- M. S. Subbulakshmi
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S./M.S. Maami.) (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. Her mother tongue was Tamil. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.
- U. V. Swaminatha Iyer
Dr. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer Tamil: உத்தமதானபுரம் வேங்கடசுப்பையர் சாமிநாதையர்), 1855 – 1942 C.E., was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light.
- Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai, also known as Ash, is an Indian actress. She was awarded the Miss World title in 1994. Aishwarya Rai has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English films. She is currently regarded as one of the biggest names in Bollywood.
- S. Janaki
S. Janaki (born April 23, 1938) is an Indian playback singer. She has sung in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. Janaki is also a lyricist and a music composer. A devotee of Lord Krishna and Shirdi Sai Baba, she spends a lot of time praying and has also released devotional music cassettes on Meera.
- Avvaiyar
Avvaiyar was the name of more than one poet who was active during different periods of Tamil literature. They were some of the most famous female poets of the Tamil canon. One such Avvaiyar them lived during the Sangam period (c. first and second century C.E.) and was a friend of the Tamil chieftains, Pari and Athikaman. She wrote 59 poems in "Purananuru" (புறநானூறு).
- Kannadasan
Kannadasan (24 June 1927 - 17 October 1981) was a famous Tamil poet and lyricist, who lived in Tamil Nadu, India. He is frequently called "kavi arasu" Kannadasan ("kavi arasu" means 'king of poets' in Tamil language). He wrote thousands of popular songs for Tamil cinema. He won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize for his novel "Cheraman Kadali" in the year 1980. His given name at birth was Muthiah.
- Ramya Krishnan
Ramyakrishnan (also spelt Ramya Krishnan) (born: September 15, 1967) is one of the successful multilingual actresses in commercial Indian cinema. She has over 200 films to her credit. She also holds a rare record of acting in five languages, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. She has played such diverse roles as glam-doll, caring wife, devoted mom, arrogant vamp and goddess.
- Kalabhavan Mani
'Kalabhavan Mani' is a South Indian actor who started his career through Malayalam films. At first he was a comedian and then he turned to a serious actor as well as strong villain. He played a number of films in Malayalam and Tamil. He has proved his acting prowess in movies like Vasantiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum, in which he plays a blind beggar.
- Vairamuthu
Vairamuthu, born in 1953 in Theni district of Tamil Nadu is a noted Tamil poet and star lyricist. His poetry reflects his staunch commitment to the progressive ideas of the Dravidian movement on the one hand, and a playful romanticism on the other. While retaining the traditional elements of alliteration, rhythm, and a flavor of classical language with deep nostalgia for the Tamil past, Vairamuthu's poetry is quintessentially modern in its choice of themes and forms.
- Velupillai Prabhakaran
Velupillai Prabhakaran (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; born November 26, 1954), sometimes referred to as Pirabaharan or Thambi, was born in the northern coastal town of Velvettithurai, Sri Lanka to "Thiruvenkadam Velupillai" and "Vallipuram Parvathy". At the age of 21, he founded the organisation now known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and is currently its leader.
- Sundar C
Sundar C is a Tamil language director who has recently gone on a sabbatical in order to become an actor. He had directed 28 films in the Tamil language film industry and has acted in one project but has signed up for five more. He is married to popular actress Kushboo and has two daughters.
- Suvalakshmi
Suvalakshmi is a famous Tamil actress, who has played female lead in selected movies. Aasai, Gokulaththil Seethai, Love Today to name some of her Hit Movies. She is a beautiful actress but she chose to uphold Indian tradition and did not act in sexy or revealing characters. She has acted both in Kollywood and in Tollywood. Her acting has won her many awards. She is now married and settled.
- Manoj K. Jayan
Manoj K Jayan is a famous Malayalam film actor, born in Kottayam district in Kerala to the famous Carnatic musician Jayan of the Jaya-Vijaya fame. He has excelled in various roles in quite a few Malayalam movies. He won the Kerala State Film Award for the best actor for his performance in the movie 'Sargam'. He captured the audience hearts by immortalising the character named "Kuttan Thamburan" by his incomparable acting skills.
- Rambha
Vijaya Lakshmi is an Indian film actress. She was born on June 5,1976. She is from Vijayawada, A.P. Her first screen name was Amritha but changed to Rambha. She has acted in over 100 South Indian films and also in a number of Bollywood films.She had done several successful films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali. She was popular in Bollywood movies for her uncanny resemblance towards Divya Bharati, …
- R. K. Selvamani
R.K. Selvamani is a well known Tamil director. He is known to make many movies of the police or whodunit genre.
- Ravi K. Chandran
Ravi K. Chandran (born Maduranthakam,Tamil nadu, India) is a cinematographer, educated at the A. M. Jain College in India. His work includes frequent collaborations with the film directors Rajiv Menon, Mani Ratnam and [(S. Shankar)]. Chandran started his career working in Malayalam films, as an assistant to his brother, the cameraman Ramachandra Babu. He has since worked as a cinematographer on Tamil films as well as Hindi films.
- Sabu Cyril
Sabu Cyril is an Indian film art director. He graduated from the Madras School of Arts and Crafts. From 1982 to 1988, he was a freelance graphics designer for companies such as Welcomgroup Hotels, the Taj Group of Hotels, and Madura Coats. In 1988, he began his art director career, and has directed more than 480 advertisements, 3 teleserials and 50 feature films in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kanada to date.
- K. S. Gopalakrishnan
K. S. Gopalakrishnan [1] is an Indian director of Hindi and Tamil movies. Since the early 1960s he has directed some 70 movies. He spent most of his career directing and producing movies with social and devotional themes. Most of his movies are a melodrama. There is also K. S. Gopalakrishnan [2], an Indian flute-player, who is famous for the style of the South Indian "venu" (Carnatic flute).
- Tiruvalluvar
Tiruvalluvar was one of the greatest Tamil poets. Thirukkural, one of the greatest ethical works in Tamil language was written by him. Very little is known conclusively about the life of Tiruvalluvar. As per Tamil tradition, he is believed to have lived some time during the 1st millennium AD. While most scholars place him between 100 and 300 AD, there are a few who consider him to have lived around 600 A.D. He is said to have been a textile weaver by profession, …
- A. Bhimsingh
Bhimsingh was a legendary film maker, producer, editor and writer. His film career started as an assistant editor with the film making duo "Krishnan-Panju", in the late 1940s. His directorial debut was with "Ammaiyappan" (1954), he directed several movies thereafter. Encouraged by their success at the box office. He started his own production company "Buddha Pictures" and directed "Pathi Bakthi". This movie established his place as a director.
- Malaysia Vasudevan
Malaysia Vasudevan is a Tamil singer who was born in Malaysia. He moved to India and found a career as a singer and actor in stage plays. Later, he started singing for movies and, to date, has nearly 4,000 songs in four South Indian languages to his credit. He has also acted in nearly 85 films. His first song was for the film "Delhi to Madras".
- P. Susheela
Pulapaka Susheela (born 1935) is an Indian playback singer. She has recorded several songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, language and Kannada. Her career spanned about four decades. Susheela was born in 1935 in Vijayanagaram, Andhra Pradesh. In 1950, music director Nageswara Rao was looking for new talent and scouted for new singers at All India Radio. Of the five people referred, Susheela was selected and Susheela sang her first song, …
- Unni Menon
Unni Menon is a South Indian film playback singer. His first hit song was "Puthu Vellai Mazhai" from Mani Ratnam's award winning 1992 Tamil film "Roja", composed by A. R. Rahman. He has lent his voice to hit songs from films including "Karuththamma" (1994) and "Minsaara Kanavu" (1997). The music of these films was also composed by film composer A.R. Rahman. He has also worked with film composer Ilayaraaja.
- C. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (1909 to 1969), popularly called Anna (which means elder brother in Tamil language) was the first non Congress Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India after independence. He was also an accomplished writer and even before his entry into politics his penmanship and oratorial style had captivated many audiences.
- Vani Jayaram
Vani Jayram is one of the major female playback singer in India. She has been singing in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi and Kannada. She made three times National Film Awards in play back singing.
- S.P. Sailaja
S.P. Sailaja, is a versatile Indian singer. She lent her voice to Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. She has sung about 5000 songs to date.
- S. Shankar
S. Shankar (born) is a popular film director from Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India. He has made many Tamil movies which have social themes with a commercial narration. He is credited with delivering expensive, high end CGI in most of his films. Most of his movies from Tamil are dubbed into other languages especially Telugu and Hindi. He started his career with 'Gentleman' which grossed very well, then followed by 'Kadhalan', 'Indian', …
- B. Saroja Devi
B. Saroja Devi is an Indian actress. She is a popular actress in the South Indian cinema. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan award and she has won many awards for different languages. She worked and equally popular in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies. She made her film debut in Honappa Bhagavathar's "Mahakavi Kalidasa" (1955). Her first Telugu film was K. Kameshwara's "Panduranga Mahatyam" opposite N T Ramarao.
- Dasari Narayana Rao
Dr. Dasari Narayana Rao(was born on May 4, 1947 in Palakol located in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh) is a politician, film direcor, and film producer. Beside graduating with a BA degree, he used to take part in scores of drama competitions. He was soon recognised as a potential stage artiste, scriptwriter and director. Dr .Dasari Narayana Rao had Directed about 150 films. He produced 53 films. He worked above 250 films as a dialogue writer and as a lyricist.
- Shriya Saran
Shriya Saran :(born on September 11, 1982) is an Indian film actress. She began her career acting in Telugu language films in the Telugu cinema industry, while also attending an acting studio, to follow her dream to act. After her debut in 2001 with Ishtam, she gained Indian cinema's attention in 2002 by playing the role of Bhanu in Santhosham, her first major hit. She reached superstardom by enacting the role of Anjali in the Telugu language film, Nuvve Nuvve, …
- Rajan P. Dev
Rajan P. Dev, South Indian movie and drama actor. Born at Cherthala in Kerala state of India. Acting in Malayalam and Tamil movies. He started his career as a drama actor and director. His drama Kattukuthira given him a break in his career.
- Devayani
Devayani is a Tamil actress who was born on June 22,1973 in Mumbai (Bombay), India. Her real name is Sushma. Besides Tamil, she has done films in Bengali, Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu. She started her career with a Hindi film called "Goyal" followed by a few Malayalam films. Her first Tamil film was called "Thottaa Chinungi" where she played her only glamorous role to date.
- Prathap Pothan
Pratap Pothan is a Tamil language film director who has directed over 30 films, which of most were directed in the 1980s and the early 1990s. His classic movie in Malayalam "Yatra Mozhi", in which the legend Shivaji Ganeshan and Kerala's superstar Mohanlal came together to give a fine piece of acting, is still cherished in the hearts of the moviegoers. He is set to make a comeback in 2007 with "Oru Naal Podhuma".
- Maraimalai Adigal
Maraimalai Adigal (1876-1950) was an important Tamil scholar, who was also well read in Sanskrit and English. His parents were Nagapatinam Chokkanaathar (surgeon) and Cinnammai. He was named Vedhaachalar by his parents who were childless for many years before Vedachalar was born. The childless parents sincerely prayed to Lord Siva, known as Vedachalar and His consort Goddess Chokammai of Thirukkazukkunram, in Tamil Nadu and they were blessed with a child.
- Arunagirinathar
Arunagirinathar was a Tamil poet who lived during the 15th century in Tamil Nadu, India. He was the creator of "Tiruppugazh", a book of poems in Tamil in praise of the Hindu god Murugan. He was a prolific composer, who is believed to have composed over 16000 songs, of which only about 1330 remain today. His poems are known for their beautiful, flowing lyrics coupled with complex rhymes and rhythmic structures.
- Rati Agnihotri
Rati Agnihotri was born on December 10, 1960 to a Punjabi family in Bombay, India and is a veteran Indian actress. Her portfolio mainly includes films in Hindi-Urdu, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
- Nagma
Nandita Morarji (Namratha Sadhana) better known as Nagma, is a somewhat controversial Indian actress, known primarily for her work in Bollywood and Kollywood. At her peak in the 1990s, she "dominated Tamil cinema," to quote The Hindu. Born of a Muslim mother and a Hindu father on Christmas Day, she began her acting career in Bollywood and acted in a few movies but shifted south where she met with greater success before returning to Mumbai.
- Jayachitra
Jayachitra was a star in South Indian films of the 1970s and 1980s, consisting mostly of Tamil and Telugu films.
- Robert Caldwell
Bishop Robert Caldwell (1814 -1891) was an orientalist who pioneered the study of the Dravidian languages with his influential work "Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Languages" (1856; revised edition 1875). He was the first European to propose that the South Indian languages of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada formed a separate language family, which he named the Dravidian languages, affirming their antiquity and literary history, …
- D. Ramanaidu
Dr. Daggubati Ramanaidu (b. 6 June, 1936) is an Indian movie producer. The Guinness Book of Records lists him as the most prolific producer with 110 films under his banner called "Suresh Productions". He plays a very short role (often a cameo) in all his productions, especially the later ones. Apart from producing Telugu movies, he has also produced movies in languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Bengali.