Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, a neighbourhood of Hyderabad, India. The nickname Tollywood is a portmanteau of the words Telugu and Hollywood. By 2021, it has emerged as the largest film industry in South Asia in terms of box-office.
Pushpaka Vimana is a 1987 Indian black comedy film written and directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, who co-produced it with Shringar Nagaraj. The film, which has no dialogue, stars Kamal Haasan leading an ensemble cast that includes Samir Khakhar, Tinu Anand, K. S. Ramesh, Amala, Farida Jalal, Pratap Potan, Lokanath, P. L. Narayana and Ramya. It revolves around an unemployed graduate who encounters a drunk rich man unconscious and takes over his lifestyle after keeping him prisoner. However, he does not realise the dangers he has brought upon himself because a hired killer believes him to be his target.
Indian theatre is one of the most ancient forms of theatre and it features a detailed textual, sculptural, and dramatic effects which emerged in mid first millennium BC. Like in the areas of music and dance, the Indian theatre is also defined by the dramatic performance based on the concept of Natya, which is a Sanskrit word for drama but encompasses dramatic narrative, virtuostic dance, and music. Historically, Indian theatre has exerted influence beyond its borders, reaching ancient China and other countries in the Far East.
Ustad Rashid Khan is an Indian classical musician in the Hindustani music tradition. He belongs to the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, and is the great-grandson of gharana founder Inayat Hussain Khan. He is married to Soma Khan.
Yours truly is a form of valediction, especially at the end of a written communication.
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.
Telugu theatre is an Indian theatre in the Telugu language, based in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Gurajada Apparao wrote the play, Kanyasulkam in 1892, which is often considered the greatest play in the Telugu language. C. Pullaiah is cited as the father of Telugu theatre movement.
Mungaru Male is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film co-written and directed by Yogaraj Bhat, and produced by E. Krishnappa. It stars Ganesh, Pooja Gandhi and Anant Nag. The film is believed to have shaped and strengthened the careers of Ganesh, Pooja Gandhi, director Yograj Bhat, lyricist Jayant Kaikini, choreographers A. Harsha, Imran Sardaria, composer Mano Murthy and others in Kannada cinema, and made Bollywood playback singers Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala, Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal popular in Karnataka.
Ratan Thiyam is an Indian playwright and theatre director, and the winner of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987, one of leading figures of the "theatre of roots" movement in Indian theatre, which started in the 1970s. Also known as Thiyam Nemai, Ratan Thiyam is known for writing and staging plays that use ancient Indian theatre traditions and forms in a contemporary context. A former painter, and proficient in direction, design, script and music, Thiyam is often considered one of leading contemporary theatre gurus.
Samskara is a 1970 Indian Kannada-language film written by U. R. Ananthamurthy based on his eponymous novel, and directed and produced by Pattabhirama Reddy. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao was executive director for the film. It is considered a path-breaking film that pioneered the parallel cinema movement in Kannada. Samskara won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film (1970).
Masquerade - the Performance Group is a Chennai based English theatre group. It is one of the few theatre groups in Chennai that survive without commercial financial sponsorship or funding from business houses or the likes, backed by public faith and smaller donorships from patrons, parents of tweens and teens who pay for training workshops. Public performances are rarely priced and income from performances are invariably through hat collections, done consciously as a tool to gauge audience appreciation of the show.
Bandhana is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu, based on a novel by Usha Navaratnanram of the same name, and starring Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini.
Lifeu Ishtene is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language black comedy film written and directed by Pawan Kumar. It stars Diganth, Sindhu Lokanath and Samyukta Hornad in the lead roles. Sathish Ninasam, Achyuth Kumar and Veena Sundar feature in supporting roles. The plot revolves around the adult life of a carefree youngster, who falls in love easily with multiple women, and observes the consequences, "realizing the meaning of life" and that it comes a "full circle". The title of the film was taken from a track of the 2010 Kannada film Pancharangi.
Praveen D. Rao is an Indian musician, music director and a lyricist for Kannada language songs. He is based in Bangalore, India. He plays keyboard, tabla and others.
Rattihalli Nagendra Rao was an Indian theatre actor, film actor and director in South Indian cinema. Following his career in theatre, Rao turned to film a where he became an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and occasional composer. He is considered one of the most influential personalities in the history of South Indian cinema.
Maya Rao was an Indian classical dancer, choreographer and educator, in Kathak dance. She is known for her pioneering work in Kathak choreography, especially in dance ballets, and is credited for bringing Kathak, a North Indian-dance style to South India, when she opened her dance school, Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography (NIKC) in Malleswaram, Bangalore in 1987. She was also the founder director of her dance company, "Natya and Stem Dance Kampni", an amalgam of NIKC and the STEM Dance Kampni based in Bangalore. After her early training under Guru Sohanlal of Jaipur Gharana, followed by Guru Sunder Prasad also of the Jaipur Gharana, and went to train under Guru Shambhu Maharaj of Lucknow Gharana at National Institute of Kathak Dance in Delhi.
Raj Madiraju is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. In a career spanning about 20 years, he predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. In 2011-12, he written and directed Rushi, for which he won the Nandi Award for Best Story Writer.
Shiladitya Bora is an Indian film producer, director, marketer and distributor. He is the founder of Platoon One Films, a Mumbai-based film production studio. Bora was born and brought up in Assam and completed his undergraduate and post-graduate studies in Ahmedabad. He started his film career by spearheading the indie release banner PVR Pictures’ Directors’ Rare, a limited release arm of India’s biggest film exhibitor, PVR Cinemas group. Under this banner, he successfully released more than 85 independent films. In 2015, Bora was recognised for his work in marketing and distribution and was selected as one of the Berlinale Talents of the year. As the first CEO of Drishyam Films, Bora served as an Associate Producer on critically acclaimed films like Masaan (2015) and Newton (2017). He helped develop Newton from a one-line pitch to a story and greenlit the film to production. Newton went on to be selected as India’s official entry for the 90th Academy Awards. In 2017, Bora founded Platoon One Films, a Mumbai based production studio with his wife and costume designer Shilpi Agarwal. Platoon One Films’ maiden Hindi production Yours Truly, directed by Sanjoy Nag, starring Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi and Aahana Kumra, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival 2018 and travelled to many festivals worldwide. Platoon One Films then went on to produce the National Award-Winning Marathi film Picasso, directed by Abhijeet Warang and starring Prasad Oak.
Yours Truly is a 2018 Indian romantic drama film directed by Sanjoy Nag. The film stars Soni Razdan, Pankaj Tripathi and Aahana Kumra, with Mahesh Bhatt in a special appearance. It is an official adaptation of one of the stories from the book LOVE STORIES #1 TO 14 authored by Annie Zaidi and published by Harper Collins. The film is Shiladitya Bora's maiden production under Platoon One Films in association with MDC Filmworks, Lighthouse Innoventures and Basabaari Talkies. The film got acquired by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) and had its world digital premiere on 3 May 2019 on ZEE5.
Wild Karnataka is a 2019 Indian natural history documentary on the Indian state of Karnataka's rich biodiversity, most of which is still unknown to the general public. Produced by Amoghavarsha JS and Kalyan Varma in collaboration with Icon Films and Mudskipper, the film was narrated by Sir David Attenborough with music composed by Grammy Award winner, Ricky Kej and edited by Adam Kirby.
