Jayant Kaikini is a poet, short story writer, playwright, columnist in Kannada and a lyricist in Kannada cinema. He has so far published six anthologies of short stories, four books of poetry, three plays and a collection of essays. He is valued as one of the best writers in Kannada literature and has revolutionized the field by giving it a fresh new perspective. He has bagged many notable awards like 'Karnataka Sahitya Academy' award, Kusumagraj Award, Katha Award, DSC Prize for South Asian Literature amidst others. Kaikini is regarded as one of the most significant writers in Kannada today. Kaikini has been conferred the honorary doctorate from Tumkur University.
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 720 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.
Janumada Jodi is a 1996 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by T. S. Nagabharana and written by Baraguru Ramachandrappa, based on Pannalal Patel's 1941 Gujarati novel Malela Jeev. The film was scripted by T. S. Nagabharana. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar and Shilpa in lead roles, while Pavithra Lokesh, Mukhyamantri Chandru and Honnavalli Krishna plays supporting roles. The film's plot follows Krishna and Kanaka (Shilpa), who fall in love despite belonging to different castes. The film follows the troubles they face in their love story.
Chippy Renjith is an Indian actress and producer who works in the South Indian film industry, primarily in Malayalam and Kannada films. She has won several accolades including the Filmfare Award for Best Kannada Actress & Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Janumada Jodi (1996).
Kotturu Chikkarangappa Raghunath, known by his screen name Rangayana Raghu, is an Indian film and stage actor, known for his work in Kannada cinema. Portraying mostly comic and negative-shaded characters, he has appeared in over 250 films. Prior to acting in films, he worked as a stage actor with B. V. Karanth's theatre group Rangayana, from 1988 to 1999. He made his debut in films in 1995 with Suggi, which got shelved.
Leena Sequeira, known mononymously as Leelavathi, was an Indian actress, producer and philanthropist who worked predominantly in Kannada and Tamil films, in addition to few Telugu, Malayalam and Tulu films. After having her stint at the theatre, Leelavathi made her film debut in a small role in Nagakannika (1949). She went on to act in more than 600 films throughout her career spanning over five decades.
Vijaya Naarasimha was an Indian lyricist who worked in Kannada cinema.
S. Narayan is an Indian filmmaker, director, actor and lyricist of Kannada films. After Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Narayan is the second director to direct Dr. Rajkumar and all his three sons. He has given many hits with Vishnuvardhan and also worked with many actors of Sandalwood. He has directed Tamil movie Jai.
Chetan Krishna popularly known as Chetan Sosca is an Indian playback singer and composer who has performed the music for many Kannada films.
B. C. Gowrishankar was an Indian cinematographer and an occasional film director and screenwriter who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. He was known for his unorthodox style as a cinematographer and was recognised for his work in both art and commercial films. Gowrishankar won six Karnataka State Film Awards during his career as a cinematographer. In 1988 he directed the fairly successful Elu Suttina Kote with Ambareesh, Gautami and a young Ramesh Aravind.
The Tulu Cinemotsava 2015 is an award ceremony for Tulu films. The awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence in Tulu language Film Industry.
Devadas Kapikad is a Tulu film and theatre actor, director, writer, producer, lyricist and singer. He has also acted in some Kannada films. He owns a drama troupe called Cha-parka.
S. Shivaram, popularly known simply as Shivaram or Shivaramanna, was an Indian actor, producer and director whose Kannada cinema career has spanned six decades. He has played roles including lead hero performances, character roles, comedic roles, as well as supporting parts. He teamed up with his elder brother, S. Ramanathan and produced several films under the name Rashi Brothers apart from directing Hrudaya Sangama in 1972. They together produced movies directed by Puttanna Kanagal like Gejje Pooje and Upasane. They also produced Dr. Rajkumar 's 175th movie Nanobba Kalla and the Tamil movie Dharma Durai starring Rajinikanth which was a remake of the 1989 Kannada movie Deva. The brothers together produced few Bollywood films as well including the 1985 movie Geraftaar which is known to be the only Indian movie to star three stalwarts - Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth - in a single movie. As an actor, Shivaram has the distinction of working with many stalwart directors out of which his association with Puttanna Kanagal is much remembered. He has acted in all the seven Kannada movies directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao starring Rajkumar.
Gejje Naada is a 1993 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Vijay - Nanjundappa. The film cast includes Ramkumar, Shwetha and K. S. Ashwath. The film was produced under Gajamukha Creations banner and the original score and soundtrack were composed by V. Manohar.
Arun Sagar is an Indian actor, art director and comedian who mainly works in the Kannada film industry. He has been recognized as a leading art director throughout his career starting from his first movie, Bhoomi Geetha which won the national award for best environmental film. He has worked with veteran directors like Poori Jagannath, Meher Ramesh, Veerashankar and K Raghavendra Rao. He has received Karnataka state award for best art direction for his contributions in the movie Sri Manjunatha. He ran a show on Kasturi TV called 'Tarrle' that resembled a popular show M.A.D. from Pogo TV that taught children about art, painting and crafting. He became popular during the telecast of Maja with Sruja that aired on Asianet Suvarna where he played various comical roles that parodied celebrities and politicians. The show was a huge hit for its satire-comedy structure. Arun Sagar was later hired as the first contestant of Bigg Boss Kannada Season 1, where he emerged as the runner-up for the season. He later reprised the comedy genre with a new show, Comedy Circle that was aired on ETV Kannada. The show was successful, however for unknown reasons, he opted out of the show after few episodes. He also hosted a one-man-show on the same genre known as Koyyam Kotra on TV9 (Kannada).
Mandya Ramesh is an Indian actor, comedian, director and theatre personality who mainly works in the Kannada films and theatre. He is the founder secretary of Natana, Rangashaale, Mysore, a theatre training institutions of India.
L. N. Shastri was an Indian playback singer and music composer who primarily worked in Kannada cinema. Starting his career as a playback singer in the film Ajagajantara (1991), Shastri went on to sing for more than 3000 songs. Upon his friends' suggestion, he renamed himself as Chaitanya and composed music for over 25 films starting with Kanasalu Neene Manasalu Neene (1998). However, he dropped the name due to the identity crisis for the film Bellary Naga (2009).
Doddarangegowda is a Kannada poet and a lyricist working for Kannada cinema. He is a retired professor of Kannada and has published a number of anthologies in Kannada. He has released several audio cassettes and CDs of his poems. Some of his noteworthy songs are Tera Yeri Ambaradaage and Notadaage Nageya Meeti of Parasangada Gendethimma, Nammoora Mandara Hoove of Aalemane, Sri Rama Bandavne of Paduvaaralli Pandavaru. He was also a Bharatiya Janata Party MLC. In 2018, he was awarded with the civilian award Padma Shri.
Ramesh Chandra is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in the Kannada film industry. He is the recipient of Karnataka State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer twice.
