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.
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.
Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath, known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted in Kannada cinema's "triumvirate" as its most celebrated actor.
Srinivasa Sarja, better known by his stage name Arjun Sarja or simply Arjun, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema in addition to Telugu and Kannada films and a few Malayalam and Hindi films. Referred to by the media and his fans as "Action King" for his roles in action films, Arjun has acted in more than 160 films, most of them being lead roles. He is one of few South Indian actors to attract fan following from multiple states of India. He has directed 12 films and also produced and distributed a number of films.
Suhasini Maniratnam is an Indian actress, director, producer and writer in the Tamil film industry. She has worked as an actress in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her cinematic debut with the 1980, Tamil film. Nenjathai Killathe. Suhasini then won National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Sindhu Bhairavi (1985).
Veeraswamy Ravichandran is an Indian actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravichandran continues to run his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly known as "Crazy Star", a title fans have prefixed to his name. He is famous for bringing innovations to Kannada film industry beginning with Premaloka (1987).
Malashri, is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. In a career spanning three decades she has appeared in more than 69 films. She began her career as a child artiste in the 1979 Tamil film Imayam. She made her debut as a adult in the 1989 Kannada-language film Nanjundi Kalyana. In the following years, she established herself as one of Kannada cinema's top heroines. She had been called, by the media and fans, "Kanasina Rani" She was popular for playing diverse roles in women-centric movies many of which were highly successful at the box-office.
Muttina Haara is a 1990 Indian Kannada-language war-drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu. It stars Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini Maniratnam in the lead roles. K. S. Ashwath, Kavya and Ramkumar feature in supporting roles. The film speaks of the toll of warfare on a soldier's family. A portion of the core plot of the film is partially based on Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel, A Farewell to Arms.
Bandhana is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu from a screenplay by H. V. Subba Rao and Rajendra Singh Babu, based on a novel of the same name by Usha Navaratnanram. The film revolves around the relationship between a surgeon, Harish and his student Nandini. The film stars Vishuvardhan as Dr. Harish and Suhasini as his protégé Nandini, along with Jai Jagadish, Roopadevi and G. K. Govinda Rao in supporting roles.
Kiran Kumar, known by his screen name Prem, is an Indian film director in Kannada cinema.
S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu is an Indian filmmaker and occasional actor who works primarily in Kannada cinema. He was born and brought up in Mysore. His father Shankar Singh produced many films under the banner Mahatma Pictures (Mysore). Babu has written directed movies of different genres in Kannada and in Hindi that include love stories, war, suspense thrillers and comedy movies. Many of his films have been adapted from novels or short stories. Babu has won numerous awards for his films. His sister is producer and actress Vijayalakshmi Singh, and brother-in-law, actor Jai Jagadish.
Mahakshatriya is a 1994 Indian Kannada-language action-drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu, starring Vishnuvardhan, Sonu Walia, Ramkumar, Sudha Rani and B. C. Patil. Rajendra Singh Babu won Best Director Filmfare award.
Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh, better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Kannada, Tamil and Hindi cinemas. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Rockline Entertainments which has directed over five films as of 2012. In 2015 he co-produced Bajrangi Bhaijaan which earned the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 63rd National Film Awards.
Antha is a 1981 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu, based on H. K. Ananth Rao's serialised story of the same name published for the weekly magazine Sudha. The film stars Ambareesh and Lakshmi, while Shakti Prasad, Lakshman, Vajramuni, Tiger Prabhakar, Sundar Krishna Urs appear in supporting roles. The plot revolves around an honest police officer (Ambareesh) who goes on to impersonate his lookalike, a dreaded criminal, to expose the nexus between the underworld and the establishment.
Aryan is a 2014 Indian Kannada-language sports drama film. Initially directed by Late D. Rajendra Babu, who died while filming half-way, the responsibility of directing the film went to Chi Guru Dutt. The film was produced by Dhruv Das under the banner Dreamweaver Entertainment and stars Shiva Rajkumar and Ramya.
Doddmane Hudga is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language action drama film co-written and directed by Duniya Soori, featuring Puneeth Rajkumar and Radhika Pandit. The film also features an ensemble cast of Ambareesh, Sumalatha, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, Krishna, Srinivasa Murthy, P. Ravi Shankar, Rangayana Raghu, Chikkanna and Avinash, with Shiva Rajkumar providing a voice-over. This film marks the 25th film of Puneeth Rajkumar in a lead role.
Prathima Devi was an Indian actress known for her work in Kannada films. Devi made her debut through the 1947 film Krishnaleela. She starred in the lead role in Jaganmohini (1951), the first Kannada film to complete 100 days at the box-office. She went on to appear in over 60 films.
D. Shankar Singh was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, exhibitor and a freedom fighter during the British rule in India. Singh, along with B. Vittalacharya co-found the "Mahatma Pictures", a production venture in 1946, that has produced over a hundred Kannada films. The very first film to release under this banner was Krishnaleela in 1947. His first directorial project was Jaganmohini in 1951. The film is recorded in history as one of the first Kannada films to have screened for over 100 days in cinema halls.
Vijayalakshmi Singh is an Indian actress, director, costume designer and producer in Kannada. She has acted in more than 50 Kannada films and is actively involved in television projects.
