Srinivasa Nayaka, also known as Purandara Dasa was a composer, singer and a Haridasa philosopher from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhvacharya's Dvaita philosophy. He was one of the chief founding proponents of Carnatic music. In honor of his contributions to Carnatic music, he is referred to as the Pitamaha of Carnatic music. According to a legend, he is considered as an incarnation of Narada.
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest and versatile actors in the history of Indian cinema, he is considered a cultural icon and holds a matinée idol status in the Kannada diaspora, among whom he is popularly called as Nata Saarvabhouma, Bangarada Manushya, Vara Nata, Gaana Gandharva, Rasikara Raja, Kannada Kanteerava and Rajanna/Annavru. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1983 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995. He is the only lead actor to win National Award for Playback singing. His 39 movies have been remade 63 times in 9 languages by 34 actors making him the first actor whose movies were remade more than fifty times and the first actor whose movies were remade in nine languages. He was the first actor in India to enact a role which was based on James Bond in a full-fledged manner. The success of his movie Jedara Bale is credited to have widely inspired a Desi bond genre in other Indian film industries. On the occasion of the "Centenary of Indian Cinema" in April 2013, Forbes included his performance in Bangaarada Manushya on its list of "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Upon his death, The New York Times had described him as one of India's most popular movie stars.
Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script.
Kanaka Dasa (1509–1609) was a Haridasa saint and philosopher of Dvaita Vedanta, also known as Daasashreshta Kanakadasa from present-day Karnataka, India. He was a follower of Madhvacharya's Dvaita philosophy and a disciple of Vyasatirtha. He was a composer of Carnatic music, poet, reformer and musician. He is known for his keertanas and ugabhoga, and his compositions in the Kannada language for Carnatic music. Like other Haridasas, he used simple Kannada and native metrical forms for his compositions.
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 among 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.
The Haridasa Bhakti Sahitya devotional movement (sampradaya) originated in Karnataka, India, after Madhvacharya, and spread to eastern states such as Bengal and Assam of medieval India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India in general and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual influence over the masses and kingdoms that ruled South India.
Milana (transl. Rendezvous) is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy drama film co-written and directed by Prakash, starring Puneeth Rajkumar, and Parvathy Thiruvothu in lead roles. The film was Parvathy's debut in Kannada cinema. The movie also features Pooja Gandhi, Dileep Raj, Sumithra and Mukhyamantri Chandru in prominent roles. Music for the film was composed by Mano Murthy.
Maathaad Maathaadu Mallige, is a 2007 Kannada-language film directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar starring Vishnuvardhan. The film depicts the challenges faced by the people living in rural areas of India.
Prithvi is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by Jacob Varghese and produced by N.S. Rajkumar and Soorappa Babu. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar and Parvathy Thiruvothu in lead roles. Manikanth Kadri composed the music of the film. The movie was dubbed in Malayalam and Telugu with the same title.
Roopa, known as Roopa Devi is an Indian actress who has acted in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She is the daughter of Kalyanam Raghuramaiah and veteran actress Advani Lakshmi Devi. She became famous as the debutante heroine of the tragic romantic film Oru Thalai Ragam in Tamil that ran for 365 days in which she was paired with newcomer Shankar. For her performance in the movie Avala Antharanga, Roopa won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress in 1984–85.
Bhoomi Thayiya Chochchala Maga is a 1998 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed and written by Rajendra Singh Babu. It features Shiva Rajkumar and Ramesh Aravind along with Vijayalakshmi and Shilpa in other pivotal roles. The film won several laurels and awards upon release including the Karnataka State Film Awards. The film featured an original score and soundtrack composed and written by V. Manohar.
Keralida Simha is a 1981 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Chi Dattaraj. The film stars Rajkumar, Saritha, Thoogudeepa Srinivas, Pandari Bai and Srinivasa Murthy. The movie was produced by P. H. Ramarao in the banner of Sri Rajarajeshwari Film combines. The movie was recorded a Blockbuster at the box office and had a theatrical run of over 100 days in multiple centres.
Shivam is an 2015 Indian Kannada action thriller film written and directed by Srinivas Raju and produced by C. R. Manohar. It stars Upendra, Saloni Aswani, Ragini Dwivedi, Makarand Deshpande, Sharath Lohitashwa, P. Ravi Shankar and Srinivasa Murthy.
Kranthiyogi Basavanna is a 1983 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by K. S. L. Swamy (Ravee). The film stars Ashok, Aarathi, Srinivasa Murthy, Manjula, Hema Chowdhary. The film has musical score by M. Ranga Rao. This movie is about life of one of the greatest social reformer of India Vishwa Guru Basavanna. He is the founder of Lingayat religion. Basavanna was first on earth to come up with idea of a parliament. In 12th century, Basavanna formed the first parliament in the world called "Anubhava Mantapa".
Balasubramaniam (1937–1990), know by his screen name Dinesh, was an Indian actor known for his work in Kannada cinema. Notably, he acted in Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu (1974), Golmaal Radhakrishna (1990), S. P. Sangliyana Part 2 (1990) and Seetharamu (1979).
Padmaja Rao is an Indian actress, television soap director and producer in Karnataka, India. She is a versatile actor known for playing a wide variety of character roles in various film genres. Some of the notable films of Padmaja Rao as an actress include Hatavadi (2006) Mungaru Male (2006), Gaalipata (2008), Ugramm (2014). She has also forayed into tulu film industry with the blockbuster Chaali Polilu (2014)
Rajatantra is a 2021 Indian Kannada-language film directed by PVR Swamy in his directorial debut. The film stars Raghavendra Rajkumar. P.V.R. Swamy previously worked as a cinematographer for Raghavendra Rajkumar's Ammana Mane (2019). The film was the first release of 2021.
