Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan, also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as Mellisai Mannar. He composed songs for more than 800 Indian films and various albums. across languages primarily in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He has also acted and sung in a few Tamil films. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa conferred the Thirai Isai Chakravarthy title on him in August 2012 and presented him with 60 gold coins and a new car.
Nandamuri Balakrishna, simply known as Balakrishna or Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, producer and politician. He appeared in more than 100 Telugu films over forty years in a variety of roles and established himself as one of the leading actors of Telugu cinema. He won three Nandi Awards and one South Indian International Movie Award. He is an elected member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Hindupuram constituency since 2014.
Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, director, singer and dancer, 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.
Sirkazhi Govindarajan was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.
Arkadu Parthasarathy Komala, commonly known as A. P. Komala, is an Indian playback singer. She has sung songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages.
Subburayulu Munuswami Subbaiah Naidu was an Indian composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was one of the oldest music directors. He worked as an in-house music composer for Central Studios and Pakshiraja Studios and well associated with S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. SMS also worked with many films under Jupiter Pictures banner and a favorite of M. G. Ramachandran.
Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters were Carnatic music sister-pair vocalists and musicians known for their devotional songs in Tamil. They were early singers in the trend of duo singing in Carnatic music, which started in the 1950s, with performers like Radha Jayalakshmi, and later continued by Bombay Sisters, Ranjani-Gayatri, Mambalam Sisters, Bangalore Sisters and Priya Sisters. The Soolamangalam Sisters are best known for singing the Kanda Shasti Kavasam, a hymn on the Hindu god Muruga.
Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni, more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese languages.
Ponmudi is a 1950 Tamil-language film directed by Ellis R. Dungan. It was based on the Tamil poet Bharathidasan's verse novel Ethirparatha Mutham.
Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the Telugu cinema.
Radha and Jayalakshmi, popularly known as Radha Jayalakshmi, were an Indian Carnatic music vocalist duo as well as playback singers in films in the 1940s and 1950s. They later became teachers and trained notable Carnatic music singers. Jayalakshmi was the playback singer of the duo, but was credited as Radha Jayalakshmi in the cine field. Radha was her cousin and singing partner on stage performances. They were early vocalists in the duo singing trend in Carnatic music which started in the 1950s and includes performers like Bombay Sisters and Soolamangalam Sisters. In recent times, the trend has been continued by popular Carnatic music singers like Priya Sisters, their disciples, Ranjani Gayatri, Akkarai sisters, and others.
Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singer for Tamil films.
A. L. Raghavan was an Indian playback singer, who sang many songs in Tamil-language films.
Thiruchi Loganathan was a playback singer of the Tamil film industry. He is known for his work in movies such as Manthiri Kumari (1950) and Parasakthi (1952). He was married to Rajalakshmi, daughter of actress C. T. Rajakantham. His sons are, T. L. Maharajan, Deepan Chakravarthy, and T.L. Thyagarajan, who are also popular playback singers.
Krishna Vijayam is a 1950 Indian Tamil language film written and directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni. The film featured Carnatic music singer N. C. Vasanthakokilam in the role of Narada. The film, based on the Epic story of Krishna avatar, featured later day playback singer A. L. Raghavan as the child Krishna. Adult Krishna was played by P. V. Narasimha Bharathi.
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.
Kokilavani is a 1956 Indian Tamil-language film directed by S. A. Natarajan. The film stars Raghuveer and Tambaram Lalitha.
Kaliyuga Kannan is a 1974 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju. It is based on the play Sri Krishna Vijayam written by Vaali. The film stars Sowcar Janaki, Jaishankar, Jayachitra and Thengai Srinivasan. It was released on 13 November 1974 and emerged a commercial success. The film was later remade in Telugu as Devudu Digivaste (1975), in Kannada as Devara Duddu (1977), and in Hindi as Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977).
Madhuri Devi was a lead actress in Tamil films from the late 1940s until the 1950s. She has paired opposite leading heroes like M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. G. R and known for acting in the films Manthiri Kumari, Marmayogi, (1951), and Devaki (1951).
