Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1978. He has garnered two National Film Awards, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975, the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor in 1991, for his contribution towards arts, the Mahatma Gandhi Silver Medal from UNESCO in 1995, the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 2005, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy, and the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani in 1991, by the Fine Arts Society, Chennai to name a few.
Sugama Sangeetha, a variety of Bhavageethe, is an Indian musical genre in which poetry in the Kannada language is set to music. It gained recognition with the work of P. Kalinga Rao in the mid -20th century. Mysore Ananthaswamy and C. Aswath developed the form further in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu is a film director, stage designer and art director from India. He is best known for his directorial Garm Hava (1973), which was based on the partition of India. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975.
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.
Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company, which played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre field. He has been conferred the title Nataka Ratna meaning "A Precious Jewel" in the theatre world. Gubbi Veeranna laid the foundation stone for the Kannada film industry. He established a studio, produced silent films in early days of cinema and produced good Kannada short films, He built theaters and introduced many actors including Dr Rajkumar, G.V Iyer, B.V Karanth, Girish Karnad and others to the Kannada film industry.
Balappa Hukkeri (1911–1992) was a singer of folk songs and Bhavageetes in Kannada language and a freedom fighter in his early years. He is mainly credited for popularizing Sugama Sangeetha in North Karnataka, just like P. Kalinga Rao who popularized the art form in South Karnataka. Several prestigious awards have been conferred to him including Sangeet Natak Academy award and "Karnataka Sangeeta Nataka Academy Award". Balappa was fondly called as ‛Saavira Haadugala Saradara’.
Rudrapatna Krishnashastri Srikantan, known as R. K. Srikantan, was a vocalist of the Carnatic musical tradition of South Indian music. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1995.
Sirkazhi Govindarajan was an Indian Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.
Chindodi Leela was an Indian stage and film actress, politician, and writer from Karnataka.
M. D. Pallavi, also known by her married name Pallavi Arun, is a singer from Karnataka, India. She is a Kannada Sugama Sangeetha Singer,, and Television actor. She is married to Arun, a Percussionist (drums). She is a recipient of the 2018 Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuwa Puraskar awarded by Sangeet Nataka Akademi. She won the Karnataka State Film Awards for Best Playback Singer in 2006 and 2007 for her song "Nodayya Kwate Lingave" sung in the 2007 film Duniya.
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.
K. S. Narayanaswamy, was a Carnatic veena exponent of the Thanjavur style, in which nuances and subtleties are given more importance over rhythm based acrobatics. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1979.
Bengaluru Ramamurthy Chaya, known as B. R. Chaya, is an Indian, Kannada playback singer, stage performer and a popular Sugama Sangeetha singer from Karnataka. She has performed pop, folk, devotional and bhavageethe. She is recipient of Rajyotsava Prashasti from the State Government of Karnataka and also Karnataka State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Vyjayanthi Kashi is an Indian classical dancer, a kuchipudi exponent. She is from the family of Dr Gubbi Veeranna who was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. Vyjayanthi Kashi is a reputed kuchipudi dancer,a celebrated performer and choreographer and artistic director of a dance school Shambhavi School of Dance where they teaches this traditional dance form kuchipudi. She was also the chairperson of Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy.
Vellore G. Ramabhadran was a Mridangam artiste from Tamil Nadu, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2004.
B. Jayashree is a veteran Indian theatre actress, director and singer, who has also acted in films and television and worked as dubbing artist in films. She is the creative director of Spandana Theatre, an amateur theatre company based in Bangalore, established in 1976.
Dr. Rohini Mohan is a sugama sangeetha singer from Karnataka. She is known for her bhava-filled renditions. Rashtrakavi Kuvempu was so impressed by her singing that he asked her to record his compositions without orchestra. She is known for her lectures and writings on various aspects of sugama sangeetha.
Hirannaiah or Hirannayya, known by his stage name Master Hirannaiah, was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry and a theatre artist in Karnataka, India. His films include ...Re (2016), Care of Footpath 2 (2015), No. 73, Shanthi Nivasa (2007).
Bhargavi Narayan was an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry, and a theatre artist in Karnataka, India. Her notable films include Eradu Kanasu, Hanthakana Sanchu, Pallavi Anupallavi, and Baa Nalle Madhuchandrake.
Neela Ramgopal was an Indian Carnatic vocalist and Carnatic music teacher. Some of her works included Tamizh Inbam, Rama Upasana and Narayana Enniro. She was a recipient of awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Sangita Kala Acharya Award by Madras Music Academy, and the Sangeetha Chudamani award from the Rama Seva Mandali.
