Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, film editor, philanthropist and politician who served as a former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential actors of Indian cinema. He starred in over 300 films, predominantly in Telugu cinema, and was referred to as "Viswa Vikhyatha Nata Sarvabhouma". Rao received three National Film Awards for co-producing Thodu Dongalu (1954) and Seetharama Kalyanam (1960) under National Art Theater, Madras, and for directing Varakatnam (1970). In 1968, The Government of India honoured him with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award, for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2013, Rao was voted as "Greatest Indian Actor of All Time" in a CNN-IBN national poll conducted on the occasion of the Centenary of Indian Cinema.
Nara Chandrababu Naidu, commonly known as CBN, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He holds the record of longest-serving Chief Minister in the political history of Telugu states. He is the national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Kshetrayya (Telugu:క్షేత్రయ్య) was a prolific Telugu poet. He lived in the area of Andhra Pradesh in South India. He composed a number of padams and keertanas, the prevalent formats of his time. He is credited with more than 4000 compositions, although only a handful have survived. He composed his songs on his favourite deity Krishna (Gopala) in Telugu.
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr., popularly known by the initialism Jr NTR, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He has been featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2012. Referred to in the media as the "Man of Masses", he has starred in 30 films. Rao's accolades include three Filmfare Awards, two Nandi Awards, two Siima Awards, four CineMAA Awards and one IIFA Award.
Sobha Naidu was an Indian Kuchipudi dancer, teacher, and choreographer. A disciple of the celebrated Kuchipudi maestro Vempati Chinna Satyam, she became one of the foremost practitioners of the art form. Known for her role as Satyabhama in traditional dance dramas, she was the principal of the Srinivasa Kuchipudi Art Academy in Hyderabad. Over the course of her career, Sobha Naidu trained thousands of students and choreographed numerous dance-dramas. In recognition of her significant contributions to classical dance, Sobha Naidu was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2001 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1991.
Swarnakamalam is a 1988 Indian Telugu-language dance film written and directed by K. Viswanath. The film stars Venkatesh and Bhanupriya in the lead, while Sharon Lowen appears in a special role. The film is about a danseuse daughter of a noted Kuchipudi exponent, wooed by a painter of banners and hoardings, who uses her as a model. The choreography is helmed by Kelucharan Mohapatra, and Sharon Lowen with soundtrack by Ilaiyaraaja. The song sequences were extensively shot at the Valley of Flowers National Park, the Nanda Devi National Park, the Shanti Stupa and Bhringesvara Siva Temple at Dhauli; and other locations in Visakhapatnam.
Vempati Chinna Satyam was an Indian dancer and a guru of the Kuchipudi dance form.
Pavani Parameswara Rao was a Senior Advocate practising in the Supreme Court of India. Widely considered a doyen of Constitutional Law, he had argued a number of landmark cases before the Supreme Court. He died on 13 September 2017 in a private hospital in South Delhi following a cardiac arrest, India.
Dr Nirmala Visweswara Rao is a classical dancer in kuchipudi and Bharathanatyam.
Nataraja Ramakrishna was an Indian dance guru. He was the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Nataka Academy. He was also a scholar and musicologist who promoted classical dance in Andhra Pradesh and worldwide.
K. Uma Rama Rao was an Indian Kuchipudi dancer, choreographer, research scholar, author and dance teacher. She was also the Founder & Director of Lasya Priya Dance Academy, established in 1985 in Hyderabad, India.
Raja and Radha Reddy are an Indian Kuchipudi dancing couple, gurus and choreographers. They are renowned as exponents of the South Indian dance form of Kuchipudi. They founded and run the Natya Tarangini Institute of Kuchipudi Dance in New Delhi. The duo are credited with having given Kuchipudi a new dimension without compromising on its traditional virtues. For their services to the field of arts, the Government of India has conferred on them the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards.
Vedantam Ramalinga Sastry is an Indian classical dancer in Kuchipudi. . He was born on 3 June 1963, to Suryanarayana and Sathyavatamma in Kuchipudi, Andhra Pradesh. He earned fame as a choreographer, writer, dancer, actor and researcher. He won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2012 for his research on Kuchipudi dance form. He is the Principal of Siddhendra Yogi Kuchipudi Kalapeetham.
Shanta Rao was a notable dancer from India. She studied and performed Kathakali, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She was a recipient of the Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Kalidas Samman for Classical Dance. She was born in 1925 in Bombay, and lived in Mumbai and Bangalore. She hailed from Mangalore. She died on 28 December 2007 at her home at Malleswaram, Bangalore.
Yella Venkateswara Rao is an Indian classical musician and percussionist, considered by many as one of the leading exponents of Mridangam, an ancient Indian percussion instrument. He has performed as an accompanist to such renowned musicians as M. S. Subbulakshmi, Ravi Shankar, Chembai, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M. Balamuralikrishna, L. Subramaniam, K. J. Yesudas, Amjad Ali Khan, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Bhimsen Joshi. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2008, for his contributions to music.
Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma (1935–2012), popularly known as Satyam, was an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, considered by many as one of the leading exponents of the classical dance form of Kuchipudi. He was known for his portrayal of female characters such as Usha, Satyabhama, Deva Devi, Mohini, Sasirekha and Gollabhama (Gollakalapam). He was a recipient of several honors including Kalidas Samman, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1970, for his contributions to Dance.
Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service on South Central Railway and her 2009 TED talk is ranked among the top twelve Incredible TED talks on cancer. She is a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kalaimamani Award of the Government of Tamil Nadu and Kala Ratna Award of the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for her contributions to arts.
Nidumolu Sumathi, also known as Dandamudi Sumathi is an Indian percussionist, primarily playing the mridangam. She is married to "Mridangam Maestro" Sri Dandamudi Ram Mohan Rao. She is one of the first female mridangam players in India, and the first female Laya Vinyasam artist. Sumathi received India's fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 2021.
Natyam is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language dance romantic drama film written, directed, filmed and edited by Revanth Korukonda. The film is produced by Sandhya Raju who also plays the main lead role.
Karothi Venkata Satyanarayana, better known as K. V. Satyanarayana is a Kuchipudi dancer, choreographer, dance director and composer in India. He has established Sri Satya Kuchipudi and Janapada Nritya Akademy and trained many artists. He won the Nandi Award for Best Choreographer for Sruthilayalu (1987)
