Cinema of Karnataka
Encyclopedia
The cinema of Karnataka , sometimes colloquially referred to as Sandalwood and as Chandanavana in Kannada, encompasses movies made in the India
n state of Karnataka
based in Bangalore
. Most of the movies are made in Kannada, with a handful of them in Konkani
or Tulu
. Today more than 100 films are made every year. A handful of the movies are released in the USA, Australia
, Germany
, UK and other countries. Efforts to further expand its market have met with some success.
A total of 650 cinema theatres in Karnataka gives great scope for the cinema industry.
with the release of Tamil film
Kalidas
. In 1934, the first Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana
, appeared in theatres, followed by Bhakta Dhruva (aka Dhruva Kumar).
Both Sati Sulochana
and Bhakta Dhruva were major successes. But prospective filmmakers in Karnataka
were handicapped by the lack of studios and technical crews. Sati Sulochana was shot in Kolhapur at the Chatrapathi studio; most filming, sound recording, and post-production was done in Madras (now Chennai
). It was difficult, as well, to find financial backing for new film projects in the region; thus, very few movies in Kannada
were released during the early years of Indian sound cinema
.
could be considered the doyen of Kannada cinema during the mid to late forties. He brought his talent as an actor from the theatrical stage to Kannada cinema through his Gubbi Veeranna Theater. From the mid-forties to late fifties, Gubbi Karnataka Productions (of which he was a shareholder) produced movies such as Gunasagari, Hemareddi Mallamma, Adarsha Sati, and Sadarame.
Gubbi Veeranna encouraged and introduced young talent in his movies. One such talent was K. R. Seetharama Sastry, popularly known as Kurasi (also known as Kurasee or Ku Ra Seetharama Sastry). In 1949, Honnappa Bhagavathar
who had earlier acted in Gubbi Veeranna's films, produced Bhaktha Kumbara and starred in the lead role along with Pandaribai.
Ku Ra Seetharama Sastry ("Kurasi") was an actor, film director, lyricist, and screen playwright from the mid-forties through the late seventies. Kurasi started as an actor under Gubbi Veeranna
's tutelage in movies such as Bhaktha Kumbara, Gunasagari, and Hemareddi Mallamma. He subsequently directed many Rajkumar
films, such as Anna Thangi, Rani Honnamma, and Mana Mechida Madadi, among others. He introduced several artists to Kannada film industry, including Shivaram (Beratha Jeeva) and Shakthi Prasad (Karaga Shakti, father of Kannada & Tamil actor/director Arjun
). In 1955, Honnappa Bhagavathar
again produced a Kannada film Mahakavi Kalidasa
in which he introduced B. Saroja Devi
. Kurasi directed the movie, while Honnappa Bhagavathar was the music director. Mahakavi Kalidasa won the President's Silver Medal for Best Direction, Lyrics, and Screenplay. Kurasi wrote several Kannada songs that remain popular among Kannadigas. Kurasi was the first Kannada film artist who went abroad to direct two films in the Malayan language in Singapore
in the early 1950s; he won an international award for his direction of the film Iman in Malaya (now Malaysia).
The 1950s introduced the doyen of Kannada cinema: Rajkumar
. Rajkumar, originally known as Mutturaju, was a theater artist who was discovered by HLN Simha. HLN offered him a lead role in the mythological movie Bedara Kannappa. The movie proved to be a blockbuster. It also launched the careers of comedian Narasimharaju and director G. V. Iyer
.
Even after the success of Bedara Kannappa, the Kannada film industry remained stagnant. The lack of financiers, technicians and studios proved to be a hindrance to film making. Rajkumar, Narasimharaju and G. V. Iyer
decided to form a partnership and produce movies. The partnership lasted for only a couple of movies. Ranadhira Kanteerava was one such successful joint venture. The majority of the films during this decade were either mythological or historical in nature.
The rise of Rajkumar encouraged the Kannada film industry to make more historical movies. Bedara Kannappa was the first Kannada movie which completed 100 days and it received a letter of appreciation from the central government. The golden era in the history of Kannada cinema was here; it gave rise to not only talents of Kannada cinema but even other film industries. Although lacking a local studio (due to which the industry had to rely on erstwhile Madras or Bombay studios), the industry had its own era of theater personalities making the cinema an art. Rajkumar and other artists worked hard to establish a movie studio in Bangalore
. Finally, Balakrishna succeeded in opening Abhiman Studio in Bangalore.
Prominent directors of this era included Puttanna Kanagal
, Gubbi Veeranna
, R. Nagendra Rao (RNR), H.L.N. Simha, Kurasi, B. R. Panthulu, M. R. Vittal, Sampath, Hunsoor Krishnamurthy, Sathyu, Girish Karnad
, and U. R. AnanthaMurthy.
Prominent actors included Kalyan Kumar, Udaya Kumar
, Rajesh and Gangadhar. Actresses who left their mark included B. Jayamma, B. Saroja Devi
, Pandari Bai
, Leelavathi
, Rajamma, Kalpana
, Manjula
, Aarathi
, and Jayanthi
.
Narasimharaju, Balakrishna
, and Natabhayankara Vajramuni carved their own niches as supporting stars.
's Chomana Dudi
(an evocative film on caste distinctions), Girish Karnad
's Kaadu and Girish Kasaravalli
's Ghatashraddha
spearheaded the Kannada parallel cinema. Vamshavruksha, Prema Karanth
's Phaniyamma, Kadu Kudure, Hamsageethe
, Accident
, Akramana, Mooru Dhaarigalu, Tabarana Kathe
and Bannadha Vesha and mainly Puttanna Kanagal's Naagara Haavu were some of the important movies of this era.
Girish Kasaravalli
's first film Ghatashraddha
(1977) won him the National Award for Best Film. He won the National Award for Best Film four times. His other award-winning films included:
Akramana (1979), Mooru Dhaarigalu (1981), Tabarana Kathe
(1987), Bannadha Vesha (1989), Mane (1989), Kraurya
(1996), Taayi Saaheba (1998) and Dweepa
(2002).
Girish Karnad
's Kaadu (1973) and Ondanondu Kaladalli
(1978), M. S. Sathyu
's Kanneshwara Rama (1977) and Chithegu Chinthe (1978), and Pattabhi Rama Reddy's Samskara
(1970) were also among the important movies of this era.
The 1970s and 1980s also witnessed the rise of director Puttanna Kanagal
. His movies (Belli moda
, Gejje Pooje
, Sharapanjara
, Sakshatkara
, Nagara Havu) pioneered a new style of film making which acted as a bridge between commercial and parallel cinema. In the 1980s, in a bid to popularize film making, the Government of Karnataka
granted a 50% tax exemption to Kannada films completely made in Karnataka
, and it increased the subsidy amount to Kannada films.
Dr. Rajkumar, by then was already considered the top actor in the Kannada Film Industry. His historical drama film, Mayura
was a tremendous success and his depiction of Raja Mayurasharma
in the film is regarded with pride by present-day Kannadigas
. But Puttanna Kanagal's Nagara Havu gave the film's lead actor Dr.Vishnuvardhan an iconic status. Though, Dr.Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh were introduced to the film industry by this film, it was Dr.Vishnuvardhan who donned the top most actor position in the South Film Industry. He never looked back since then. Dr.Rajkumar and Dr.Vishnuvardhan, from then were considered as the two pillars of Kannada Cinema and the popular stars in Southern Film Industry .
Shankar Nag
made his own mark with the internationally acclaimed Ondanondu Kaladalli
and Malgudi Days
, along with several commercial hits. Anant Nag
, Ambareesh
, Prabhakar, Lokesh, Ashok, Srinath, M. P. Shankar, and Sunder Krishna Urs were other actors who made their own mark in the industry. Puttana Kanagal paved the way for the abovementioned actors as well as Ramakrishna, Kokila Mohan, and Chandrashekar. Lakshmi, Padma Vaasanthi, Geetha, Madhavi, Saritha, and Jayamala were some of the actresses who made their mark.
Sandesh Nagaraj was known for his offbeat films, Sunil Kumar Desai
for his versatility, Dinesh Babu for the depth of his stories, T. S. Nagabharana
for his involvement in Jaanapada
and historical melodramas, Kodlu Ramakrishna for his subjects based on common man and narrative stories, and Phani Ramachandra
for his comic flicks.
This was a time when actors who had started out specializing in villain roles tried other roles.
Ravichandran
and Hamsalekha
successfully created a blend exclusively for youth. Ravichandran brought in actresses from other industries.
Ravichandran
, Devaraj, Jaggesh
, Maanu, Suresh Heblikar, Lokanath, Lohithaswa, Sudheer were some of veterans who made their mark in the industry.
Shivrajkumar
also started his career in this time as Bhavya
, Mahalaxmi, Sudha Rani
, Tara
, Anjali
, Vanitha Vasu, Anjana, and Shruthi
came to the limelight.
At the late 1990s approached, there was a need for fresh talent.
As time progressed, the south Indian film industry became segregated and Kannada and Malayalam were subdued under the huge business-oriented industries of Telugu
and Tamil
cinema, which faced a surge of fresh talent from younger generations.
New and fresh talents of Sunil, Shashikumar
, Ramesh Aravind
, Ramkumar, along with Malashri
did a commercial survival not maintain the same order. But still this era found a little respite with movies like Nammoora Mandara Hoove
, Amruthavarshini
, America America and Upendra
's Om
and A
. The decade had some story-based films like Mannina Doni. Ravichandran suffered a failure with Shanthi Kranthi. This decade also witnessed the special movie Beladingala Baale
.
The deaths of Shankar Nag
and Sunil were unexpected.
and Vajramuni
.
But this decade also saw the emergence of talented artists like Puneet Rajkumar
(Rajkumar's third son), Darshan Tugudeep
(son of actor Toogudeepa Sreenivas), Sudeep
, Ganesh
, Diganth
and Vijay
. Director Upendra
turned into an actor and acted in several hit films. Young actresses like Ramya
, Rakshita
, Pooja Gandhi
, Aindrita Ray
, Priyamani
, Rekha Vedavyas
, Sharmila Mandre
, Meera Jasmine
, Jennifer Kotwal
, Radhika Pandit
, Shuba Poonja, Nikita Thukral
and Sanjana
established themselves in this decade. Matured actresses like Tara
, Prema
and Bhavana (who gave a dynamic and offbeat performance in the single-actor movie Shanti
) led the female brigade for off-beat films. Girish Kasaravalli
made huge waves with his subjects in art-based films. Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar
, T. S. Nagabharana
and Girish Karnad
were instrumental throughout in bringing masterpieces.
Yajamana by Dr.Vishnuvardhan broke all previous box office records, running to packed houses in many theaters across the country for more than a year.
The year 2005 witnessed good collections at the box office for the Kannada film industry. Starting with Shivrajkumar
-starrer jogi, which grossed 14 crore in just 2 weeks and ran for 100 days in a record number of theaters in Karnataka, films like Anna Tangi, Gowramma, Amruthadhare, Deadly Soma and Nenapirali performed well at the box office. An estimated four of every five films released succeeded at the box office. Profits soared and there was a happy mood in the industry. In the last quarter of 2006, the huge blockbuster movie Mungaru Male
shattered records and was even released in other countries (USA, UK, Australia
). Mungaru Male completed one whole year at PVR Cinemas Bangalore, and completed 45 weeks in main theater, while running for more than 100 days in many theaters across the state and it also became the first movie in the world to complete a one-year run at any multiplex, where films keep changing every week with at least 5 films releasing freshly. Mungaru Male even released in Chennai, Hyderabad and even abroad. Comedy Time Ganesh, a small-time TV anchor, became the Golden Star Ganesh of Kannada Cinema; Duniya became another huge hit and gave life to its hero, Vijay
.
Puneet Rajkumar
became the top most actor in the Kannada film Industry and one of the busiest and highest paid actors of the Kannada Film Industry. His film Appu in 2002 completed 175 days in theaters across Karnataka and the world and was also remade in various languages such as Telugu (Idiot
). His film, Abhi in 2003 became a box office hit completing 100 days at the theatres. 2007's biggest hit movie Milana ran for 450 days in many centers across the country and bettered the record of Mungaru Male at PVR Cinemas, Bengaluru. His 2010 releases were Prithvi and Jackie. Both were screened for more than 100 days and Jackie remains one among the highest grossing films in the industry. 2011's films Hudugaru
, Paramathma also fared well.
In 2008, the Kannada film industry saw many firsts. More and more films started to release outside the state and outside India. Gaja,Buddhivantha and Navagraha
became hits. The budget for Kannada films was now between 5-10 crores, as opposed to just 1-2 crore three years previously. Mukhaputa
(The Cover Page) won an award at the Ireland Film Festival. In 2009, Raaj the Showman, Manasaare
, and Josh ran for 100 days. Kannada actress Umashree won a Best Actress National Award for the movie Gulabi Talkies
in 2009; the film also screened at Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, and won three awards: Best Film in Indian Competition, Best Actress in Indian Competition (Umashree), and Best Actor in Indian Competition (Vinay BM).
Kannada cinema celebrated its 75-year anniversary in 2009. A function was held on the palace grounds in Bangalore on 1 March 2009 under the direction of V. Ravichandran
, featuring a set resembling an open-winged bird. It was attended by many stars from Kannada cinema and from other film industries who had a stint in Kannada films.
In 2010, Vishnuvardhan's final film, Aptharakshaka, created new box office records. Puneeth Rajkumar's film with director Soori, Jackie, broke previous records by collecting 25 crores in two weeks. Upendra
's 2010 film titled Super is the most expensive Kannada film to date and has become the highest grosser in the history of Kannada cinema and has also completed a successful 100 days.
Kannada blockbusters in the 21st century have included: Yajamana, Aptamitra, Jogi, Mungaru Male, Duniya, Milana, Galipata, Cheluvina Chittara, Buddivanta, Aptharakshaka, Krishnan Love Story, Jackie, Super, Mylari, Appu, Akash, Arasu,Malla Huchaa, Kariya,Kalasipalya, My Autograph, Veera Madakari, Munsaje Maathu, Jothe hotheyalli, Nenapiralli,Gaja,Excuse Me,,Hudugru,Kanasugara, Cynide, Aa Dinagalu, Kempegowda.
Movies which have run for over a year include: Bangarada Manushya (Rajkumar),"Prema loka"(V.Ravichandran) Anuraga Aralithu (Rajkumar), "Suprabhatha" (Vishnuvardhan), "Ranadheera"(V.Ravichandran), Jeevana Chaitra (Rajkumar), "Nee Bareda Kadambari" (Vishnuvardhan), Nanjundi Kalyana
(Raghavendra Rajkumar
), Janumada Jodi (Shivrajkumar)," Putnanja"(V.Ravichandran), Om (Shivrajkumar), Yajamana (Vishnuvardhana), Aaptamitra (Vishnuvardhana), Mungaru Male (Ganesh), 'Milana (Puneeth Rajkumar), Naagarahaavu(Vishnuvardhana), Bandhana(Vishnuvardhana).
Most of Dr.Vishnuvardhan's films have had a one whole year run at the theaters that shows the huge fan following and the popularity for the actor in Karnataka.
, Vijaya Bhaskar
, the duo Rajan-Nagendra
, Upendra Kumar, Sathyam
, C. Aswath
, Hamsalekha
, Gurukiran
, T. G. Lingappa
, Mano Murthy
, Thomas Rathnam, Harikrishna
.
Lyrics of Kannada
film songs have been penned by Ku Ra SitaramaShastri, Kanagal Prabhakara shastri, Sorat Ashwath, Vijayanaarasimha,Chi. Udayashankar, R. N. Jayagopal
, Hamsalekha
, Jayantha Kaikini, Yogaraj Bhat, K.Kalyan, Kaviraj, Hrudayashiva, Dr.V.Nagendra Prasad and Doddarange Gowda among others.
Playback singers in Kannada films include:
Ghantasala, Dr.Rajkumar, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
, Dr.P. B. Sreenivas, K. J. Yesudas
, M. Balamuralikrishna, Rajesh Krishnan
, Hemanth, Tippu, Chetan, Badri, Anup Seelin, Harikrishna, Udit Narayan
, Sonu Nigam
, Kunal Ganjawala
, Vijay Prakash
, Raghu Dixit,
B K Sumitra,P. Susheela
, S. Janaki
, L. R. Eswari
, Vani Jayaram
, K. S. Chitra, Swarnalatha
, Sujatha
, Manjula Gururaj
, Chandrika, Anuradha Sriram
, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan
, B. R. Chaya, Pallavi
,Sunitha, Archana Udupa, Lakshmi, Akanksha Badami, Chaitra, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Malgudi Shubha, Priyadarshini, Nanditha
.
Dr.Rajkumar, Dr.Vishnuvardhan, Upendra
, Puneet Rajkumar
, Sudeep
, Shivarajkumar, Ganesh.
), B. C. GowriShankar (Om
), S. Ramachandra (Rishya Shringa, Ghatashradha), G. S. Bhaskar (Bannada Vesha, Nagamandala), Ramachandra Halkere (Thaisaheba, Dweepa, Nenapiralli), G S V Seetharam (Ekaangi, Aham Premaasmi), Krishna (Mungaru Male, Geleya, Haage Sumane, Maleyalli Jotheyalli, Milana
, Birugaali), Gynamurthy (Mani, Payana
, Love Guru), and H. C. Venu (Sparsha, A
, Ugadi, Aa Dinagalu
), Satya Hegde (Duniya, Hudugata, Inthi Ninna Preethiya
, Hudugaru
, Jackie, Excuse me
) Shekhar Chandra (Circus, Krishnan Marriage story), Santhosh Rai Pataje (Savi Savi Nenapu, Josh), Rathna Velu (Cynide, Gaalipata).
Kalpana
and Manjula
of former years and Shankar Nag
, Suneel, Nivedita Jain
, Soundarya
, and Shashikumar
(survived) of the latter, passed away when they were at their prime. Aarathi
, Sudha Rani
and Anjali
faded out due to their personal lives.
Almost all singers have given playback and female actors have acted in the movies from other industries.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
based in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. Most of the movies are made in Kannada, with a handful of them in Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
or Tulu
Tulu language
The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
. Today more than 100 films are made every year. A handful of the movies are released in the USA, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, UK and other countries. Efforts to further expand its market have met with some success.
A total of 650 cinema theatres in Karnataka gives great scope for the cinema industry.
1930s
1931 saw the emergence of talking pictures in the regional languages of South IndiaSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
with the release of Tamil film
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
Kalidas
Kalidas (film)
Kalidas was the first Tamil talkie film made in 1931. It was produced on the sets of Alam Ara by Ardeshir Irani. The director was Irani's former assistant H.M. Reddy. The film had dialogues and songs in Tamil and Telugu.-Production:...
. In 1934, the first Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana
Sati Sulochana
Sati Sulochana is a film made in Kannada language. The film was released in the year 1934 and is the first talkie film in Kannada language...
, appeared in theatres, followed by Bhakta Dhruva (aka Dhruva Kumar).
Both Sati Sulochana
Sati Sulochana
Sati Sulochana is a film made in Kannada language. The film was released in the year 1934 and is the first talkie film in Kannada language...
and Bhakta Dhruva were major successes. But prospective filmmakers in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
were handicapped by the lack of studios and technical crews. Sati Sulochana was shot in Kolhapur at the Chatrapathi studio; most filming, sound recording, and post-production was done in Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
). It was difficult, as well, to find financial backing for new film projects in the region; thus, very few movies in Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
were released during the early years of Indian sound cinema
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...
.
1940s and 1950s
Gubbi VeerannaGubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Veeranna was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company that played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre. Some of the stalwarts that have emerged out of this...
could be considered the doyen of Kannada cinema during the mid to late forties. He brought his talent as an actor from the theatrical stage to Kannada cinema through his Gubbi Veeranna Theater. From the mid-forties to late fifties, Gubbi Karnataka Productions (of which he was a shareholder) produced movies such as Gunasagari, Hemareddi Mallamma, Adarsha Sati, and Sadarame.
Gubbi Veeranna encouraged and introduced young talent in his movies. One such talent was K. R. Seetharama Sastry, popularly known as Kurasi (also known as Kurasee or Ku Ra Seetharama Sastry). In 1949, Honnappa Bhagavathar
Honnappa Bhagavathar
Honappa Bhagavatar/C. Honnappa Bhagavathar , was a Kannada - Tamil theater artist, film actor, producer, musician, singer. He was not only a great actor but excellent musician. He was a renowned singer of his times, and had sung many songs. He was one of the pioneers of Kannada Cinema...
who had earlier acted in Gubbi Veeranna's films, produced Bhaktha Kumbara and starred in the lead role along with Pandaribai.
Ku Ra Seetharama Sastry ("Kurasi") was an actor, film director, lyricist, and screen playwright from the mid-forties through the late seventies. Kurasi started as an actor under Gubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Veeranna was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company that played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre. Some of the stalwarts that have emerged out of this...
's tutelage in movies such as Bhaktha Kumbara, Gunasagari, and Hemareddi Mallamma. He subsequently directed many Rajkumar
Rajkumar
Rajkumar , born as Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju was a popular actor and singer in the Kannada film industry...
films, such as Anna Thangi, Rani Honnamma, and Mana Mechida Madadi, among others. He introduced several artists to Kannada film industry, including Shivaram (Beratha Jeeva) and Shakthi Prasad (Karaga Shakti, father of Kannada & Tamil actor/director Arjun
Arjun Sarja
Arjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
). In 1955, Honnappa Bhagavathar
Honnappa Bhagavathar
Honappa Bhagavatar/C. Honnappa Bhagavathar , was a Kannada - Tamil theater artist, film actor, producer, musician, singer. He was not only a great actor but excellent musician. He was a renowned singer of his times, and had sung many songs. He was one of the pioneers of Kannada Cinema...
again produced a Kannada film Mahakavi Kalidasa
Mahakavi Kalidasa
Mahakavi Kalidasa is a Kannada movie made in 1955 by K. R. Seetarama with Kalidasa role played by then famous singer of Karnataka Honnappa Bhagavatar of Bangalore. Honnappa Bagavatar introduced B. Sarojadevi to the world of film. B. Sarojadevi later became a very well known actress in Kannada,...
in which he introduced B. Saroja Devi
B. Saroja Devi
B. Saroja Devi is an Indian actress. She is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award and has acted in Kannada,Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies.She is referred to as Abinaya Saraswathi by Tamil film industry and as Kannadathu Paingili by Kannada Film Industry.She ruled the roost for more than three...
. Kurasi directed the movie, while Honnappa Bhagavathar was the music director. Mahakavi Kalidasa won the President's Silver Medal for Best Direction, Lyrics, and Screenplay. Kurasi wrote several Kannada songs that remain popular among Kannadigas. Kurasi was the first Kannada film artist who went abroad to direct two films in the Malayan language in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in the early 1950s; he won an international award for his direction of the film Iman in Malaya (now Malaysia).
1950s and 1960s
Rajkumar
Rajkumar , born as Singanalluru Puttaswamayya Muthuraju was a popular actor and singer in the Kannada film industry...
. Rajkumar, originally known as Mutturaju, was a theater artist who was discovered by HLN Simha. HLN offered him a lead role in the mythological movie Bedara Kannappa. The movie proved to be a blockbuster. It also launched the careers of comedian Narasimharaju and director G. V. Iyer
G. V. Iyer
Ganapathi Venkatrama Iyer was a well known Indian film director and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma", and was the only person who made movies in Sanskrit. His films were well-known for their spiritual themes. He was born in 1917 in Nanjanagud in Mysore district of Karnataka state in...
.
Even after the success of Bedara Kannappa, the Kannada film industry remained stagnant. The lack of financiers, technicians and studios proved to be a hindrance to film making. Rajkumar, Narasimharaju and G. V. Iyer
G. V. Iyer
Ganapathi Venkatrama Iyer was a well known Indian film director and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma", and was the only person who made movies in Sanskrit. His films were well-known for their spiritual themes. He was born in 1917 in Nanjanagud in Mysore district of Karnataka state in...
decided to form a partnership and produce movies. The partnership lasted for only a couple of movies. Ranadhira Kanteerava was one such successful joint venture. The majority of the films during this decade were either mythological or historical in nature.
The rise of Rajkumar encouraged the Kannada film industry to make more historical movies. Bedara Kannappa was the first Kannada movie which completed 100 days and it received a letter of appreciation from the central government. The golden era in the history of Kannada cinema was here; it gave rise to not only talents of Kannada cinema but even other film industries. Although lacking a local studio (due to which the industry had to rely on erstwhile Madras or Bombay studios), the industry had its own era of theater personalities making the cinema an art. Rajkumar and other artists worked hard to establish a movie studio in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. Finally, Balakrishna succeeded in opening Abhiman Studio in Bangalore.
Prominent directors of this era included Puttanna Kanagal
Puttanna Kanagal
Puttanna Kanagal was one of the most prominent Kannada film directors of the 1960s and the 70s. Although the majority of his films were on offbeat or taboo subjects, he endeared himself to both the critics and ordinary film goers alike. He also directed a handful Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and...
, Gubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Veeranna was an Indian theatre director, one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company that played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre. Some of the stalwarts that have emerged out of this...
, R. Nagendra Rao (RNR), H.L.N. Simha, Kurasi, B. R. Panthulu, M. R. Vittal, Sampath, Hunsoor Krishnamurthy, Sathyu, Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
, and U. R. AnanthaMurthy.
Prominent actors included Kalyan Kumar, Udaya Kumar
Udaya Kumar
Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam, , is the designer of the Indian rupee sign. He is an assistant professor at IIT Guwahati. His design was selected from among five short listed symbols. Udaya Kumar explained that the design is based on the Indian tricolour....
, Rajesh and Gangadhar. Actresses who left their mark included B. Jayamma, B. Saroja Devi
B. Saroja Devi
B. Saroja Devi is an Indian actress. She is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award and has acted in Kannada,Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies.She is referred to as Abinaya Saraswathi by Tamil film industry and as Kannadathu Paingili by Kannada Film Industry.She ruled the roost for more than three...
, Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai was a prominent heroine of South Indian languages films mostly in Kannada and Tamil during the 1950s and 60s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Dr. Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan...
, Leelavathi
Leelavathi (actress)
Leelavathi is a Kannada film actress who predominantly worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. She has acted with legends such as Rajkumar, M. G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganeshan, Shankar Nag, Kamal Hassan, Vishnuvardhan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and various popular artists in her films...
, Rajamma, Kalpana
Kalpana (Kannada actress)
Kalpana was a very popular Kannada cinema actress. Her epithet was Minugu taare . A versatile actress, she dominated the Kannada film industry during the late 1960s and 1970s and was critically acclaimed for her roles in movies like Sharapanjara, Gejje Pooje, Belli moda, Eradu Kanasu, Kappu Bilupu,...
, Manjula
Manjula (Kannada actress)
Manjula was an Indian film actress who acted in Kannada language films. She was one of the most successful and prominent actress of Kannada films. She has acted in more than 100 films-Personal life:...
, Aarathi
Aarathi
Aarathi is an Indian actress and producer of Kannada movies.She first became popular during the late 1970s and 1980s, and was recognised for her roles in movies such as Naagarahaavu, Edakallu Guddada Mele, Bili Hendthi, Dharmasere, Paduvaaralli Pandavaru, Ranganayaki, Hombisilu, Upaasane and...
, and Jayanthi
Jayanthi (actress)
Jayanthi is an Indian actress. She has appeared in over 500 films, including films in the Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi languages. In Kannada movies, she was honored with the title Abhinaya Sharade....
.
Narasimharaju, Balakrishna
Balakrishna (Kannada actor)
Balakrishna was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry, known for the comedy roles and drama roles. He had acted in movies such as Bangarada Manushya and many others. Though he had acted in many movies, he was ill and penniless towards end of his life.-Notable filmography:He was born on 1911...
, and Natabhayankara Vajramuni carved their own niches as supporting stars.
1970s and 1980s
The 1970s and the 1980s are often considered to be the Golden Age of Kannada cinema. It was also the period that witnessed the birth of alternate cinema or parallel cinema. Kannada cinema spearheaded the parallel cinema movement in India along with Hindi Telugu Tamil Bengali and Malayalam cinemas. B. V. KaranthB. V. Karanth
Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth was a renowned film and theatre personality from India...
's Chomana Dudi
Chomana Dudi
Chomana Dudi is a feature film in the Kannada language. It is based on a novel of the same name, written by Shivaram Karanth. The film was released in the year 1975 and won the Swarna Kamal, India's National Award for the best film.-Plot:...
(an evocative film on caste distinctions), Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
's Kaadu and Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli is a noted film director, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema in Kannada cinema, who has won the National Film Award for Best Film four times, Ghatashraddha , Tabarana Kathe , Thaayi Saheba and Dweepa...
's Ghatashraddha
Ghatashraddha
Ghatashraddha is 1977 Kannada language film directed by Girish Kasaravalli. The film is based on a novella by eminent Kannada writer U R Ananthamurthy....
spearheaded the Kannada parallel cinema. Vamshavruksha, Prema Karanth
Prema Karanth
Prema Karanth was a well known theatre personality and the first-ever woman film-maker of Kannada cinema. She was the wife of B. V. Karanth and was known for the children's plays that she staged. She became the first ever woman director in Kannada cinema when she directed the film Phaniyamma,...
's Phaniyamma, Kadu Kudure, Hamsageethe
Hamsageethe
Hamsageethe is a feature film in the Kannada language. It was directed by G. V. Iyer and released in the year 1975. M. Balamuralikrishna received India's National Award for Best Male Playback singer for this film.Hamsa Geethe,the novel by Ta Ra Su was made into Hindi Film, Basant Bahar as early...
, Accident
Accident
An accident or mishap is an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity. It implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its...
, Akramana, Mooru Dhaarigalu, Tabarana Kathe
Tabarana Kathe
Tabarana Kathe is a Kannada language film released in 1987 directed by Girish Kasaravalli. It was based on a short story of the same name by Poornachandra Tejaswi.-Plot summary:...
and Bannadha Vesha and mainly Puttanna Kanagal's Naagara Haavu were some of the important movies of this era.
Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli is a noted film director, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema in Kannada cinema, who has won the National Film Award for Best Film four times, Ghatashraddha , Tabarana Kathe , Thaayi Saheba and Dweepa...
's first film Ghatashraddha
Ghatashraddha
Ghatashraddha is 1977 Kannada language film directed by Girish Kasaravalli. The film is based on a novella by eminent Kannada writer U R Ananthamurthy....
(1977) won him the National Award for Best Film. He won the National Award for Best Film four times. His other award-winning films included:
Akramana (1979), Mooru Dhaarigalu (1981), Tabarana Kathe
Tabarana Kathe
Tabarana Kathe is a Kannada language film released in 1987 directed by Girish Kasaravalli. It was based on a short story of the same name by Poornachandra Tejaswi.-Plot summary:...
(1987), Bannadha Vesha (1989), Mane (1989), Kraurya
Kraurya
Kraurya is a 1996 Kannada language film by Girish Kasaravalli.-Kraurya aka The tale of a story teller:Language : KannadaStory : T.N.Seetharam Director : Girish Kasaravalli Music : L. Vaidyanathan -Plot summary:...
(1996), Taayi Saaheba (1998) and Dweepa
Dweepa
-Plot:Based on the novel with the same title by Norbert D'Souza, Dweepa deals with the raging issue of building dams and the displacement of natives. Located in the backwaters of a dam, Sita Parvata is an island slowly submerging due to the rains. The government succeeds in evacuating the inmates...
(2002).
Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
's Kaadu (1973) and Ondanondu Kaladalli
Ondanondu Kaladalli
Ondanondu Kaladalli is a 1978 film by Girish Karnad with music by Bhaskar Chandavarkar, starring Shankar Nag. The movie has influences of the early Samurai films of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, to whom Karnad has reportedly acknowledged his indebtedness...
(1978), M. S. Sathyu
M. S. Sathyu
Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu is a leading film director, stage designer and art director from India. His film Garam Hawa is a film on the partition of India. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri in 1975.-Early life:Sathyu conducted his schooling and higher education at Mysore and Bangalore...
's Kanneshwara Rama (1977) and Chithegu Chinthe (1978), and Pattabhi Rama Reddy's Samskara
Samskara (film)
Samskara is a 1970 film in the Kannada language which is based on a novel of the same name, written by the renowned writer and Jnanpith award winner, U. R. Ananthamurthy. The film is said to have been a path-breaking venture and is supposed to have pioneered the parallel cinema movement in Kannada...
(1970) were also among the important movies of this era.
The 1970s and 1980s also witnessed the rise of director Puttanna Kanagal
Puttanna Kanagal
Puttanna Kanagal was one of the most prominent Kannada film directors of the 1960s and the 70s. Although the majority of his films were on offbeat or taboo subjects, he endeared himself to both the critics and ordinary film goers alike. He also directed a handful Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and...
. His movies (Belli moda
Belli Moda
Belli moda is a 1966 Kannada movie by Puttanna Kanagal. Belli moda literally means silver cloud. It was based on the novel Belli Moda, written by acclaimed writer Thriveni.-Plot:...
, Gejje Pooje
Gejje Pooje
Gejje Pooje is a 1969 Kannada movie by Puttanna Kanagal starring Kalpana, Gangadhar and Leelavathi. Gejje means anklet and pooje means worship but in this context it means a mock marriage.- Plot :...
, Sharapanjara
Sharapanjara
Sharapanjara is a 1971 Kannada movie by Puttanna Kanagal starring Kalpana and Gangadhar.The film was later remade into the Telugu hit film Krishnaveni starring Vanisri.- Plot details :...
, Sakshatkara
Sakshatkara
Sakshatkara is a 1971 Kannada movie by Puttanna Kanagal starring Rajkumar, Jamuna, Jayamma and Prithviraj Kapoor.-Cast:Veteran Hindi actor Prithviraj Kapoor starred in this socially relevant movie. The tragedy is one of director Puttana Kanagal's masterpieces...
, Nagara Havu) pioneered a new style of film making which acted as a bridge between commercial and parallel cinema. In the 1980s, in a bid to popularize film making, the Government of Karnataka
Government of Karnataka
The Government of Karnataka is a democratically elected body with the Governor as the constitutional head. The Governor who is appointed for a period of five years appoints the Chief Minister and his council of ministers...
granted a 50% tax exemption to Kannada films completely made in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, and it increased the subsidy amount to Kannada films.
Dr. Rajkumar, by then was already considered the top actor in the Kannada Film Industry. His historical drama film, Mayura
Mayura (film)
Mayura is a 1975 Kannada historical drama film. It is one of the most popular films of acclaimed Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar, who plays the role of Prince Mayurasharma of the Kadamba dynasty, the earliest native kingdom to rule over what is today the modern state of Karnataka...
was a tremendous success and his depiction of Raja Mayurasharma
Mayurasharma
Mayurasharma , a Brahmin scholar and a native of Talagunda , was the founder of the Kadamba Kingdom of Banavasi, the earliest native kingdom to rule over what is today the modern state of Karnataka, India. He took the name of Mayuravarma to emphasise his change from the Brahmin to the Kshatriya...
in the film is regarded with pride by present-day Kannadigas
Kannadigas
Kannadiga , or Kannadati is a reference to the people who natively speak the Kannada language. Kannadigas are mainly located in the state of Karnataka in India and in the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra...
. But Puttanna Kanagal's Nagara Havu gave the film's lead actor Dr.Vishnuvardhan an iconic status. Though, Dr.Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh were introduced to the film industry by this film, it was Dr.Vishnuvardhan who donned the top most actor position in the South Film Industry. He never looked back since then. Dr.Rajkumar and Dr.Vishnuvardhan, from then were considered as the two pillars of Kannada Cinema and the popular stars in Southern Film Industry .
Shankar Nag
Shankar Nag
Shankar Nagarkatte , 9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved...
made his own mark with the internationally acclaimed Ondanondu Kaladalli
Ondanondu Kaladalli
Ondanondu Kaladalli is a 1978 film by Girish Karnad with music by Bhaskar Chandavarkar, starring Shankar Nag. The movie has influences of the early Samurai films of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, to whom Karnad has reportedly acknowledged his indebtedness...
and Malgudi Days
Malgudi Days
Malgudi Days is an Indian television series based on the works of R.K. Narayan. The series was directed by the late Kannada actor and director, Shankar Nag and Carnatic musician L. Vaidyanathan composed the score. R. K Narayan's brother and acclaimed cartoonist R. K. Laxman was the sketch artist....
, along with several commercial hits. Anant Nag
Anant Nag
Anant Nagarkatte popularly known as Anant Nag is an actor and politician from Karnataka, India. He is considered to be one of the all time greatest actors in the Kannada film industry with a vast number of commercially successful movies. As a result, he is popularly known as an actor with...
, Ambareesh
Ambareesh
Malavallii Huche Gowda Amarnath or M.H.Amarnath born 29 May 1952 at Maddur Taluk in Mandya District of Karnataka State is a Kannada film actor...
, Prabhakar, Lokesh, Ashok, Srinath, M. P. Shankar, and Sunder Krishna Urs were other actors who made their own mark in the industry. Puttana Kanagal paved the way for the abovementioned actors as well as Ramakrishna, Kokila Mohan, and Chandrashekar. Lakshmi, Padma Vaasanthi, Geetha, Madhavi, Saritha, and Jayamala were some of the actresses who made their mark.
1980s and 1990s
H. R. Bhargava directed numerous popular Kannada movies during the 1980s and 1990s. His movies were family-oriented. Bhagyavantaru, Avala Hejje, Guru Shishyaru, Preeti Vatsalya and Jananayaka were some of his hit movies.Sandesh Nagaraj was known for his offbeat films, Sunil Kumar Desai
Sunil Kumar Desai
Sunil Kumar Desai is a Kannada film director. In most of his movies, Desai blends art and commercial cinema. He has written and directed suspense/thrillers and love stories. He has won the Karnataka state awards in the Best Screenplay & Best Dialogs categories. He has also won the Filmfare awards...
for his versatility, Dinesh Babu for the depth of his stories, T. S. Nagabharana
T. S. Nagabharana
T. S. Nagabharana is an Indian filmmaker in the Kannada film industry. He has been the recipient of international, national, state and other awards for 20 of his 30 Kannada movies in the last 26 years. He holds a degree in in Science and Law...
for his involvement in Jaanapada
Jaanapada
Jaanapada is a word made by two words Jana - People or tribe Pada - a kind of short verse joined together as a sandhi- a grammatical term...
and historical melodramas, Kodlu Ramakrishna for his subjects based on common man and narrative stories, and Phani Ramachandra
Phani Ramachandra
H. S. Phani Ramachandra is a Kannada film and television director. He is known for directing such classic Kannada comedy films as Ganeshana Maduve and Gauri Ganesha and the TV serial Dandapindagalu...
for his comic flicks.
This was a time when actors who had started out specializing in villain roles tried other roles.
Ravichandran
V. Ravichandran
V. Ravichandran is an actor, director, producer, music director, Editor and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravichandran continues to run his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions...
and Hamsalekha
Hamsalekha
Hamsalekha is a music director and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He also writes screenplays and dialogues for movies. He has composed music for over 300 feature films and has written lyrics for 300-odd feature films. He has also composed for Tamil and Telugu films...
successfully created a blend exclusively for youth. Ravichandran brought in actresses from other industries.
Ravichandran
V. Ravichandran
V. Ravichandran is an actor, director, producer, music director, Editor and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravichandran continues to run his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions...
, Devaraj, Jaggesh
Jaggesh
Jaggesh is an IndiaKannada film industry, known for the comedy roles he portrays in his movies. He has acted in movies such asSuper Nan Maga and Tharle Nan Maga. Jaggesh has a big fan following and is popularly referred to by his fans as Navarasa Nayaka. Jaggesh is a in the early 80's by playing...
, Maanu, Suresh Heblikar, Lokanath, Lohithaswa, Sudheer were some of veterans who made their mark in the industry.
Shivrajkumar
Shivrajkumar
Shivaraj Kumar is a Kannada film actor. He is the son of Kannada thespian Dr. Rajkumar. After graduating in B.Sc...
also started his career in this time as Bhavya
Bhavya
Bhavya is a famous and prolific actress in the Kannada language film industry of India. She is best known for her many films made during the 1980s, but she has made more than a hundred films. Her roles have been both sentimental and glamorous. In addition to films, she has acted in the TV soap...
, Mahalaxmi, Sudha Rani
Sudha Rani
Sudha Rani is an Indian actress born August 14, 1974, in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.-Early years:Rani was born into a conservative Brahmin family based in Malleswaram, Bangalore. She has two older brothers. She began modeling in print ads at the age of three. Her mother nurtured Rani's talent by...
, Tara
Tara (actress)
Tara is an Assamese film actress, who has worked in Assamese, Manipuri, Punjabi and Hindi films in a career extending more than 50 years...
, Anjali
Anjali Sudhakar
Anjali is an actress in the Indian state of Karnataka.Her original name was Shantha, before director Kashinath - Guru of Super star Upendra named her as Anjali.- Family :...
, Vanitha Vasu, Anjana, and Shruthi
Shruti (actress)
Shruti is a South Indian film actress. She has acted in about 120 Kannada language movies and several movies in other South Indian languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.-Early life:...
came to the limelight.
At the late 1990s approached, there was a need for fresh talent.
As time progressed, the south Indian film industry became segregated and Kannada and Malayalam were subdued under the huge business-oriented industries of Telugu
Telugu cinema
The Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, also referred to as Telugu Cinema or Tollywood, is the Telugu film industry in India. The Telugu language film industry is known for being one of the three largest in terms of no.of films produced yearly in India. The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad is one of the...
and Tamil
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
cinema, which faced a surge of fresh talent from younger generations.
New and fresh talents of Sunil, Shashikumar
Shashikumar
Shashikumar is an actor and politician from Karnataka, India. He is considered to be one of the 1990s top actors in the Kannada film industry with a vast number of commercially successful movies. He is also known for his distinct dancing skills in the industry...
, Ramesh Aravind
Ramesh Aravind
Ramesh Aravind or Ramesh is a popular Kannada, Tamil and Telugu movie actor. He is considered one of the most versatile actors in Indian cinema.-Early days:...
, Ramkumar, along with Malashri
Malashri
Malashri is an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry, known for the dramatic lead roles. She made her debut in the all time Kannada Hit "Nanjundi Kalyana" in 1989. Her portrayal of a haughty, shrewish woman in the movie won her many accolades heralding her as the top actress of Kannada Cinema...
did a commercial survival not maintain the same order. But still this era found a little respite with movies like Nammoora Mandara Hoove
Nammoora Mandara Hoove
-Plot details:Shivrajkumar comes to Ramesh's , home town and falls in love with the girl whom Ramesh loves .Although the rest of the movie is about this love triangle, the movie is generally noted for effectively capturing and utilising the natural beauty of the forests of Yana it's shoot in Malenadu...
, Amruthavarshini
Amruthavarshini
Amruthavarshini 100.10 FM, is a classical music channel from All India Radio. It plays everyday from 6 a.m. to 9.30 a.m in morning and in evening from 6.30 pm to 11 pm. Programming includes both Hindustani and Carnatic Classical, light vocal and devotional songs. its also a platform for new singers...
, America America and Upendra
Upendra
Upendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
's Om
Om (Kannada film)
Om is an Indian Kannada film directed by Upendra , starring Shivarajkumar , and notable for its exposure of Bangalore's criminal underworld. The film was a commercial and critical success and aided the careers of the actors Prema and Shivarajkumar...
and A
A (Kannada film)
A is a 1998 blockbuster Kannada movie written and directed by Real Star Upendra. It starred Upendra and Chandni as the lead couple. The film was a love story told in an extremely different way...
. The decade had some story-based films like Mannina Doni. Ravichandran suffered a failure with Shanthi Kranthi. This decade also witnessed the special movie Beladingala Baale
Beladingala Baale
Beladingala Baale , meaning Lady of the Moonlight is a 1995 Kannada movie directed by Sunil Kumar Desai, starring Anant Nag and Suman Nagarkar. It is based on a Telugu novel titled Vennelalo Aadapilla by Yandamoori Veerendranath which was translated into Kannada by Vamshi titled Beladingala Baale....
.
The deaths of Shankar Nag
Shankar Nag
Shankar Nagarkatte , 9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved...
and Sunil were unexpected.
2000s
The Kannada film industry managed to generate several blockbusters in the first decade of the new millennium. It suffered heavy losses with the demise of superstars and demi gods of Karnataka Dr.Rajkumar and Dr.Vishnuvardhan and other actors such as K. S. AshwathK. S. Ashwath
K. S. Ashwath was a veteran Kannada film actor. He has acted in more than 350 films during his five-decade-long career.-Early life:Aswath was born in Karaganahalli Village, Arakalagudu Taluk, Hassan district, Karnataka, India...
and Vajramuni
Vajramuni
Vajramuni was an actor in the Kannada film industry who acted in more than 300 movies. He died at the age of 62.. He had been suffering from protracted kidney-related illness and was on dialysis for a couple of years...
.
But this decade also saw the emergence of talented artists like Puneet Rajkumar
Puneet Rajkumar
Puneeth Rajkumar is an Indian film actor who acts in Kannada films and the youngest son of Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar and the younger brother of leading KFI star Shivaraj Kumar. As a child artist, he appeared in 12 films...
(Rajkumar's third son), Darshan Tugudeep
Darshan Tugudeep
Darshan Thoogudeep popularly known as challenging star is an actor and a film producer in the Kannada Film Industry. The son of a famous Kannada artist Thoogudeepa Srinivas and Meena Thoogudeepa, he struggled a lot before becoming popular on screen, involving himself in a number of off-screen...
(son of actor Toogudeepa Sreenivas), Sudeep
Sudeep
Sudeep is an Indian actor, director, producer and singer from Shimoga, Karnataka, known in the Kannada film industry and Bollywood. He is also founder owner of his production company Kiccha Creations.Hence he is also famously known as 'Kiccha' Sudeep....
, Ganesh
Ganesh (actor)
Ganesh is a Kannada language film actor from India. He shot to popularity with the 2006 blockbuster film Mungaru Male, which became one of the biggest hits in Kannada cinema.- Television career :...
, Diganth
Diganth
Diganth Manchale, known as Diganth , is an Indian actor and former model, He is mainly active in Kannada cinema.-Early life:He was born in Sagara, Karnataka. Diganth completed his schooling in Seva Bharathi and Pre-University in Tunga Mahavidyalaya, Thirthahalli where his father, Mr. Krishnamurthy,...
and Vijay
Duniya Vijay
Duniya Vijay is a Kannada film star. Who started of as a junior film artist in the industry assaying small insignificant roles, before he got the big break in 'Duniya'. Vijay is married and has three children...
. Director Upendra
Upendra
Upendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
turned into an actor and acted in several hit films. Young actresses like Ramya
Ramya
Divya Spandana , known by her stage name Ramya , is an Indian film actress, who predominantly acts in Kannada films and also appears in Tamil and Telugu films....
, Rakshita
Rakshita
Swetha , popularly known as Rakshita is a South Indian film actress. She has acted in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu language films. Rakshita made her acting debut in the 2002 Kannada-language film Appu, alongside Puneet Rajkumar, following which, she acted in many Kannada films.-Early life:Rakshita...
, Pooja Gandhi
Pooja Gandhi
Pooja Gandhi , also known as Sanjana Gandhi, is an Indian actress predominantly working in the Kannada film industry.She went on to appear in commercially successful films like mungaru male, taj mahal, buddhivanta, thus establishing herself as a leading contemporary actress of kannada cinema.-Early...
, Aindrita Ray
Aindrita Ray
Aindrita Ray , is an Indian film actress, primarily appearing in Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2007, starring in Meravanige and went on to appear in several commercially successful films, establishing herself as a leading contemporary actress of Kannada cinema...
, Priyamani
Priyamani
Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, better known by her stage name Priyamani is an Indian film actress and model who has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films...
, Rekha Vedavyas
Rekha Vedavyas
Rekha, also known as Akshara, is an Indian film actress, who predominantly acts in Kannada films and also appears in Tamil and Telugu films. While pursuing modelling, she made her acting debut in the 2001 Kannada film Chitra and has since starred in over 30 films in various South Indian...
, Sharmila Mandre
Sharmila Mandre
Sharmila Mandre is a Indian actress who mainly appears in Kannada films. She started her film career through the Kannada film Sajni, opposite Dhyan and had her first commercial success with the film Krishna opposite Golden Star Ganesh .Her other hit films include Navagraha , Venkata in Sankata ...
, Meera Jasmine
Meera Jasmine
Meera Jasmine is an Indian actress, who appears in regional Indian films that includes Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress in 2004 and is a two time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, as well as the...
, Jennifer Kotwal
Jennifer Kotwal
Jennifer Dinshaw Kotwal is a Parsi model and actress from Mumbai, India. She went to school at Villa Teresa High School in Mumbai, and completed her studies with a degree in Economics at HR College, also in Mumbai....
, Radhika Pandit
Radhika Pandit
Radhika Pandit is an Indian film and television actress who appears in Kannada films, mostly performing lead characters. Making her feature film debut in the 2008 film Moggina Manasu, she has been receiving notable critical praise for her performances, receiving three successive Filmfare Awards...
, Shuba Poonja, Nikita Thukral
Nikita Thukral
Nikita Thukral is an Indian film actress and model, who has acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films. She is best known for her item number "Kodana Kodi" in Saroja.-Early life:...
and Sanjana
Sanjana
Archana Galrani , better known professionally as Sanjana, is an Indian model and film actress, born and brought up in Bangalore. Though she appeared in quite a few Kannada films, it was the 2008 Telugu film Bujjigadu that brought her to limelight She was a model before enetering into films...
established themselves in this decade. Matured actresses like Tara
Tara (Kannada actress)
Tara is a Kannada film actress. She won the Best Actress award in the 2005 National Film Awards for her role in the film Hasina , which also received the Best Film on Family Welfare award...
, Prema
Prema (actress)
Prema is an actress in the Kannada film industry. She has starred opposite Mohanlal, Shivrajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ravichandran, Upendra, Saikumar,and Ramesh Aravind.- Early life :...
and Bhavana (who gave a dynamic and offbeat performance in the single-actor movie Shanti
Shanti (film)
Shanti is a film in the Kannada language directed by renowned Kannada writer and director Baraguru Ramachandrappa. Shanti means peace in Kannada. Released in the year 2004, this film features only a single actor and hence has found an entry in the Guinness World Records in the category Fewest...
) led the female brigade for off-beat films. Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli is a noted film director, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema in Kannada cinema, who has won the National Film Award for Best Film four times, Ghatashraddha , Tabarana Kathe , Thaayi Saheba and Dweepa...
made huge waves with his subjects in art-based films. Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar
Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar
Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar is a Kannada film director. Chandrashekhar, also known as Chandru, has directed about 15 Kannada movies and about 10 Tele-serials...
, T. S. Nagabharana
T. S. Nagabharana
T. S. Nagabharana is an Indian filmmaker in the Kannada film industry. He has been the recipient of international, national, state and other awards for 20 of his 30 Kannada movies in the last 26 years. He holds a degree in in Science and Law...
and Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad
Girish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
were instrumental throughout in bringing masterpieces.
Yajamana by Dr.Vishnuvardhan broke all previous box office records, running to packed houses in many theaters across the country for more than a year.
The year 2005 witnessed good collections at the box office for the Kannada film industry. Starting with Shivrajkumar
Shivrajkumar
Shivaraj Kumar is a Kannada film actor. He is the son of Kannada thespian Dr. Rajkumar. After graduating in B.Sc...
-starrer jogi, which grossed 14 crore in just 2 weeks and ran for 100 days in a record number of theaters in Karnataka, films like Anna Tangi, Gowramma, Amruthadhare, Deadly Soma and Nenapirali performed well at the box office. An estimated four of every five films released succeeded at the box office. Profits soared and there was a happy mood in the industry. In the last quarter of 2006, the huge blockbuster movie Mungaru Male
Mungaru Male
Mungaru Male is a 2006 Kannada language movie directed by Yograj Bhat and produced by E Krishnappa. The film stars Ganesh, Pooja Gandhi, and Anant Nag in lead roles...
shattered records and was even released in other countries (USA, UK, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
). Mungaru Male completed one whole year at PVR Cinemas Bangalore, and completed 45 weeks in main theater, while running for more than 100 days in many theaters across the state and it also became the first movie in the world to complete a one-year run at any multiplex, where films keep changing every week with at least 5 films releasing freshly. Mungaru Male even released in Chennai, Hyderabad and even abroad. Comedy Time Ganesh, a small-time TV anchor, became the Golden Star Ganesh of Kannada Cinema; Duniya became another huge hit and gave life to its hero, Vijay
Duniya Vijay
Duniya Vijay is a Kannada film star. Who started of as a junior film artist in the industry assaying small insignificant roles, before he got the big break in 'Duniya'. Vijay is married and has three children...
.
Puneet Rajkumar
Puneet Rajkumar
Puneeth Rajkumar is an Indian film actor who acts in Kannada films and the youngest son of Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar and the younger brother of leading KFI star Shivaraj Kumar. As a child artist, he appeared in 12 films...
became the top most actor in the Kannada film Industry and one of the busiest and highest paid actors of the Kannada Film Industry. His film Appu in 2002 completed 175 days in theaters across Karnataka and the world and was also remade in various languages such as Telugu (Idiot
Idiot
An idiot, dolt, or dullard is a mentally deficient person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. Archaically the word mome has also been used. The similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin have all gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is...
). His film, Abhi in 2003 became a box office hit completing 100 days at the theatres. 2007's biggest hit movie Milana ran for 450 days in many centers across the country and bettered the record of Mungaru Male at PVR Cinemas, Bengaluru. His 2010 releases were Prithvi and Jackie. Both were screened for more than 100 days and Jackie remains one among the highest grossing films in the industry. 2011's films Hudugaru
Hudugaru
Hudugaru is a 2011 Kannada-language drama film directed by Maadesh, starring Puneet Rajkumar, Yogesh, Srinagar Kitty and Radhika Pandit in the lead roles. The film, which is a remake of the successful 2010 Tamil film Naadodigal, has been produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. While V...
, Paramathma also fared well.
In 2008, the Kannada film industry saw many firsts. More and more films started to release outside the state and outside India. Gaja,Buddhivantha and Navagraha
Navagraha (Film)
Navagraha is Indian Kannada movie directed by Dinakar starring Darshan and Sharmila Mandre. It is a heist movie.-Cast:*Darshan*Sharmila Mandre* Varsha* Giri Dinesh* Dharma Keertiraj* Vinod Prabhakar-Soundtrack:*"Yaami Yaami"...
became hits. The budget for Kannada films was now between 5-10 crores, as opposed to just 1-2 crore three years previously. Mukhaputa
Mukhaputa
Mukhaputa is Indian Kannada movie directed by Roopa Iyer. The film has international researchers and academicians as advisors: Dr. Satish, President of HIV Research Association of India, and Prof...
(The Cover Page) won an award at the Ireland Film Festival. In 2009, Raaj the Showman, Manasaare
Manasaare
Manasaare is an Indian Kannada language movie directed by Yograj Bhat starring Diganth in the lead.-Plot:Manohara is an unemployed youth who is always looked down on by his family. However his uncle is very supportive to him. One day in order to prove that he is capable of doing something in his...
, and Josh ran for 100 days. Kannada actress Umashree won a Best Actress National Award for the movie Gulabi Talkies
Gulabi Talkies
Gulabi Talkies is a 2008 Kannada film by acclaimed Indian director Girish Kasaravalli. It is based on a short story by the same name by Kannada writer Vaidehi....
in 2009; the film also screened at Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, and won three awards: Best Film in Indian Competition, Best Actress in Indian Competition (Umashree), and Best Actor in Indian Competition (Vinay BM).
Kannada cinema celebrated its 75-year anniversary in 2009. A function was held on the palace grounds in Bangalore on 1 March 2009 under the direction of V. Ravichandran
V. Ravichandran
V. Ravichandran is an actor, director, producer, music director, Editor and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravichandran continues to run his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions...
, featuring a set resembling an open-winged bird. It was attended by many stars from Kannada cinema and from other film industries who had a stint in Kannada films.
In 2010, Vishnuvardhan's final film, Aptharakshaka, created new box office records. Puneeth Rajkumar's film with director Soori, Jackie, broke previous records by collecting 25 crores in two weeks. Upendra
Upendra
Upendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
's 2010 film titled Super is the most expensive Kannada film to date and has become the highest grosser in the history of Kannada cinema and has also completed a successful 100 days.
Kannada blockbusters in the 21st century have included: Yajamana, Aptamitra, Jogi, Mungaru Male, Duniya, Milana, Galipata, Cheluvina Chittara, Buddivanta, Aptharakshaka, Krishnan Love Story, Jackie, Super, Mylari, Appu, Akash, Arasu,Malla Huchaa, Kariya,Kalasipalya, My Autograph, Veera Madakari, Munsaje Maathu, Jothe hotheyalli, Nenapiralli,Gaja,Excuse Me,,Hudugru,Kanasugara, Cynide, Aa Dinagalu, Kempegowda.
Movies which have run for over a year include: Bangarada Manushya (Rajkumar),"Prema loka"(V.Ravichandran) Anuraga Aralithu (Rajkumar), "Suprabhatha" (Vishnuvardhan), "Ranadheera"(V.Ravichandran), Jeevana Chaitra (Rajkumar), "Nee Bareda Kadambari" (Vishnuvardhan), Nanjundi Kalyana
Nanjundi Kalyana
Nanjundi Kalyana is an Indian Kannada film directed and starring Raghavendra Rajkumar, with Malashri, Girija Lokesh, Dheerendra Gopal as cast.- Cast :* Raghavendra Rajkumar as Nanjundi* Malashri* Girija Lokesh* Dheerendra Gopal- Songs :...
(Raghavendra Rajkumar
Raghavendra Rajkumar
Raghavendra Rajkumar is an actor in the Kannada film Industry. He is the second son of the legendary Kannada matinee idol Dr. Rajkumar. After starring in lead roles in many Kannada films, he is now actively involved in production - including the recent blockbuster Jackie starring his brother,...
), Janumada Jodi (Shivrajkumar)," Putnanja"(V.Ravichandran), Om (Shivrajkumar), Yajamana (Vishnuvardhana), Aaptamitra (Vishnuvardhana), Mungaru Male (Ganesh), 'Milana (Puneeth Rajkumar), Naagarahaavu(Vishnuvardhana), Bandhana(Vishnuvardhana).
Most of Dr.Vishnuvardhan's films have had a one whole year run at the theaters that shows the huge fan following and the popularity for the actor in Karnataka.
Film music
Music directors who have made their mark in Kannada films include R. Ratna, M. Venkata Swamy, M. Ranga Rao, G. K. Venkatesh, IlaiyaraajaIlaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja is an Indian film composer, singer, and lyricist mainly in the Tamil film Industry. He is regarded as one of the finest music composers in India. Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, and a songwriter...
, Vijaya Bhaskar
Vijaya Bhaskar
Vijaya Bhaskar was a Kannada Music director. He was known for his songs composed in association with Puttanna Kanagal.-Career:...
, the duo Rajan-Nagendra
Rajan-Nagendra
Rajan and Nagendra were musicians who were prominent composer of film music in Kannada cinema during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.Rajan was born in Shivarampet of Mysore in a middle-class family...
, Upendra Kumar, Sathyam
Chellapilla Satyam
Chellapilla Satyanarayana Sastry, better known as Chellapilla Satyam is an eminent Indian music director. He was popular in the Telugu and Kannada cinema fields in 1960s and 1980s. Sathyam is best remembered as "Andhra RD Burman".He was born in Komarada village in Vizianagaram district, Andhra...
, C. Aswath
C. Aswath
C. Aswath was an Indian music composer and exponent of Bhavageete in the Kannada language. He was also a singer, and had sung many of his own compositions. He was credited with singing Bhavageete songs and making sure that they reached the common man. He died on 29 December 2009 on his 70th...
, Hamsalekha
Hamsalekha
Hamsalekha is a music director and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He also writes screenplays and dialogues for movies. He has composed music for over 300 feature films and has written lyrics for 300-odd feature films. He has also composed for Tamil and Telugu films...
, Gurukiran
Gurukiran
Gurukiran or Gurukiran Shetty is a noted music director of the Kannada film industry in India. He started his career as a music director of the Kannada movie "A", directed and acted by Upendra. His music for the movie Upendra further consolidated his position in Kannada movie industry. He is a...
, T. G. Lingappa
T. G. Lingappa
T. Govindarajulu Lingappa was a noted music director who had scored music for Tamil, Kannada and Telugu movies. He is the son of T. Govindarajulu Naidu who is also a famous film music director who had a very old beginning in the Tamil film industry.-Early Life:T.G. Lingappa is the second son had...
, Mano Murthy
Mano Murthy
Mano Murthy is a leading musician and composer in the Kannada Film Industry. Although his compositions in his earlier films were also successful, he shot to fame with Mungaru Male, one of the biggest hits in Kannada industry. Before moving onto becoming a composer, he was an entrepreneur, having...
, Thomas Rathnam, Harikrishna
V. Harikrishna
Hari Krishna is a music director and singer in the Kannada film industry and has won 3 consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music for Gaalipata in 2008, Raaj The Showman in 2009 and Jackie in 2010.-Career:...
.
Lyrics of Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
film songs have been penned by Ku Ra SitaramaShastri, Kanagal Prabhakara shastri, Sorat Ashwath, Vijayanaarasimha,Chi. Udayashankar, R. N. Jayagopal
R. N. Jayagopal
R. N. Jayagopal was an Indian lyricist of the Kannada film industry who wrote over 12000 film songs.-Death:He died on 19 May 2008 at the age of 72 following a cardiac arrest...
, Hamsalekha
Hamsalekha
Hamsalekha is a music director and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He also writes screenplays and dialogues for movies. He has composed music for over 300 feature films and has written lyrics for 300-odd feature films. He has also composed for Tamil and Telugu films...
, Jayantha Kaikini, Yogaraj Bhat, K.Kalyan, Kaviraj, Hrudayashiva, Dr.V.Nagendra Prasad and Doddarange Gowda among others.
Playback singers in Kannada films include:
- Male
Ghantasala, Dr.Rajkumar, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam is a multilingual Indian playback singer, actor, music director, voice actor and a film producer. He is referred to as S. P. B. or Balu by the media. He has won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times closely following K. J. Yesudas...
, Dr.P. B. Sreenivas, K. J. Yesudas
K. J. Yesudas
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
, M. Balamuralikrishna, Rajesh Krishnan
Rajesh Krishnan
Rajesh Krishnan is one of the most accomplished playback singers in the Southern industry. Rajesh Krishnan different from the others of the celebrity posse. His sensitive performances made him as hot property on both silver and small screen....
, Hemanth, Tippu, Chetan, Badri, Anup Seelin, Harikrishna, Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan
-Career:King of melody, Udit Narayan Jha was born on 1 December, 1955 in a village called Bhardaha in the Saptari district , Nepal. His father was Hare Krishna Jha and his mother was Bhuwaneshwari Devi.Narayan studied at P.B...
, Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured in numerous Hindi movies, as well as films in Assamese, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada language. He has also released numerous Indi-pop albums and acted in a few Hindi feature films...
, Kunal Ganjawala
Kunal Ganjawala
Kunal Ganjawala is popularly known as Bollywood playback singer. But he also did a very well contribution to Kanada film industry as well. Kunal began his career by singing jingles. He came to limelight with the song 'Bheege Honth Tere' form film Murder in 2004. It was his first biggest hit...
, Vijay Prakash
Vijay Prakash
Vijay Prakash , is a playback singer from Mysore who moved to Mumbai in 1996. He has sung in Hindi films such as Blue, Yuvvraaj, Swades, Kaal, Lakshya, Matrubhoomi, Tere Naam, Cheeni Kum, Raavan and Force. He has also performed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies...
, Raghu Dixit,
- Female
B K Sumitra,P. Susheela
P. Susheela
Pulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka...
, S. Janaki
S. Janaki
S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
, L. R. Eswari
L. R. Eswari
L. R. Eswari is a Veteran playback singer of the Tamil movie industry. She also sang in other languages like Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, and English.-Early Life:...
, Vani Jayaram
Vani Jayaram
Vani Jayaram , the unmatched nightingle of India, is a prominent Indian female playback singer. She has recorded more than 8,000 songs in 14 different languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi...
, K. S. Chitra, Swarnalatha
Swarnalatha
Swarnalatha was a Indian playback singer. From 1987 onward, she rendered nearly 7000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga....
, Sujatha
Sujatha (actress)
Sujatha was a popular South Indian actress who has performed in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi language films, and was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. Sujatha was introduced to the Tamil film industry by veteran director K. Balachander as a...
, Manjula Gururaj
Manjula Gururaj
Manjula Gururaj is an Indian female playback singer.-Early life:Manjula Gururaj was born to G. SeethaLakshmi and Dr.M.N.Ramanna on June 10, in Mysore. She studied science in Bangalore University...
, Chandrika, Anuradha Sriram
Anuradha Sriram
Anuradha Sriram is an Indian carnatic and playback singer who hails from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. She has sung in many Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films.- Personal life :...
, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan
Sunidhi Chauhan is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi film songs in Bollywood. She has also recorded songs for Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati films and is credited with over 2000 songs....
, B. R. Chaya, Pallavi
Pallavi
In Carnatic music pallavi is the thematic line of a song. It is usually one cycle long and repeated twice in order to give the percussionist the idea of the chosen taalam...
,Sunitha, Archana Udupa, Lakshmi, Akanksha Badami, Chaitra, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Malgudi Shubha, Priyadarshini, Nanditha
Nanditha (singer)
Nanditha is a singer in the Kannada film industry. She is a software engineer by profession. She was formerly working with Cisco systems. But because of her love for the music she has given up her information technology profession and now fully into music. She is a veena player too and has passed...
.
- Actors who have done playback
Dr.Rajkumar, Dr.Vishnuvardhan, Upendra
Upendra
Upendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director...
, Puneet Rajkumar
Puneet Rajkumar
Puneeth Rajkumar is an Indian film actor who acts in Kannada films and the youngest son of Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar and the younger brother of leading KFI star Shivaraj Kumar. As a child artist, he appeared in 12 films...
, Sudeep
Sudeep
Sudeep is an Indian actor, director, producer and singer from Shimoga, Karnataka, known in the Kannada film industry and Bollywood. He is also founder owner of his production company Kiccha Creations.Hence he is also famously known as 'Kiccha' Sudeep....
, Shivarajkumar, Ganesh.
Cinematographers
Important Kannada cinematographers include: B. V. Madhusudhan (Daari Tapida Maga), D. V. Raja Ram (BandhanaBandhana
Bandhana ಬಂಧನ is an Indian Kannada language movie directed by Rajendra Singh Babu, starring Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini. The movie is based on a Kannada novel written by Usha Navaratnanram. The movie is an all time classic of Kannada cinema, and it is still remembered for its brilliant story, songs...
), B. C. GowriShankar (Om
Om (Kannada film)
Om is an Indian Kannada film directed by Upendra , starring Shivarajkumar , and notable for its exposure of Bangalore's criminal underworld. The film was a commercial and critical success and aided the careers of the actors Prema and Shivarajkumar...
), S. Ramachandra (Rishya Shringa, Ghatashradha), G. S. Bhaskar (Bannada Vesha, Nagamandala), Ramachandra Halkere (Thaisaheba, Dweepa, Nenapiralli), G S V Seetharam (Ekaangi, Aham Premaasmi), Krishna (Mungaru Male, Geleya, Haage Sumane, Maleyalli Jotheyalli, Milana
Milana
Milana is a Kannada film Directed by Prakash and Produced by Dushyant. This movie was from the banners of Jai Matha Combines and Chowdeshwari Cine creations. Puneet Rajkumar played the male lead and Parvathi Menon played the female lead, who is making a debut in kannada movies with this film...
, Birugaali), Gynamurthy (Mani, Payana
Payana
Payana in Kannada means journey.It is also name of a movie http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/payana-a-feel-good-romantic-story-kannada-film-review_100108726.htmlPayana is a children's game, originally called "kapichua"....
, Love Guru), and H. C. Venu (Sparsha, A
A (Kannada film)
A is a 1998 blockbuster Kannada movie written and directed by Real Star Upendra. It starred Upendra and Chandni as the lead couple. The film was a love story told in an extremely different way...
, Ugadi, Aa Dinagalu
Aa Dinagalu
Aa Dinagalu is a 2007 Indian Kannada film based on the book Daadaagiriya Dinagalu by Agni Shridhar. The film is about the rowdyism that prevailed in Bengaluru during 1986.-The plot:...
), Satya Hegde (Duniya, Hudugata, Inthi Ninna Preethiya
Inthi Ninna Preethiya
Inthi Ninna Preethiya is a 2008 Kannada film directed by Soori, under the Suri Talkies banner. The film stars Srinagar Kitty, Bhavana and Sonu in pivotal roles. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Sadhu Kokila...
, Hudugaru
Hudugaru
Hudugaru is a 2011 Kannada-language drama film directed by Maadesh, starring Puneet Rajkumar, Yogesh, Srinagar Kitty and Radhika Pandit in the lead roles. The film, which is a remake of the successful 2010 Tamil film Naadodigal, has been produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. While V...
, Jackie, Excuse me
Excuse Me
Excuse Me is a 1925 film starring Norma Shearer, and Conrad Nagel. It was directed by Alfred J. Goulding. The film was written by best-selling novelist Rupert Hughes on an offday and is based upon his play...
) Shekhar Chandra (Circus, Krishnan Marriage story), Santhosh Rai Pataje (Savi Savi Nenapu, Josh), Rathna Velu (Cynide, Gaalipata).
Departures
Kannada cinema has lost several of its most talented stars at the peak of their careers.Kalpana
Kalpana (Kannada actress)
Kalpana was a very popular Kannada cinema actress. Her epithet was Minugu taare . A versatile actress, she dominated the Kannada film industry during the late 1960s and 1970s and was critically acclaimed for her roles in movies like Sharapanjara, Gejje Pooje, Belli moda, Eradu Kanasu, Kappu Bilupu,...
and Manjula
Manjula (Kannada actress)
Manjula was an Indian film actress who acted in Kannada language films. She was one of the most successful and prominent actress of Kannada films. She has acted in more than 100 films-Personal life:...
of former years and Shankar Nag
Shankar Nag
Shankar Nagarkatte , 9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved...
, Suneel, Nivedita Jain
Nivedita Jain
Nivedita Jain was a beauty contestant and film actress who appeared in Kannada films. Jain was crowned Miss Bangalore in 1994.On May 18, 1998, Jain received serious head injuries after falling off the parapet wall of the terrace on the second floor of her home located in Rajarajeshwari Nagar...
, Soundarya
Soundarya
Soundarya was a film actress who appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She acted in more than 90 films, most of them in Telugu. She was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore.-Film career:...
, and Shashikumar
Shashikumar
Shashikumar is an actor and politician from Karnataka, India. He is considered to be one of the 1990s top actors in the Kannada film industry with a vast number of commercially successful movies. He is also known for his distinct dancing skills in the industry...
(survived) of the latter, passed away when they were at their prime. Aarathi
Aarathi
Aarathi is an Indian actress and producer of Kannada movies.She first became popular during the late 1970s and 1980s, and was recognised for her roles in movies such as Naagarahaavu, Edakallu Guddada Mele, Bili Hendthi, Dharmasere, Paduvaaralli Pandavaru, Ranganayaki, Hombisilu, Upaasane and...
, Sudha Rani
Sudha Rani
Sudha Rani is an Indian actress born August 14, 1974, in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.-Early years:Rani was born into a conservative Brahmin family based in Malleswaram, Bangalore. She has two older brothers. She began modeling in print ads at the age of three. Her mother nurtured Rani's talent by...
and Anjali
Anjali Sudhakar
Anjali is an actress in the Indian state of Karnataka.Her original name was Shantha, before director Kashinath - Guru of Super star Upendra named her as Anjali.- Family :...
faded out due to their personal lives.
Popular artists from other industries who have acted in Kannada movies
- Juhi ChawlaJuhi ChawlaJuhi Chawla is an Indian actress, film producer and television presenter.After being crowned as the winner of the Miss India beauty contest in 1984, Chawla pursued an acting career...
- debut movie as actress in the movie PremalokaPremalokaPremaloka is a Kannada feature film, starring Ravichandran Juhi Chawla and Leelavathi, released in 1987. Premaloka literally means "World of Love" in Kannada. It was a super hit film, becoming the biggest grosser of that time. The film had twelve songs, all of which are popular even today. The...
with V.Ravichandran - Anil KapoorAnil KapoorAnil Kapoor is an Indian actor and producer who mainly appears in Bollywood films. He won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in Yash Chopra's film Mashaal ....
- Pallavi Anu PallaviPallavi Anu PallaviPallavi Anu Pallavi is a Kannada film released in 1983, in which Indian director Mani Ratnam made his directorial debut. The movie starred Anil Kapoor in his first leading role. The film deals with an unconventional plot of a male in love with an older female played by the popular actress...
(His debut film in his film career) - Akshay kumarAkshay KumarAkshay Kumar is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series",...
- vishnuvijaya with vishnuvardhan. - Pankaj Dheer Pankaj DheerPankaj Dheer is an Indian television and film actor originally from Punjab. His best known role was as Karna in epic TV series, Mahabharata , which became a famous Indian television series, and as Shivdutt in Chandrakanta...
- vishnuvijaya with vishnuvardhan. - Sangeeta BijlaniSangeeta BijlaniSangeeta Bijlani is an Indian Bollywood actress and former model. Bijlani was the Miss India winner in 1980.-Film career:After winning the Miss India title, she kept herself busy in modelling and did a couple of commercials including brands like Vicco Turmeric cream and Nirma detergent. During the...
- Police Mattu Dada with vishnuvardhan. - ChiranjeeviChiranjeeviChiranjeevi is a Telugu film actor and a politician. He has appeared primarily in Telugu Cinema along with a few Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Punadhirallu . However, Pranam Khareedu released at the box office earlier...
in the movie Sipayi with V.Ravichandran - Mani RatnamMani RatnamMani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
debut movie Pallavi Anupallavi as director and writer - Amrish PuriAmrish PuriAmrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...
- in the debut movie Kaadu - Naseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin ShahNaseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film actor and director. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions towards Indian cinema.-Early life:...
- in movie Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane (1977 film) - Shilpa ShettyShilpa ShettyShilpa Shetty is an Indian film actress and model. Since making her debut in the film Baazigar , she has appeared in nearly 40 Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, her first leading role being in the 1994 Aag. Although she has been through years of decline during her career, Shetty has been...
in Preethsodh Thappa with V.Ravichandran and Auto Shankar with UpendraUpendraUpendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director... - RambhaRambha (actress)Vijaya Lakshmi , best known by her stage name Rambha, is an Indian film actress. She has acted in over 100 South Indian films and also in Bollywood films. She had done several successful films in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali and Bhojpuri films. She paired up with popular heroes...
debut movie Server Somanna with JaggeshJaggeshJaggesh is an IndiaKannada film industry, known for the comedy roles he portrays in his movies. He has acted in movies such asSuper Nan Maga and Tharle Nan Maga. Jaggesh has a big fan following and is popularly referred to by his fans as Navarasa Nayaka. Jaggesh is a in the early 80's by playing...
. - KiaKIA-People:* Kia Abdullah , British-Asian author and journalist* Kia Asamiya , Japanese manga artist* Kia Byers , Canadian canoeist* Kia Corthron , American playwright, activist, and television writer...
in krishna nee begane baaro with Vishnuvardhan. - Yana GuptaYana GuptaYana Gupta or Yaana is a Czech model and actress working in Mumbai. Gupta is a citizen of the Czech Republic.-Personal life:...
in Jogi (film)(Item song) with shivarajkumar. - Mallika SherawatMallika SherawatMallika Sherawat is a former Indian model, now working as an actress in mainly Bollywood films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude, Sherawat has been frequently featured in the media as a sex symbol...
in prethi yake bhoomi male ede with prem. - Sivaji GanesanSivaji GanesanViluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
- In the movie School Master - Ramya KrishnanRamya KrishnanRamya Krishnan is an actress who performs in Indian cinema. She has acted in over 200 films in five languages; Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.-Early life and background:...
in the movies Mangalyam Thanthu Nanena, Gadibidi Ganda and Ekangi with V.Ravichandran, Krishna Rukmini and Raja Narasimha with Sahasasimha Vishnuvardhan and Raktha Kanneru with UpendraUpendraUpendra is a cine actor, director, script writer and singer. Born in a middle class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, he belongs to Kannada speaking Kota Brahmin community. Upendra started his career off with famous director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director... - Kushboo in the movies Ranadheera, Anjada Gandu and Yugapurusha with V.Ravichandran
- Namitha in the movie Neelkanta with V.Ravichandran
- AmalaAmala (actress)Amala Akkineni is an Indian film actress and Animal welfare activist. She has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films.-Biography:...
in the movie Bannada Gejje with V.Ravichandran - Prithviraj KapoorPrithviraj KapoorPrithviraj Kapoor , 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was a pioneer of Indian theatre and of the Hindi film industry, who started his career as an actor, in the silent era of Hindi cinema, associated with IPTA and who founded Prithvi Theatres, a travelling theatre company based in Mumbai, in...
- In the movie Sakshatkara - MadhavanR. MadhavanR. Madhavan is an Indian actor, writer, film producer and television host. Madhavan has received a Filmfare Award, an award from the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards alongside recognition and nominations from other organisations...
- debut kannada film in Shathi Shanthi Shanthi - Rajinikanth (who is from Karnataka) - Katha Sangama
- Kamal Hassan - in and out in movies like Kokila, Benkiyalli Arlidha Hoovu, Pushpaka Vimana, Maria My Darling and Rama Shama Bhama
- LakshmiLakshmiLakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
(of Julie fame ) - Debut movie - Goa Dalli CID 999 - Rekha - debut movie - Operation Jackpot nalli CID 999
- Jaya PradaJaya PradaJaya Prada is an Indian film actress and politician. She has starred in hundreds of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi films.-Early life:...
- debut movie - Huliya Haalina Mevu and Sanaadi Appanna - jackie shroffJackie ShroffJackie Shroff is an Indian actor. He has been in the industry for more than 28 years and has appeared in over 150 films.-Personal life:...
- care of footpath,Zamana. - Atul KulkarniAtul KulkarniAtul Kulkarni born 10 September 1965 is an Indian actor who has won two National Awards and has superstar status in Marathi film industry after successful movies like Valu and Natarang....
- debut movie Bhoomi Geetha as actor (1997) - Nana PatekarNana PatekarVishwanath "Nana" Patekar is an Indian actor and filmmaker.-Biography:Born Vishwanath Patekar in Murud-Janjira, Maharashtra, to Dinkar Patekar and his wife Sanjanabai Patekar. He is an alumnus of the Sir J.J...
- yaksha with loose maada(yogesh). - Nayanthara - Super (2010)
- PriyamaniPriyamaniPriya Vasudev Mani Iyer, better known by her stage name Priyamani is an Indian film actress and model who has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films...
- in the movies Raam with Puneeth Raj Kumar, Eno Onthara with Ganesh, Vishnuvardhana with Sudeep, Lakshmi with Shivarajkumar. - Bhavana Menon - in the movie Jackie with Puneeth Raj Kumar.
- BhamaBhamaBhama is an Indian film actress, who has mainly appeared in Malayalam films. She debuted in 2007 through Nivedyam directed by A. K. Lohithadas.-Career:...
- in the movie Modala Sala. - Navya NairNavya NairDhanya Nair , better known by her stage name Navya Nair, is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada films. She has won the honour of Kalathilakam in the Alappuzha District Schools Youth Festival.- Personal life :...
- in the movie Gaja. - Mamta MohandasMamta MohandasMamta Mohandas is an Indian film actress and playback singer. She has mainly acted in Malayalam films, besides few Telugu and Tamil productions and one Kannada film...
- in the movie Gooli. - Genelia D Souza - in the movie Satya in Love.
- Nikitha - in the movies Vamshi, Yodha, Prince.
- Celina JaitleyCelina JaitleyCelina Jiya Jaitley is an Indian actress born in Kabul, Afghanistan. She appears in mainly Bollywood films. As a former beauty queen and model, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe in 2001.-Early life:...
- in the movie Srimathi. - SadaSadhaSadhaf Mohammed Syed , better known as Sadha, is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. Her most notable films include Jayam, Anniyan and Unnale Unnale.-Personal:...
- in the movies Monalisa, Mylari. - MammoottyMammoottyMammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...
- in the movie Shikari. - AbhishekAbhishek KumarAbhishek Kumar is a Bollywood actor who is debuting in Indian director Faisal Saif's film titled Paanch Ghantey Mien Paanch Crore, previously titled Murder at Farm House. He originally hails from Punjab but now resides in Mumbai.-Early stage:Abhishek was born into a business family in Punjab...
- in movie Accident as a junior Artist
Kannada-Tulu artists who migrated from Karnataka to other languages
- V Shantaram (Vankudre Shantaram - Kannadiga who hails from Bijapur district but worked extensively in Marathi and Hindi)
- Rajinikanth
- B. Saroja DeviB. Saroja DeviB. Saroja Devi is an Indian actress. She is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan award and has acted in Kannada,Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies.She is referred to as Abinaya Saraswathi by Tamil film industry and as Kannadathu Paingili by Kannada Film Industry.She ruled the roost for more than three...
- Sunil Shetty
- Shilpa ShettyShilpa ShettyShilpa Shetty is an Indian film actress and model. Since making her debut in the film Baazigar , she has appeared in nearly 40 Bollywood, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, her first leading role being in the 1994 Aag. Although she has been through years of decline during her career, Shetty has been...
- Aishwarya RaiAishwarya RaiAishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...
- Arjun SarjaArjun SarjaArjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
- Prakash Rai
- SoundaryaSoundaryaSoundarya was a film actress who appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She acted in more than 90 films, most of them in Telugu. She was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore.-Film career:...
- Vinay RaiVinay RaiVinay Rai is an Indian film actor, commonly appearing in Tamil films, as well as modelling and catwalking in noted fashion shows. His mother tongue is Tulu.- Career :...
- Lakshmi RaiLakshmi RaiLakshmi Rai is an Indian film actress and model from Belgaum, Karnataka, predominantly appearing in Malayalam and Tamil films. While most of her Tamil releases performed poorly at the box office, she rose to fame with the popular Malayalam-language films Annan Thambi , 2 Harihar Nagar ,...
- Anushka SharmaAnushka SharmaAnushka Sharma is an Indian actress and former model who appears in Hindi films. In 2008, she was signed by Aditya Chopra for a three-film contract and made her screen debut in Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. She later received acclaim for her role as Shruti Kakkar in Band Baaja Baaraat...
- Anushka ShettyAnushka ShettyAnushka Shetty is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu...
- NageshNageshNagesh , was a Tamil film actor, mostly remembered for his roles as a comedian during the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the most prolific comedians in Tamil cinema....
- MuraliMurali (Tamil actor)Murali was a Tamil film actor who appeared in the leading and supporting roles throughout his career. Murali has acted with many stars including Vijaykanth, Prabhu, Sathyaraj, Karthik, Prabhu Deva, Surya, Parthiban, Sarath Kumar, Mammootty and Sivaji Ganesan...
- Kokila MohanMohan (actor)Mohan is a popular Kollywood actor. He hails from the Udupi district of Karnataka. He derived his name Kokila Mohan after debuting in a film called Kokila, which starred Kamal Haasan in the lead role. He considers Balu Mahendra as his mentor...
- AbbasAbbas (actor)Mirza Abbas Ali , known as Abbas, is an Indian film actor and model. He has appeared in Kollywood Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films.Born in Calcutta and educated in Mumbai, he was discovered modeling in Bangalore...
- SumanSuman (actor)Suman is a South Indian Telugu film actor. He played action hero and romantic hero in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films during the 1980s. After a long while away from cinema, he returned to acting in Tamil films in 2007, starring in S. Shankar's Sivaji: The Boss with Rajinikanth. He has also...
- Deepika PadukoneDeepika PadukoneDeepika Padukone is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film...
- Guru DuttGuru DuttVasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone , popularly known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema...
- Prabhu Deva
- Vinod Alva
- Charan RajCharan RajCharan Raj is an Indian film actor, director, music director, film producer and writer, primarily works in Tamil and other southern languages. Charan Raj is known for his outstanding performances in films like Gentleman, Indrudu Chandrudu and Kartavyam. He was also a part of Rajanikanth Hits Phool...
- PrabhakarTiger PrabhakarTiger Prabhakar was a popular villain in the Kannada film industry. He was an icon in Karnataka and was feared by heroes of his movies.-Career:...
- HamsalekhaHamsalekhaHamsalekha is a music director and lyricist in the Kannada film industry. He also writes screenplays and dialogues for movies. He has composed music for over 300 feature films and has written lyrics for 300-odd feature films. He has also composed for Tamil and Telugu films...
(As a Music Composer) - Rajesh KrishnanRajesh KrishnanRajesh Krishnan is one of the most accomplished playback singers in the Southern industry. Rajesh Krishnan different from the others of the celebrity posse. His sensitive performances made him as hot property on both silver and small screen....
(As a singer) - Vijay PrakashVijay PrakashVijay Prakash , is a playback singer from Mysore who moved to Mumbai in 1996. He has sung in Hindi films such as Blue, Yuvvraaj, Swades, Kaal, Lakshya, Matrubhoomi, Tere Naam, Cheeni Kum, Raavan and Force. He has also performed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies...
(As a singer) - Raghu Dixit (As a Music Composer)
- GurukiranGurukiranGurukiran or Gurukiran Shetty is a noted music director of the Kannada film industry in India. He started his career as a music director of the Kannada movie "A", directed and acted by Upendra. His music for the movie Upendra further consolidated his position in Kannada movie industry. He is a...
(As a Music Composer) - HarikrishnaV. HarikrishnaHari Krishna is a music director and singer in the Kannada film industry and has won 3 consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music for Gaalipata in 2008, Raaj The Showman in 2009 and Jackie in 2010.-Career:...
(As a Music Composer)
Konkani actors who have worked for Kannada cinema
- Anant NagAnant NagAnant Nagarkatte popularly known as Anant Nag is an actor and politician from Karnataka, India. He is considered to be one of the all time greatest actors in the Kannada film industry with a vast number of commercially successful movies. As a result, he is popularly known as an actor with...
- Shankar NagShankar NagShankar Nagarkatte , 9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved...
- Girish KarnadGirish KarnadGirish Raghunath Karnad is a contemporary writer, playwright, screenwriter, actor and movie director in Kannada language...
- Deepika PadukoneDeepika PadukoneDeepika Padukone is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to Badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film...
Guest appearances made by other film industry personalities
- Amitabh BachchanAmitabh BachchanAmitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
- AmrithadhareAmrithadhareAmrithadhare is a Kannada film directed and produced by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar. The film was released on 7 October 2005 starring Dhyan and Ramya in lead roles. The music was composed by Mano Murthy.... - Amrish PuriAmrish PuriAmrish Singh Puri , ; 22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005 was an iconic theater and film actor from India, who was a key player in the Indian theater movement that picked up steam in the 1960s. He worked with notable playwrights of the time, such as Satyadev Dubey and Girish Karnad...
- Simhadamari Sainya (1981), Subbi Subbakka Suvvalaali (1980), Palithamsha (1976), Kaadu (1974) - ChiranjeeviChiranjeeviChiranjeevi is a Telugu film actor and a politician. He has appeared primarily in Telugu Cinema along with a few Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Punadhirallu . However, Pranam Khareedu released at the box office earlier...
- Sipaayi and Sri Manjunatha - Narayan HosmaneNarayan HosmaneNarayan S. Hosmane is an Indian-born cancer research scientist who made the featured article in NRI Achievers magazine and is currently distinguished research professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the inaugural board of trustees professor at Northern Illinois University, Dekalb. He received...
- The Cover Page (Mukhaputa) - Mallika SherawatMallika SherawatMallika Sherawat is a former Indian model, now working as an actress in mainly Bollywood films. Known for her bold onscreen attitude, Sherawat has been frequently featured in the media as a sex symbol...
- Preethi Yeke Bhoomi Melide - MohanlalMohanlalMohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
- Love
Almost all singers have given playback and female actors have acted in the movies from other industries.
See also
- Kannada films of 2011Kannada films of 2011A list of Kannada language films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2011.* Films are generally released every Friday* In addition films can be released on specific festival days.-Highest grossing films:- January-June :-July – December:...
- Kannada films of 2010Kannada films of 2010A list of Kannada language films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2010.* Films are generally released every Friday* In addition films can be released on specific festival days.-Commercially Successful Films of Year 2010:Aptharakshaka-Super hit...
- Kannada films of 2009Kannada films of 2009A list of films produced by the Sandalwood based in Bangalore in the year 2009.- Released films :Films are listed based on release dates.HIT FILMS*Ee Shathamaanada Veera Madakari*Manasaare*Junglee*Maleyali Jotheyali...
- Kannada films of 2008Kannada films of 2008A list of films produced by the Sandalwood based in Bangalore in the year 2008.-Commercially Successful Films of Year 2008:Gaalipata- SUPER HITGaja - HITNanda Loves Nanditha - AVERAGE HITSatya In Love - AVERAGE HIT...
- Kannada films of 2007Kannada films of 2007A list of films produced by the Sandalwood based in Bangalore in the year 2007.-Commercially Successful Films of Year 2007:Duniya- SUPER HIT Milana- SUPER HITHudugaata- HITCheluvina Chittara- HIT...
- Kannada films of 2006Kannada films of 2006The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2006, presented in alphabetical order.-Commercially Successful Films of Year 2006:Hubballi- HITAjay- SUPER HITMungaru Male - BLOCKBUSTER...
- Kannada films of 2005Kannada films of 2005The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2005, presented in alphabetical order....
- Kannada films of 2004Kannada films of 2004The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2004, presented in alphabetical order. T...
- Kannada films of 2003Kannada films of 2003The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2003, presented in alphabetical order. The films with Bold characters have been box office hits....
- Kannada films of 2002Kannada films of 2002The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2002, presented in alphabetical order. The films with Bold characters have been box office hits....
- Kannada films of 2001Kannada films of 2001The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2001, presented in alphabetical order....
- Kannada films of 2000Kannada films of 2000The following is a list of films produced in the Kannada film industry in India in 2000, presented in alphabetical order....
- List of Kannada movies
- List of movie-related topics
External links
- Kannada Movie News, Photos and Videos
- Seventy glorious years of Kannada Talkies - www.viggy.com
- Natasarvabhouma Rajkumar Biography
- Kannada Film Songs Collection
- Karunadu Sangeetha Vaibhava - Greatest Kannada Hits
- Kannada Cinema – Frequently Asked Questions and a Brief History of the Kannada Film Industry
- Rajakumar, king of Kannada cinema
- Sandalwood - Kannada Cinema News
- Cinema
- IMDb database of films in the Kannada language