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Kalaimamani
The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, to recognise artists in the state for their achievements. The Tamil Nadu government has appointed dancer Chitra Visweswaran as the secretary of Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Manram. Film music director Deva is its chairman. Awardees by year 1958 :Film Personalities: Padmini 1962 :Film Personalities: Sivaji Ganesan 1968 :Film Personalities: K. A. Thangavelu :Music: Sangeetha Kalanidhi Late K.S.Narayanaswamy (Vainika) 1969 :Film Personalities: Sowcar Janaki 1970 Music: M. S. Viswanathan (Composer) 1971 :Music: Madras A. Kannan, classical music (mridangam) 1972 :Film Personalities: J. Jayalalithaa :Music: P. K Subbaiyar 1977 :Film Personalities: Srividya 1979 :Film Personalities: Vyjayanthimala :Music:Manna Dey 19 ...
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Meena (actress)
Meena Durairaj (born 16 September 1976), known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the South Indian film industry as well as Hindi cinema. Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Nandi Award for Best Actress and Cinema Express Awards. In 1998, she was honoured with the Kalaimamani Award by Government of Tamil Nadu. Early life Meena was born in 1976 and was brought up in Chennai (then Madras), Tamil Nadu. Her mother rajamallika from Kannur district of Kerala while her father Durairaj is from Andhra. Career Child artist Meena started her career in 1982 as a child artist in the film ''Nenjangal'', featuring Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role after he saw her at a birthday party. She has acted in several ...
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Sowcar Janaki
Sankaramanchi Janaki (born T. Janaki; 12 December 1931), popularly known as Sowcar Janaki (Tamil) or Shavukaru Janaki (Telugu) or Sahukar Janaki (Kannada), is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 300, films, predominantly in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada languages. She also performed on stage in over 300 shows and was a radio artist during her earlier years. She is the recipient of two Nandi Awards, Kalaimamani and India's fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri. Her younger sister Krishna Kumari, is also a noted actress. Personal life Janaki is born on 12 December 1931. She is the elder daughter of T. Venkoji Rao and Sachi Devi of Rajahmundry. Her younger sister is Krishna Kumari, who is also an actress. She being brought up in a Telugu-speaking Madhva Brahmin family. She completed her earlier studies from Gauhati University in Assam and has received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Arizona. She has two daughters and a son. Her granddaughter Vaishnavi Aravind ...
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Sudha Ragunathan
Sudha Ragunathan is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer and composer. She was conferred the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1994, Padma Shri (2004) and Padma Bhushan (2015) by the Government of India, and Sangeetha Kalanidhi by Madras Music Academy in 2013. Early life and education Sudha Ragunathan (née Sudha Venkatraman) was born in Chennai on 30 April 1956 and later shifted to Bangalore. She did her schooling in Good Shepherd Convent, Chennai. She studied at Ethiraj College, and obtained a postgraduate degree in economics. Musical career Training Sudha Ragunathan received her initial training in Carnatic music from her mother V. Choodamani. From the age of three, she began to learn bhajans, Hindu devotional songs. Her tutelage continued under B. V. Lakshman. In 1977, she received an Indian government scholarship to study music under a doyenne of Carnatic music, Dr. M.L Vasantha Kumari, whose student she remained for thirteen years. Trained under Dr. ...
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Sripriya
Sripriya is an Indian actress, film director and politician from Tamil Nadu. She has acted in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages. She has also directed films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages, including the 2014 film ''Drushyam''. She is a Core Committee Member of Makkal Needhi Maiam, a political party founded by Kamal Haasan. Career Acting She first faced the camera for ''Murugan Kaattiya Vazhi'', directed by P. Madhavan in 1974. Following that, she acted with Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Sivaji Ganesan, and Jaishankar among others. Sripriya had a string of successful movies in the late 70s and early 80s. She played the lead character in C Rudraiya's 1977 film Aval Appadithan and her portrayal of Manju in the film won her a Tamil Nadu State Award that year. Her other hits include ''Aattukara Alamelu'', ''Billa'' and ''Annai Oru Alayam''. She was awarded the Kalaimamani award in the early 1980s. She was in the jury of the National Aw ...
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Swarnalatha
Swarnalatha (29 April 1973 – 12 September 2010) was an Indian playback singer. She is considered to be as Humming Queen Of India and Nightingale Of Tamil Cinema. In a career spanning almost 22 years (from 1987 until her death), she recorded over 10,000 songs in many Indian languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, and Badaga. she is referred to as Swarangalin Arasi. She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her rendition of the song "Porale Ponnuthayi" from the film ''Karuththamma''. The song was composed by A. R. Rahman, under whose musical direction she recorded many memorable songs. She was also the first female playback singer to get a National Award In A. R. Rahman Music.
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Prashanth Thiagarajan
Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. At the peak of his career in the late 1990s, Prashanth was one of the popular actors in South India. He has won a Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. The son of actor-director Thiagarajan, Prashanth began his career at 17 by appearing in ''Vaigasi Poranthachu'' (1990) and went on to feature in other films including Balu Mahendra's ''Vanna Vanna Pookkal'' (1992), R. K. Selvamani's ''Chembaruthi'' (1992), K. Rushendra Reddy's ''Tholi Muddhu'' (1993), and Mani Ratnam's action-comedy ''Thiruda Thiruda'' (1993). Prashanth rose to stardom with Shankar's romantic comedy ''Jeans'' (1998) in which he played a dual role alongside Aishwarya Rai. The success of this film saw him garner opportunities to work in bigger film projec ...
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Napoleon (actor)
Kumaresan Duraisamy (born 2 December 1963), known professionally by his stage name Napoleon, is an Indian actor, politician and entrepreneur. He was the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet. He has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and English movies. Early life He graduated from St. Joseph's College, Trichy. Career Politics After college, he moved to Trichy and became enthused by the ideologies of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party. He joined the party in which his uncle K. N. Nehru was already a member and at that time the Public Welfare Minister of the state government. Napoleon contested the State Assembly elections of 2001, winning the Villivakkam constituency contest and thereby becoming a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He lost his membership in the 2006 elections, when he contested from the Mylapore constituency and was defeated by actor S. Ve. Shekhar. Subsequen ...
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Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali language, Bengali films. He has been recognised as an influence for actors and filmmakers in the Tamil film industry. He is also known for introducing many new technologies and cosmetics to the Indian film industry. He has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards South, Filmfare Awards. He was awarded the Kalaimamani, Kalaimamani Award in 1984, the List of Padma Shri award recipients (1990–1999), Padma Shri in 1990, the List of Padma Bhushan award recipients (2010–2019), Padma Bhushan in 2014 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (''Chevalier'') in 2016. Haasan started his career as a child artist in the 1960 Tamil language, Tamil-language film ''Kalathur Kannamma'', for which he won the Rashtr ...
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Delhi Ganesh
Delhi Ganesh is an Indian actor who mostly acts in supporting roles in Tamil cinema and serials. He has acted in more than 400 films from 1976 to present. Before films, he was a member of the Delhi-based theatre troupe, ''Dakshina Bharata Nataka Sabha''. Ganesh served in the Indian Air Force from 1964 to 1974 before quitting in favour of films. He was given the stage name Delhi Ganesh by K. Balachander. Career He was introduced to Tamil Film Industry by K. Balachander in the film '' Pattina Pravesam'' (1976). Ganesh played the hero in the 1981 film ''Engamma Maharani''. His most popular roles have been as a supporting actor or a comedian, but he has also played villainous roles in films like '' Apoorva Sagodharargal'' (1989). He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for his performance in ''Pasi'' (1979). He also received various state awards like Kalaimamani (1994) given by the then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. His most notable films are '' Sindhu Bhairavi'' ( ...
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Thangar Bachan
Thangar Bachan (born 1961) is an Indian film director and actor, cinematographer and novelist. He has served as jury member in National Film Awards. Early life Thankar Bachan was born in Pathirakottai, a village near Panruti, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. Career Bachan started his career as a cinematographer in debut film ''Malai Charal''. He was known for his work in ''Mogamul'', '' Bharathi'' and ''Kadhal Kottai''. He made his directorial debut in '' Azhagi''. Apart from films he occasionally contribute on literary works. His novels include ''Onbathu Roobai Nottu'' and ''Ammavin Kai Pesi.'' He eventually made these novel into films in his own direction. Thankar Bachan was known for his contribution in portraying North Tamil Nadu villages which was not depicted in Tamil cinema properly. His story plots were set mostly at Panruti and surrounding villages. After Bharathiraja, villages were best portrayed in Thangar Bachan movies. Bharathiraja himself declared that after him ...
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Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ganesan is acknowledged as one of the greatest Indian actors of all time and among the most imitated one by other actors. He was known for his versatility and the variety of roles he depicted on screen, which gave him also the Tamil nickname ''Nadigar Thilagam'' (). In a career that spanned close to five decades, he had acted 288 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Sivaji Ganesan is the only Tamil actor to have played the lead role in over 250 films. Ganesan was the first Indian actor to win a "Best Actor" award in an International film festival, the Afro-Asian Film Festival held in Cairo, Egypt in 1960. Many leading South Indian actors have stated that their acting was influenced by Ganesan. In addition, he received four ...
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Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Malayalam. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful and popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. Known for his uniquely styled lines and idiosyncrasies in films, he has a huge fanbase across South India and has a cult following. The Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan in 2000, Padma Vibhushan in 2016, India's third and second highest civilian honours, and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2019 for his contributions to Indian cinema. Following his debut in K. Balachander's 1975 Tamil drama ''Apoorva Raagangal'', Rajinikanth's acting career commenced with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic characters in Tamil films. His major positive role as a failed lover in S. P. Muthuraman's ''Bhuvana O ...
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