Kannada Cinema

The Kannada Film Industry deals with movies in the Kannada language and related topics.

While not as popular or well known as Bollywood and Kollywood, Kannada films make a significant part of the South Indian films and also a component of the Cinema of India.

The most popular actor in Kannada films has been Dr. Raj Kumar or Dr Raj. He has acted in over 200 movies and is a recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Other actors/actresses/directors/producers in Kannada films include doyens like B.R. Pantulu, G.V. Iyer, Gubbi Veeranna, Balakrishna, and Puttanna Kanagal and over the last few decades Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish, Aarathi, Bharathi, Manjula, Ravichandran, Anant Nag, Girish Karnad, M.P. Shankar, Vajramuni, Shivrajkumar, Upendra, and Narasimharaju.

Music directors who have made their mark in Kannada films include M. Ranga Rao, G. K. Venkatesh, the duo Rajan & Nagendra, Sathyam, C. Ashwath, Hamsalekha, and T.G. Lingappa. Lyrics of Kannada film music have been penned by Chi. Udayashankar, R.N. Jayagopal, Hamsalekha, and Doddarange Gowda among others. Playback singers in Kannada films have mostly been from outside the state like Dr. P.B. Sreenivos, SP Balasubramanyam, S. Janaki and P. Susheela. Recently, local artists like B.R. Chaya, Rajesh and Manjula Gururaj have also made their mark while Udit Narayan, Chitra and Shankar Mahadevan have also started singing in Kannada films.