K. Sathyanarayana Sowmya, better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Telugu films in addition to Kannada and Tamil with a few in Malayalam and Hindi. In 2002, she received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film as producer for the Kannada film Dweepa. She has also received three Nandi Awards, two Karnataka State Film Awards for Best Actress and several Filmfare Awards South for her performances in films such as Ammoru (1994), Pavitra Bandham (1996), Anthahpuram (1998), Raja (1999), Doni Saagali (1998), Dweepa (2002), and Apthamitra (2004). She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Telugu cinema and acted in more than 100 films in a span of 12 years. Soundarya was popularly referred to as "Savitri of modern Telugu cinema".
Sandeep Chowta is an Indian music director who primarily works in Bollywood and Telugu cinema. He is also the head of Columbia Records in India. He has also sung some of his songs.
Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian film actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema. He is the eldest son of Kannada matinee idol Dr. Rajkumar. In a career spanning over three decades, Shiva has worked in over 120 films. He has won many Karnataka State Film Awards, Filmfare Awards South, SIIMA awards and other recognitions for his performances onscreen.
Bettada Hoovu is a 1985 Indian Kannada-language film directed by N. Lakshminarayan, based on the Shirley L. Arora's novel What then, Raman?. Produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar, it stars her son Puneeth Rajkumar in the lead role. Puneeth plays Ramu, a young boy born into a poor family, who is fond of reading books, but is forced to discontinue his studies and support his family financially. His performance earned him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. Deccan Herald rated the film number one among the best "children's movies in Kannada". The film won three Filmfare Awards South.
Upendra Kumar was an Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada and Odia films. He was known for his strong association with Rajkumar and his family and scored some of his career best compositions for the films featuring Rajkumar and his sons. He had scored for 210 films including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Tulu films.
Nandini Ramanna, better known by her stage name Bhavana Ramanna, is an Indian film actress who works predominantly in the Kannada film industry. A Bharatanatyam dancer, she has received three Karnataka State Film Awards and acted in Shanti, a film that entered the Guinness Book of Records. Bhavana Ramanna is the director of HomeTown Productions, a production house that conducts dance and music shows. In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, Bhavana Ramanna was named one of the star campaigners for the Congress party in Karnataka, a role she had performed in the 2013 assembly elections in the state. Bhavana Ramanna was reported as being among the contenders for a nomination to the upper house of the Karnataka legislature as an MLC.
Savitha Sastry is an Indian dancer and choreographer best known as an exponent of Bharatanatyam. She is known to experiment with the format of traditional Bharatanatyam by using the techniques of Bharatanatyam to showcase theme based productions based on novel stories, not based on Indian mythology or religion. Her innovations have been described as 'path breaking' by critics, and she is considered to be a 'renaissance architect' of the dance form much as Rukmini Devi Arundale was in her times.
Soul Cages is a solo Bharatanatyam Dance Theatre production choreographed and performed by Savitha Sastry. It is based on a short story of the same name by AK Srikanth, and featured music by the Chennai-based music composer Rajkumar Bharathi, the great grandson of the veteran poet Subramania Bharathi. The production premiered on 28 January 2012 at New Delhi’s Kamani Auditorium, and has since played in over 20 cities. The presentation was received with critical and popular acclaim.
The Prophet is a solo Bharatanatyam Dance Theatre production choreographed and performed by Savitha Sastry. It is based on a short story of the same name by her husband AK Srikanth, who is also the Producer of the show. The music is by Rajkumar Bharathi, great-grandson of the freedom fighter and veteran poet Subramania Bharathi. The production premiered at Bangalore’s ADA Ranga Mandira Auditorium on 20 October 2013. The presentation has been highly acclaimed for its unconventional and intense denouement.
Rajkumar Bharathi is a classical singer and music composer from India. He is the great grandson of the renaissance poet Subramanya Bharathi. Rajkumar is an Electronics and telecommunications engineer graduated from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai. Rajkumar Bharathi a native of Chennai stands today as one of the most popular artists of his generation. He has also got a great following in the Indian state of Karnataka owing to his pleasing style of rendering Dasara Padagalu.
Bala Devi Chandrashekar is a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher based in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. She was trained under Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. Bala Devi Chandrashekar is a Professor of practice in Asian performing arts. Her approach is interdisciplinary, involving lecturing and research. Bala Devi's unique well researched productions include Nandanar Charithram, Krishnaarpnam and Uddhava Gita.
Bahaddur is a 2014 Indian Kannada-language romantic action comedy film directed by Chethan Kumar and produced by R. Srinivas. The film stars Dhruva Sarja and Radhika Pandit in the lead roles. The supporting cast features P. Ravi Shankar, Achyuth Kumar, Jai Jagadish and Srinivasa Murthy. The film released on 3 October 2014, in 7.1 surround sound, the first in Kannada cinema. The 2016 Telugu movie Srirastu Subhamastu was heavily inspired by the core plot of this movie.
Chandrodaya is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language romance drama film directed by S. Mahendar. It stars Shivarajkumar, Ramesh Aravind and Prema. It is a remake of Mani Ratnam's 1986 Tamil film Mouna Ragam.
Chains is a solo Bharatanatyam Dance Theater production choreographed, directed and performed by Savitha Sastry. It is based on a trilogy of short stories written by her husband AK Srikanth, who is also the producer of the show. The soundtrack was scored by the Chennai-based music composer Rajkumar Bharathi, the great grandson of veteran freedom fighter and poet Subramania Bharathi. Unlike Savitha’s other productions, Chains is not a work of fiction but is entirely based on true lives. The production premiered at Mumbai’s NCPA Auditorium on 31 January 2015, and is highly acclaimed for its nuanced delivery.
Hemanth Subramanya known by his stage name as Hemanth, is a playback singer in Kannada cinema.
Puneeth Rajkumar was an Indian actor known for his work in Kannada films. As a six month old infant, he made a cameo appearance in V. Somashekar's Premada Kanike (1976) and followed it with Sanaadi Appanna (1977) when he was a year old. Most of his earlier films had his father Rajkumar playing his reel father as well. Films like Thayige Thakka Maga, Vasantha Geetha and Bhagyavantha followed up which also showcased his singing skills. For the N. Lakshminarayan film Bettada Hoovu he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Child Artist. He ended his childhood appearances with the action film Parashuram.
Pavitra Lokesh is an Indian film and television actress. She appears primarily in Kannada and Telugu films playing supporting roles. The daughter of stage and film actor Mysore Lokesh, she made her film debut at the age of 16 and has since appeared in over 150 Kannada films. At 5 feet 10 inches she was the tallest actress at that time, but managing to do several noteworthy roles even acting against shorter heroes. For her performance in the Kannada film Naayi Neralu (2006), she was awarded the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress. Her brother Adi Lokesh and husband Suchendra Prasad are actors.
Sangeeta Isvaran is an Indian Bharatanatyam dancer, research scholar, and social worker. She has been awarded with the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar, the highest national award for young dancers.
The Colors Trilogy is a series of short films with themes based on women juxtaposed with the ideologies behind the three colors of the Indian National Flag. The trilogy is delivered through the Indian classical dance form Bharatanatyam. The films Green was released in 2020, and the second and third films "White" and "Saffron" were released in 2021.
