Sowmya Sathyanarayana, better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress known for her works primarily in Telugu cinema. She was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Telugu cinema. She also acted in a few Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam films. She has received three Nandi Awards, two Karnataka State Film Awards and six Filmfare Awards South. In 2002, she received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film as a producer for the Kannada film Dweepa.
Girish Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
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.
Shamshuddin Ibrahim, known professionally as Shaam, is an Indian actor and model who mainly appears Tamil and Telugu-language films. Starting his career as a professional model, he soon made his acting debut in the film 12B (2001). He further appeared in lead roles in films such as Lesa Lesa (2003), Iyarkai (2003), and Ullam Ketkumae (2005). He garnered acclaim for his role in the Telugu film Kick (2009), which earned him the name Kick Shaam. Kick enabled Shaam to star in other prominent Telugu films such as Race Gurram (2014). After a hiatus, he returned to Tamil cinema with 6 (2013), Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai (2015) and Varisu (2023).
Ramya Krishnan, also credited as Ramya Krishna, is an Indian actress predominantly known for her work in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. Ramya has won four Filmfare Awards, three Nandi Awards, and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize.
Divya Spandana, better known by her screen name Ramya, is an Indian actress, producer and politician. She served as the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She primarily works in Kannada, and Tamil language films. Ramya was the recipient of two Filmfare Awards South, an Udaya Award, and a Karnataka State Film Award.
Daisy Bopanna is an Indian actress who appears in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil-language films.
Kavitha Lankesh is an Indian film director, screenwriter and a lyricist known for her work in Kannada cinema industry. She began as a documentary film-maker before directing her first feature film, Deveeri (1999), which went on to win international, national and state awards. She is considered to be one of the renowned film-makers of Kannada cinema. She has directed and produced more than fifty documentaries/informational films and more than forty corporate films. Some of the films Kavitha directed have won awards and accolades from critics.
K. M. Chaitanya is a film director, documentary maker and theater person who works in Kannada cinema. He is known for directing Aa Dinagalu (2007).
Appu is a 2002 Indian Kannada-language romantic action film directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar under Poornima Enterprises. The film stars debutants Puneeth Rajkumar and Rakshita, alongside Avinash Yelandur, Srinivasa Murthy and Sumithra. The music was composed by Gurukiran, while cinematography and editing were composed by K. Datthu and S. Manohar.
Anuradha, known by her stage name Tara, is an Indian politician and actress active in the Kannada cinema. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009 and is currently a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council.
Malgudi Days is an Indian television series that premiered in 1986. Initially produced in both English and Hindi, the show is based on R. K. Narayan’s 1943 short story collection of the same name. Directed by Kannada actor and director Shankar Nag, The series was Produced by T.S. Narasimhan, with music composed by L. Vaidyanathan. Renowned cartoonist R. K. Laxman, Narayan's younger brother, contributed as the sketch artist. the series was revived in 2006 with 15 new episodes directed by Kavitha Lankesh.
The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Kannada films (Sandalwood). The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. The year indicates the year of release of the film.
Thamassu (transl. Darkness) is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language film written directed by journalist Agni Shridhar, starring Shiva Rajkumar and Padmapriya. The movie was released on 11 June 2010 and received extremely positive reviews. The story was inspired by a Hindu-Muslim incident in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.
Kempe Gowda is a 2011 Kannada-language action film starring Sudeepa and Ragini Dwivedi in the lead roles. The film was directed by Sudeepa and produced by Shankar Gowda. It is a remake of the Tamil-language film Singam directed by Hari. Arjun Janya has composed the music. A namesake sequel titled Kempegowda 2 was released in 2019.
Crazy Loka is a 2012 Kannada film starring V. Ravichandran and Daisy Bopanna. The film is directed by Kavita Lankesh and produced by Confident Group and Shanti Pictures. Manikanth Kadri is the music director for the film.
Indrajit Lankesh is an Indian filmmaker, producer, and director of Kannada and Hindi films. He is also the publisher of the weekly Kannada tabloid Lankesh Patrike. He is the son of iconic writer, journalist and film maker P. Lankesh.
Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar, also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and a writer. As an actor, he predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu and Tamil films. As a dubbing artist, he has dubbed for over 3500 films, with more than 1000 of those each in Telugu and Tamil, and over 150 in Kannada.
Sevanthi Sevanthi is a 2006 Indian Kannada language romance-drama musical film directed and written by S. Narayan. The film stars Vijay Raghavendra and Ramya in the lead roles. The film is presented by Parvathamma Rajkumar and produced by Jayamma Chinne Gowda in association with S. A. Chinne Gowda. The music is composed by S. A. Rajkumar who has reproduced the best known Kannada folk songs since the story is about Devu, a son of butter seller, who is very good at singing folk songs.
The 26th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honoring the winners of the best of South Indian cinema in 1978 was an event held on 10 June 1979 at Kalaivanar Arangam in Madras.
