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. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film released in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and the first screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. It was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Patel is an Indian surname or title, predominantly found in the state of Gujarat, representing the community of land-owning farmers and later businessmen, agriculturalists and merchants. Traditionally the title is a status name referring to the village chieftains during medieval times, and was later retained as successive generations stemmed out into communities of landowners. There are roughly 500,000 Patels outside India, including about 150,000 in the United Kingdom and about 150,000 in the United States. Nearly 1 in 10 people of Indian origin in the US is a Patel.
Khushbu Sundar is an Indian politician, actress, film producer and television personality. She is known for her work predominantly in Tamil language films and in a few Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She has appeared in over 185 films, and has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, a Kalaimamani Award and a Kerala State Film Award.
Derryn Nigel Hinch is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for Victoria from 2016 to 2019.
Dalit is a term first coined by the Indian social reformer Jyotirao Phule for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea and the peasant class of the medieval European feudal system.
Parineeta is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 Bengali novella of the same name. Directed by debutant Pradeep Sarkar, it was based on a screenplay by the film's producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, and Vidya Balan in lead roles, with Raima Sen, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Dia Mirza in supporting roles. The film has several notable allusions to Indian literature and cinema.
Manthan, also released under the translated title The Churning, is a 1976 Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal, inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, and is written jointly by him and Vijay Tendulkar. It is set amidst the backdrop of the White Revolution of India. Aside from the great measurable success that this project was, it also demonstrated the power of "collective might" as it was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated Rs. 2 each. Manthan is the first crowdfunded Indian film.
Pratibha Ray is an Indian academic and writer of Odia-language novels and stories. For her contribution to the Indian literature, Ray received the Jnanpith Award in 2011. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2022.
The Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ), formerly spelled Oriya, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Indian state of Odisha who speak the Odia language. They constitute a majority in the eastern coastal state, with significant minority populations existing in the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
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.
Vijay Krishna Acharya is an Indian film director, screenwriter, dialogue writer known for his works in Hindi films and television shows.
Mahima Makwana is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films and television. After entering television with Miley Jab Hum Tum and Balika Vadhu as a child artist, Makwana received recognition with her character Rachana in Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke, following which she went on to appear in several television shows. In 2021, Makwana made her Hindi film debut with the action thriller film Antim.
Nitesh Tiwari is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist known for his works in Bollywood. He debuted as a co-director in Chillar Party (2011) which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film. He also directed the supernatural political drama Bhoothnath Returns (2014).
Naanu Avanalla...Avalu is a 2015 Indian Kannada-language film directed by B. S. Lingadevaru, based on Living Smile Vidya's autobiographical work I am Vidya. Based on the life of Living Smile Vidya, a transgender woman, the film revolves around her life as she, growing up as a boy, cherishes her feminine characteristics and begins living as a woman and depicts the life of the transgender community in Indian society. Sanchari Vijay plays the role of Vidya, with Sumithra, Kunal Punekar and Sundar featuring in supporting roles.
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is an annual festival based in Melbourne founded in 2010. It was previously funded by Victoria State Government. It is presented by Film Victoria, and the provider is chosen through a tender process. The current tender provider is Mind Blowing Films, run by Mitu Bhowmick Lange who is the Festival Director of IFFM. The festival has currently been provided with State Government funding until 2018. The goal of the film festival is to showcase Indian cinema to the Australian audience. The festival has streamed Bollywood films, Indie movies, documentaries, regional cinema from India etc. It also organizes short film competitions, dance competitions and a flag hoisting ceremony since it is during the time of Indian Independence day celebrations in Melbourne.
The Western Union Short Film Competition is a short film competition, hosted by the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, that is open to filmmakers from Australia and India. It provides filmmakers with an opportunity to showcase their films to a wide audience and establish connections within the industry.
The competition is the ultimate platform an aspiring filmmaker can hope for. The exposure, the reach and the encouragement offered are unparalleled. For me, the Western Union Short Film Competition will always be a major milestone that gave me confidence, and a showcase.
Tumhari Sulu is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Suresh Triveni and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Tanuj Garg, Krishan Kumar, Atul Kasbekar and Shanti Sivaram Maini under the banners of T-Series and Ellipsis Entertainment.
Ghasi is a caste found in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. They are traditionally caretakers of horses and village musicians. They are known as Ghasiya in Uttar Pradesh.
Mitu Bhowmick Lange is an Indian-Australian filmmaker, film producer and founder-director of Mind Blowing Films, a film distribution company that focusses on distribution of local content to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. She is the founder and director of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, a Victorian government funded annual film festival that started in 2010 and the Victorian Government came on board in 2012. She has also provided line production services for the Hindi films Salaam Namaste (2005), Koi Aap Sa (2005), Chak De India (2007), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), Main Aurr Mrs Khanna (2009) and Love Aaj Kal (2009). Lange was awarded Jill Robb Screen Leadership Award for 2017 from Film Victoria. Mitu Bhowmik was appointed as a board of member at WIFT Australia in February 2022. Mitu is also a board member at Film Vic Australia and the part of the committee for Natalie Miller Fellowship (NMF). In 2023, Lange received the award of Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to performing arts through film.
Doctor Rakhmabai is a 2016 Marathi-language biographical drama film, produced by Swapna Patker and directed by Anant Mahadevan. It stars Tannishtha Chatterjee as Doctor Rakhmabai and the music was composed by Rohan-Rohan. The film follows the real life story of Doctor Rakhmabai and how she won one of India's first divorce cases and then travelled to the UK to get her medical degree to become India's first female practicing doctor.
