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 actors in the history of Indian cinema and a versatile actor, 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 singing. His 35 movies have been remade 58 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.
Sadananda Sagar, better known by his stage name Vajramuni, was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films. He portrayed negative characters during most of his career and was considered one of Kannada cinema's finest actors. Over his career, he came to be known for his "thundering voice and sterling performance[s]" that earned him the epithets, Nata Bhairava and Nata Bhayankara.
Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj, better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor, singer and producer who worked in Kannada cinema. Through his over five-decade long career of over 200 films, he was regarded one of the most pivotal and influential figures of the Kannada film industry. His films were praised for acting as a bridge between the popular and art films because of the theme of the story and their treatment. He debuted as a child actor in the 1942 Kannada film Bhakta Prahlada. His first role as an adult came in Sri Srinivasa Kalyana (1952) and as a lead, two years later, in Bedara Kannappa, which gave him stardom. He debuted as a singer with the track Om Namaha Shivaya from the 1956 film Ohileshwara. In 1960, he made his debut as a producer by producing Ranadheera Kanteerava. According to Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen in the book Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, Ranadheera Kanteerava was the first "big hit" in Kannada cinema. In a film career spanning fifty years, Rajkumar received eleven Karnataka State Film Awards, including nine Best Actor and two Best Singer awards, eight Filmfare Awards South, and one National Film Award. Along with Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh, he is counted in Kannada cinema's "triumvirate" as its most celebrated actor.
Jeevana Chaitra is a 1992 Indian Kannada language film directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan starring Rajkumar and Madhavi. It marked the re-entry of Rajkumar in films after a hiatus of 3 years, and was an instant hit. The film is based on the Kannada novel Vyapthi Prapthi written by Vishalakshi Dakshinamurthy. The movie was initially titled Simhadriya Simha, a title which was later used for a 2002 film starring Dr. Vishnuvardhan. The film re-affirmed the hold Rajkumar had on Kannada audiences. The film was highly successful at the box office and had a theatrical run of 52 weeks.
Malashri, is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. In a career spanning three decades she has appeared in more than 69 films. She began her career as a child artiste in the 1979 Tamil film Imayam. She made her debut as a adult in the 1989 Kannada-language film Nanjundi Kalyana. In the following years, she established herself as one of Kannada cinema's top heroines. She had been called, by the media and fans, "Kanasina Rani" She was popular for playing diverse roles in women-centric movies many of which were highly successful at the box-office.
Vijaya Bhaskar was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 600 feature films, Bhaskar worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu and Konkani language films as well. He was a part of all films of director KSL Swamy (Ravi) and also shared a great association with acclaimed directors Puttanna Kanagal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
Hunsur Ramachandra Bhagyachandra, known mononymously as Bhargava, is an Indian film director who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. Originally a producer, he came to be considered one of the best directors in Kannada cinema, and he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award, the highest award in Kannada cinema, in 2012. he has directed 50 films.
Nanjundi Kalyana is a 1989 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film, directed by M. S. Rajashekar, starring newcomers Raghavendra Rajkumar and Malashri, with Girija Lokesh and Sundar Krishna Urs as the lead cast. The film was a major blockbuster of the year and was one among the biggest grossing Kannada films of 1989. The movie saw a theatrical run of 90 weeks.
Gajapathi Garvabhanga is a 1989 Indian comedy film in the Kannada language. It was directed by M. S. Rajashekar and produced by the actor Rajkumar's production company Poornima Enterprises. The movie stars his second son Raghavendra Rajkumar and Malashri. The cast included Dheerendra Gopal, Srinath and Honnavalli Krishna. The film ran in theatres for 365 days. Raghavendra Rajkumar's previous movie Nanjundi Kalyana was also a comedy with involving many of the same cast and crew.
Chitnahalli Udayashankar was an Indian lyricist and dialogue writer in the Kannada film industry for over three decades, who penned more than 3000 songs for films and devotional songs. His dialogues, screenplay and lyrics were instrumental in the success of many movies of Rajkumar. Udayashankar received four Karnataka State Film Award for Best Dialogue and two Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay. He was the son of lyricist Chi. Sadashivaiah. His son Chi. Guru Dutt is an actor and director in Kannada and Tamil feature films.
Dr.Parvathamma Rajkumar was an Indian film producer and distributor. She was the wife of veteran Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar. She produced successful films featuring Rajkumar and their sons Shiva Rajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar under the production house named "Poornima Enterprises". Actresses who found fame in her productions include Malashri, Prema, Rakshita, Sudha Rani and Ramya. She was awarded a doctorate from Bangalore University.
Mysore Srinivas, known by his stage name Thoogudeepa Srinivas was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films and is remembered for his portrayal of negative-shaded characters. He is the father of actor, Darshan and film director Dinakar.
M. S. Rajashekar was an Indian Kannada film director based in Bangalore. He made his directorial debut with Dhruva Thare starring Rajkumar which earned the Karnataka State Award for Second Best Film. His second movie Anuraga Aralithu was remade in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. He went on to make successful films like Ratha Sapthami and Nanjundi Kalyana.
Hrudaya Haadithu is a 1991 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by M. S. Rajashekar and produced by S. A. Srinivas & B. P. Somu. The story is influenced by the novel Himada Hoovu written by Vamshi. The film stars Ambareesh, Bhavya and Malashri and was widely acclaimed for its score and lead actor performances, with Malashri winning a Filmfare Award for her portrayal of a heart patient and Upendra Kumar winning Karnataka State Film Award for Best Music Director for his work on the film's music.
Hrudaya Sangama is a 1972 Indian Kannada language drama film directed by Rashi Brothers and produced by MJM Productions. It starred Rajkumar and Bharathi. The film was part black-and-white and part color, thus making it a partial color film. Vijaya Bhaskar scored the music and the story was written by H. N. Muddukrishna.The movie saw a theatrical run of 18 weeks.
Mysore Lokesh was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. His films include Bandhana (1984), Gajapathi Garvabhanga (1989), S. P. Sangliyana Part 2 (1990), Mathe Haditu Kogile (1990). He did comedic and villainous roles in most films.
Balaraj is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. He has appeared in Anand (1986), Ratha Sapthami (1986), Shiva Mecchida Kannappa (1988) and Samyuktha (1988).
Nuggehalli Rangaraj Prithviraj is an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films and Kannada television serials. He appeared in over 116 films and 64 television serials in his four-decade-long career.
Raja Shankar or Rajashankar was an Indian actor in Kannada cinema. His films include Bhakta Kumbara (1974), Sampathige Saval (1974) and Sri Srinivasa Kalyana (1974). He also co-produced the 1974 Kannada movie Bangaarada Panjara starring Dr. Rajkumar and the 1976 Kannada movie Vijaya Vani.
Udupi Jayaram was an Indian choreographer known for his work in Kannada cinema. He choreographed in dance sequences for over 500 films which included Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Tulu films.
