Kailasam Balachander was an Indian filmmaker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of unconventional themes and hard-hitting contemporary subject matter. Balachander's films are well known for their portrayal of women as bold personalities and central characters. Popularly referred to as Iyakkunar Sigaram, his films are usually centred on unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. He started his film career in 1964 as a screenwriter and graduated to a director with Neerkumizhi (1965).
Prashanth Thiagarajan, known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. At the peak of his career in the late 1990s, Prashanth was one of the popular actors in South India. He has won a Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. The son of actor-director Thiagarajan, Prashanth began his career at 17 by appearing in Vaigasi Poranthachu (1990) and went on to feature in other films including Balu Mahendra's Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992), R. K. Selvamani's Chembaruthi (1992), K. Rushendra Reddy's Tholi Muddhu (1993), and Mani Ratnam's action-comedy Thiruda Thiruda (1993). Prashanth rose to stardom with Shankar's romantic comedy Jeans (1998) in which he played a dual role alongside Aishwarya Rai. The success of this film saw him garner opportunities to work in bigger film projects and in the late 1990s, he featured in a series of breakthrough films such as Kannedhirey Thondrinal (1998), Kaadhal Kavithai (1998), Jodi (1999), Parthen Rasithen (2000) and Piriyadha Varam Vendum (2001).
Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami , better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. Before entering politics Vijayakanth was a successful actor, producer and director. Vijayakanth is also the current DMDK chairman of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. He is the founder and president, general secretary of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Political party and served as a Member of Legislative Assembly twice representing the constituency of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively.
Palaniswamy, better known by his stage name Sivakumar, is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has portrayed a wide range of leading and supporting roles onscreen in Tamil cinema and television. He made his acting debut in A. C. Trilogchander's Kakkum Karangal (1965). He has acted in over 190 movies in Tamil. He has won three Filmfare Awards South and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Prakash Raj is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, English, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi-language films, he is the recipient of several accolades, including five National Film Awards, eight Nandi Awards, eight Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards South, four SIIMA Awards, three CineMAA Awards, and three Vijay Awards. Apart from his mother tongue Kannada, Raj's fluency in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, English, Tulu and Marathi has placed him among the most sought after actors in Indian cinema.
P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna was an Indian actress, singer, film producer, director, music composer, and novelist. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema. She is also considered the first female director of Telugu cinema with her debut directorial Chandirani (1953). Bhanumathi appeared in over 100 films predominantly in Telugu and Tamil languages. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 for her contribution to the Indian cinema. She was honored among "women in cinema" at the 30th International Film Festival of India.
Muthuraman Radhakrishnan was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. He was a leading actor during the 1960s and 1970s and was fondly called as Navarasa Thilagam. He had paired with all the leading heroines of his time and acted in over a hundred films. Muthuraman's son Karthik is also a popular Tamil actor and politician, and his grandson Gautham Karthik is also an actor who made his debut in Kadal (2013).
Indrajith Sukumaran is an Indian actor and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Indrajith was born to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran and is the elder brother of actor Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Shiva Rajkumar is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter, who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, he has worked in over 125 films in Kannada and has received several awards, including four Karnataka State Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South and six South Indian International Movie Awards.
Vijaya Nirmala was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema along with a few Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning over six decades, she acted in more than 200 films and directed 44 films. In 2002, she entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the female director who has directed the most number of films in the world. In 2008, she received the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for lifetime achievement in Telugu cinema.
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.
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language widely spoken in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam and Hollywood. The first Tamil silent film, Keechaka Vadham, was directed by R. Nataraja Mudaliar in 1918. The first Tamil talking feature film, Kalidas, a multilingual directed by H. M. Reddy was released on 31 October 1931, less than seven months after India's first talking motion picture Alam Ara.
Natarajan "Natty" Subramanian is an Indian cinematographer, actor who has worked on Tamil films. He has also worked as an actor in Tamil films and achieved recognition through his performance as a conman in Sathuranga Vettai (2014).
Penupatruni Adinarayana Rao was an Indian music director, film producer, lyricist and play writer. He co-founded "Aswini Pictures" with Akkineni Nageswara Rao and produced some movies in Telugu and Tamil. Later, he produced several blockbuster Telugu films under his own production house, Anjali Pictures, named after his actress wife, Anjali Devi. He also composed and produced music for several Tamil and Hindi films.
Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major languages of the region, namely — Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. They are often colloquially referred to as Kollywood, Tollywood, Sandalwood and Mollywood.
Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Varadaraj was an Indian actor and producer in Kannada cinema. He produced films such as Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu starring Lokesh, and Hemavathi starring Udaykumar.
Pyramid Natarajan is a former Indian actor and producer, who has appeared in character roles in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough as an actor playing a role in Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey (2000) portraying the role of Madhavan's father, before playing the antagonist in several films.
M. V. Rajamma was an Indian actress, producer and playback singer of films mostly in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages from the 1930s through 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwart South Indian actors such as Dr. Rajkumar, Sivaji Ganesan, MGR and NTR. Karnataka Government established M. V. Rajamma Award in her honor.
T. K. S. Natarajan was an Indian actor and folk singer. Natarajan debuted as a film actor in the 1954 film Ratha Paasam. Since then, he has acted in more than 500 films. The song 'Ennadi Muniyamma Un Kannula Mai' sung by TKS Natarajan in the music of Shankar–Ganesh in the film 'Vanga Mappillai Vanga popularized him throughout Tamil Nadu.
G. Sakunthala was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Tamil films and plays. As she was a prominent member of MGR's drama troupe, Sakuntha appeared as a 'regular' cast member in many of MGR's movies, beginning from Manthiri Kumari, Thaaikkuppin Thaaram and Mannadhi Mannan. Thus, she maintained her standing as one of the leading actresses in Tamil film industry in the 50's and early 60's. She has acted more 150 films in the Tamil cinema industry.
