known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and television. He began acting as a child in 1970, and starred in around 200 films in a variety of roles as both lead and supporting actor. Some of the box office successes he appeared in were Rendu Jella Sita (1983), Sreevariki Prema Lekha (1984), Sri Kanaka Mahalaxmi Recording Dance Troupe (1987), Bava Bava Panneeru (1989), Manasu Mamatha (1990) and Jamba Lakidi Pamba (1993). He also received the title H.E. and received a PhD in arts from the United Nations ICDRHRP group.
Deepa Bhatia is a Bollywood film editor, producer and director based in Mumbai. She is known for editing commercially successful films like Tare Zameen Par, My Name is Khan, Rock On, Kai Po Che, Student of the Year and Raees. She has recently edited films like Kedarnath, Drive and the much talked about biopic on Sachin Tendulkar, Sachin: A Billion Dreams.
Shabnam Virmani is a documentary film maker and artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore since 2002. Co-founder of the Drishti Media Arts and Human Rights collective, she has directed several documentaries, some of which have won awards. In 2002, she co-directed an award-winning community radio program with the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan in Gujarat.
Alarmel Valli is a leading Indian classical dancer and choreographer and the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur style, in the Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam. She is widely acclaimed for her ability to turn a traditional grammar into a deeply internalized, personal dance poetry.
Bongu Narsing Rao is an Indian film director, screenwriter, littérateur, composer, poet, producer, actor and painter known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Telugu theatre. Rao has garnered five National Film Awards, three Nandi Awards, various international honors, and has served as a jury in various Asian film festivals. He directed, Daasi "(Bonded Woman)" and Matti Manushulu "(Mud People)" which won the Diploma of Merit awards at the 16th and 17th Moscow International Film Festivals in 1989 and 1991 respectively.
The Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) is an American non-profit cultural organization that promotes Indian theatre, art, film, fashion, music, dance, and literature in the United States. The Council was established in 1998 in New York City and is headed by Aroon Shivdasani. IAAC hosts cultural and artistic events throughout the year, including the annual New York Indian Film Festival, which showcases Indian and diaspora-related films.
Isla Vista Arts is an organization at the University of California, Santa Barbara with the goal of promoting art and culture in the small, neighboring community of Isla Vista, California. It is affiliated with the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and Associated Students. Isla Vista Arts provides free and low-cost entertainment to college students and community members.
Madhusudhanan is an Indian film maker and artist, known for his films, paintings and art installations. His film, Bioscope has received several awards.
Dinesh Kumar is an Indian choreographer working with South Indian films, including Tamil films. He won the 2011 National Film Award for Best Choreography for his work in Aadukalam (Tamil)
Saba Dewan is an Indian documentary film maker based in New Delhi. Her films are based on sexuality, gender, identity, communalism and culture. Her notable works include Dharmayuddha, Nasoor, Khel, Barf and Sita's Family (2001). She is best known for her trilogy on stigmatized female performers, Delhi-Mumbai-Delhi (2006), Naach and The Other Song (2009). She has written her first book "Tawaifnama" which has emerged from her trilogy on dancing girls. It is a well researched book on "tawaif (courtesans) living in banaras and Bhabhua. It is multi-generational chronical first published in 2019.
Paromita Vohra is an Indian filmmaker and writer. She is known for her documentaries on subjects such as urban life, pop culture and gender. She has also written the screenplay of the award-winning feature film Khamosh Pani. Her film production company Parodevi Pictures is based in Mumbai. She writes a column Paro-normal Activity for the Sunday Mid-day and also wrote a weekly column for Mumbai Mirror.
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Surabhi Sharma is a filmmaker, educator and curator. based in Mumbai. India She has worked on several feature-length documentaries apart from some short fiction films and video installations. Her key concern has been documenting cities in transition through the lens of labour, music and migration, and most recently reproductive labour. Cinema verite and ethnography are the genres that inform her filmmaking.,
