Showing all artists born in January 1

Leelavathi (born Leela Kiran in 1937) is a Kannada film actress who predominantly worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. She has acted with actors such as Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, M. G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganeshan, Gemini Ganesan, Shankar Nag, Kamal Hassan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, V Ravichandran, Sudeep and various popular artists. She has acted in more than 600 films (more than 400 in Kannada alone) throughout her career for more than 50 years. Her performance in Nagarahavu, Avargal are remembered and prominent among the people.

Leelavathi has won various awards throughout her career, including the "Rajkumar Award" in 1999, State awards and Filmfare Awards.
After moving to Mysore, she got a small role in Chanchala Kumari and then in Shanker Singh film Naga Kannika.

She joined the Mahalinga Bhagavathar team Sri Sahitya Samrajya Drama troupe. She got a chance to act in Subbainaidu ‘Bhakta Prahallada. Mangalya Yoga, Dharma Vijaya and Ranadheera Kanteerava she got paltry roles. It was from Rani Honnamma, Leelavathi became the heroine and never turned back.

Santha Thukaram, Kantheradhu Nodu, Kaivara Mahatme, Gaali Gopura, Kanyarathna, Kulavadhu, Veera Kesari, Mana Mechchida Madadhi. She proved her mettle as a competitive heroine. Even when started accepting the supporting actress the power of acting was more graduated with films like Gejje Pooje, Sipayi Ramu and Doctor Krishna for which she received the state award.

Moorthy Natraja Shastri know as Venniradai Moorthy is a Tamil film comedian. He has starred in many Tamil films and television serials as a comedian and also essayed supporting roles.

He is lawyer by profession and holds a B.L. degree in addition to being a self-proclaimed astrologer. He is married to actress Manimala who played Suhasini's mother in Sindhu Bairavi. 

He is also a well known script-writer. Kamal Haasan's first full-fledged film as hero, Maalai Sooda Vaa had Murthy as a script writer.

Waheeda Rehman is an Indian actress who has appeared in mainly Hindi films, as well as Tamil and Telugu films. She is noted for her contributions to different genres of films from the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. She has received a Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality, a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, a National Film Award for Best Actress and two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress, throughout her career. She has been cited as the Bollywood's "most beautiful" actress by various media outlets, a title for which she has received substantial publicity.


Rehman was born in Chengalpattu, Madras Province (now Tamil Nadu), British India. She was in her teens when her father died. Her dream was to become a doctor but, due to her family circumstances and her mother illness, she abandoned her goal. In order, to help her family, she hit the silver screen with Telugu films, Jayasimha (1955), followed by Rojulu Marayi (1955) and a Tamil film Kaalam Maari Pochu (1956). It is in Vijaya-Suresh's Ram aur Shyam (a remake of Telugu movie Ramudu Bheemudu) in 1967 that she acted again under the direction of the topnotch Telugu director Tapi Chanakya who incidentally directed her movies Rojulu Maaraayi in Telugu (1955) and Kaalam Maaripochu in Tamil (1956).


Her first initial appearance in a Hindi film was in CID (1956) for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Later, she was seen in a series of successful films including Pyaasa (1957), 12 O'Clock (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1961). Her other notable works include Solva Saal (1958), Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962), Kohra (1964), Bees Sal Baad (1962), Guide (1965), Teesri Kasam, Mujhe Jeene Do (1966), Neel Kamal and Khamoshi (1969).


Waheeda Rehman, started her career in films in 1954 and her first successful films were the Telugu films Jayasimha (1955), Rojulu Marayi (1956) and Tamil film Kaalam Maari Pochu (1955).


In the success party of Rojulu Maaraayi, Guru Dutt noticed her and decided to groom her and have her act in Hindi films. Waheeda considered Guru Dutt as her mentor. Dutt brought her to Bombay (now Mumbai) and cast as a vamp in his production CID (1956), directed by Raj Khosla. A few years after joining the Hindi film industry, she lost her mother. After the success of C.I.D., Dutt gave her a leading role in Pyaasa (1957). Their next venture together, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), depicted the story of a successful director's decline after he falls for his leading lady. Dutt's existing marriage and her film successes with other directors caused them to drift apart personally and professionally, although they continued to work together into the 1960s (Chaudhvin Ka Chand). She completed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) under some strain. They broke away from each other after its indifferent reception at the Berlin Film Festival in 1963. Soon afterward, Guru Dutt died on 10 October 1964 in Mumbai reportedly from an overdose of sleeping pills and alcohol.


Waheeda Rehman established a great working relationship with Dev Anand, and together as a pair had number of successful films to their credit. The box office hits of the pair include CID (1956), Solva Saal (1958), Kala Bazar (1960), Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962) and Guide (1965); box office duds were Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1961) and Prem Pujari (1970). She reached her peak with Guide (1965) and was much in demand. Rehman was cast as Gulabi in Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Abhijan in 1962. She worked in comedy film Girl Friend in 1960 with Kishore Kumar. She was offered lead actress's role in films even opposite actors junior to her by experience like Dharmendra, but they flopped. But she continued to taste success in the late sixties when she was paired with well established stars. She delivered hits opposite Dilip Kumarin three successive years; Dil Diyaa Dard Liyaa in 1966, Ram Aur Shyam in 1967 and Aadmi in 1968 and some box office duds but critically acclaimed films with Rajendra Kumar – Palki, Dharti and Shatranj ; two films opposite Raj Kapoor – Ek Dil Sau Afsane and the acclaimed Teesri Kasam which was the debut film of Basu Bhattacharyya; a few films opposite Biswajeet like, Bees Saal Baad and Kohra; this helped her continue to get lead roles in the early seventies. Her career's biggest hit Khamoshi came in 1970, opposite Rajesh Khanna.


Her career continued throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her roles in Guide (1965), where she hit the peak of her career, and Neel Kamal (1968), but despite excellent offbeat roles in subsequent films, including a National Award winning performance in Reshma Aur Shera (1971), some of the films failed at the box office. Seeing her films being successful, Waheeda decided to experiment with roles at this stage of career. She accepted Reshma Aur Shera, opposite her old co-star Sunil Dutt, with whom she had previously in the sixties had hits like Ek Phool Char Kaante, Mujhe Jeene Do, Meri Bhabhi and Darpan. Her performance was appreciated by critics, but the film failed at the box office. But Waheeda continued to experiment with roles and accepted the offer to play a mother to Jaya Bhaduri in Phagun (1973). This she regards the mistake of her career as after this film flopped suddenly people started offering her motherly roles to heroes.


Film expert Rajesh Subramanian informs that Manmohan Desai had approached her on behalf of Shammi Kapoor during the making of Naseeb. In the song John jani janardhan, Shammi Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman make a grand entry holding hands. Incidentally this was the first time the two stars appeared together on screen. Later she also did Manmohan Desai's Coolie and Allah Rakha.


From the mid seventies, Waheeda's career as lead heroine ended and her career as character actor began. At around this time, Kamaljit, who starred opposite her in Shagoon (1964), proposed and they got married in 1974. After her appearance in Lamhe (1991), she retired from the film industry for 12 years.


In her new innings from seventies her successful films, where she played pivotal roles include, Kabhi Kabhie (1976),Trishul (1978), Jwalamukhi (1980), Namkeen and Namak Halaal (1982),Mashaal (1984), Chandni(1989), Rang De Basanti(2006). She played the central character in the Mahesh Bhatt directed film Swayam that starred Akash Khurana and Anupam Kher. She also appeared in a tele-series being directed by Gulzar.


In recent years she made a comeback playing elderly mother and grandmother roles in Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Water (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006), 15, Park Avenue and Delhi 6 (2009) which were all critically acclaimed.


In October 2004, a Waheeda Rehman film retrospective was held at the Seattle Art Museum and the University of Washington where Waheeda participated in spirited panel and audience discussions on her most memorable films—Pyaasa, Teesri Kasam and Guide—although her most successful film is still considered to be Khamoshi, with costar Rajesh Khanna.


After her marriage to Shashi Rekhi  on 27 April 1974, she shifted to a farmhouse in Bangalore. She has two children named Sohail and Kashvi, who are writers. On 21 November 2000, her husband died following a prolonged illness. She moved back to her ocean view bungalow in Bandra, Mumbai where she currently lives.

P. Madhavan is a Tamil film director and film producer in Tamil cinema in 1960s and 1970s.Madhavan has directed 49 films and produced 39 films under the banner Arun Prasad Movies.

Madhavan started his career as an assistant to director T. R. Ragunath. He also worked as an associate director to C. V. Sridhar before becoming a full-fledged director. His notable films include Dheiva Thaai, Vietnam Veedu, Thanga Pathakkam, Kanne Pappa, and Kuzhanthaikkaga.

He was also the first chairman and managing director of the M.G.R Film City and the State Film Development Corporation. He has also served as a chairman of the National Film Awards.

S. N. Lakshmi or Sennalkudi Narayana Thevar Lakshmi (born 1927 – 20 February 2012) was an Indian film actress, who appeared in supporting roles, often essaying roles of mother or grandmother in films. A recipient of the state government's Kalaimamani and Kalaiselvam awards, Lakshmi acted in more than 1,500 films and 6,000 dramas.

Lakshmi was born to Narayana Thevar as the 13th child in her family, and left home anguished aged just 11, because her six brothers who were much older did not give her the attention she deserved. Her family had to move from their village town of Sennalkudi to Virudhunagar after their father had died and her mother worked at a small hotel and also at the temple there to keep the family financially afloat. Her neighbour, a dancer, helped Lakshmi join a drama troupe and she quickly picked up the steps she was taught and travelled with them from place to place.

When the actors reached Raja Mannargudi they left her with a family which put her on a train to Madras and bade farewell. When she was wondering alone, help came in the form of a lorry driver's wife who noticed her and showed her the way to Gemini Studios, which opened its doors to the destitute. It took eight years for her family to find her.

She soon joined the studio staff at a salary of Rs.150 and then rented a house with four other young girls and hired a cook. Before her film career began, Lakshmi had years of theatre experience, with more than 2,000 plays to her credit. From Ganandesikar's and N. S. Krishnan's theatre troupes to S. V. Sahasranamam's Seva Stage and K. Balachander's Ragini Recreations, Lakshmi trained under stalwarts. Lakshmi acted as a man in many all-woman plays, doing stunts and acrobatics and even fought a leopard as an extra in the MGR film, Baghdad Thirudan.  In 1959, she bought her first home in Royapettah on Pachaiappan Nayakkan Road. Three years later, she bought her first car, a Morris Eight.

She started as a group dancer in Chandralekha. Plays and one-scene appearances in films continued till N. S. Krishnan gave her a pivotal role in Nalla Thangai and then her real breakthrough came through Muktha Srinivasan's maiden venture Thamarai Kulam followed by Engal Kula Devi and Naalu Veli Nilam. Nagesh then recommended her to K. Balachander to star in Server Sundaram, after he had been impressed with her performance in the theatre show of the same name, and the film's success prompted more offers for the actress.

Kamal Haasan called her to feature in Thevar Magan while she was taking a break in Puttaparthi and from then til Virumaandi, Lakshmi has been a part of nearly all of Kamal Haasan productions and such was his confidence in her ability that he would ask the assistants to give her the dialogue and move away, confident that she would handle it on her own.

Before her death she was doing a role as Meenakshi's grand mother in the serial "Saravanan Meenakshi" in Vijay TV.

Lakshmi has mentioned that "marriage didn't appeal to her", and that her brothers' grand children and their kids are now regulars at the grand aunt's place.

Till the early 2000s, Lakshmi would move around town by driving but was forced to give it up after she broke her leg. On Sunday mornings she would visit Sai Kripa, a free medical centre in Chennai and help the staff.

S. N. Lakshmi died in Chennai on 20 February 2012, aged 85. She suffered a cardiac arrest in the early hours of February 20, following which she was rushed to a hospital. However doctors there declared her dead. Her body was kept at her Saligramam residence where film personalities made a beeline to pay last tributes. Her cremation took place in her native town of Virudhunagar.

Nirmalamma (1927 – 19 February 2009) was an actress in the Telugu film industry of India. She has acted in more than 800 films. She was well known for her grandmother roles in several films.

She was born in Machilipatnam, Madras Presidency, British India.

Her debut film was Garuda Garvabhangam in 1950. Nirmalamma has worked along with almost all famous artists in Telugu Cinema like NTR, ANR, S.V. Ranga Rao, Rajendra Prasad, P. B. Srinivas, Megastar Chiranjeevi, Nandamuri Balakrishna and Venkatesh many more. She is one of the artists who appears in almost all of the movies of S.V. Krishna Reddy and E. V. V. Satyanarayana. She has had unforgettable roles in the films Chinnodu Peddodu, Padaharella Vayasu, Kanakamahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe, Gang Leader, Mayalodu, Egirey Paavurama, Rendilla Poojari, Devatha (Shoban babu's movie), Chinnarayudu, Dalapathi, Alibaba Aradajanu Dongalu, Sitharatnam Gaari Abbayi, Mamagaaru, Aa Okkati Adakku, Karthavyam, Chalaki Mogudu and Chadastapu Pellam.

She has established Nirmala Arts and produced Chalaki Mogudu Chadasthapu Pellam starring Rajendra Prasad, directed by Relangi Narasimha Rao.

Her last movie was Premaku Swagatham, directed by famous director S.V. Krishna Reddy.  Her last public appearance was at the Vajrothsava celebrations of Telugu cinema where many celebrities remembered her for the fact that she has played as mother/grandmother for many generations of Telugu Cinema.

She had no children of her own but adopted a child.

V K Ramasamy was an Indian film actor, comedian and producer who was known for the supporting roles he played in Tamil films in the years between the 1950s and 1990s.

V.S. Raghavan (born 1925) is a Tamil actor, who acts in both Tamil films as well as television, who started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on act as a character actor in films, starting with Vairamali (1954) and over 1000 films in all, he has also acted in numerous television series.

Born in Vembakkam village, near Kanchipuram,where he spent early part of his childhood, later for three years he lived in Mylapore neighborhood of Chennai, and studied at the P. S. Senior Secondary School. Subsequently he studied at St. Columba's Hr. Sec School, Chengalpet, followed by the final two years of his schooling in Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Chennai. 

However as he finished his school the death of his father prompted his mother to shift from native village, to move to Vellala Street in Purasaiwalkam, Chennai where his elder sister lived.

V.S. Raghavan started his career in 1942, as a sub-editor for Malathi magazine run by humourist Thumilan (N. Ramaswamy), and after it closed he joined a printing press. At the press a group of fellow employees used to do amateur stage plays, which led to him acting some plays including some Hindi plays. Earlier he has acted in YMIA Fine arts' theatre group's play Vairamalai, written by Thottakara Viswanathan, staged at the YMCA, and when the production adapted the stage play into a film, he essayed the same role in it, thus made his film debut in 1954. In the same year, he made his debut as a dramatist and started the Indian National Artists (INA) with four other friends with members like Malli, Vadiraj, Nataraj and K. Balachander. The INA staged plays at reputed Sabhas in Singara "Chennai".

Veteran director K. Balachander who has won several accolades for memorable films was part of his troupe where he acted and wrote scripts. The INA closed down a decade later and Raghavan entered the cinema world and acted in supporting roles. He has acted in around 1000 films and has also featured in many M.G.R movies. He is also very well known for his role in the T.V serial "Anni" created by K.Balachander.He currently acts in tele-serials.

Kaka Radhakrishnan (c. 1925 – 14 June 2012) was an Indian film actor who acted in Tamil language films from the 1940s onwards. He is also notable for having introduced his childhood friend, Sivaji Ganesan, into films.  Kaka Radhakrishnan had the prefix "kaka" (crow) attached to his name after a role he essayed as a young boy, in a film made in his debut film Mangaiyakkarasi (1949).

In the film he literally climbed a tree to catch a crow and since has been associated with the crow, earning him the nickname.

Radhakrishnan died on 14 June 2012 following a brief illness.

Ennatha Kannaiya was a Tamil film actor comedian who appeared in Tamil-language films. As he speaks dialogues, he frequently uses word Ennatha. That is the reason for the word sticking to his name. He is well known for his dialogue, Varuum... Aanaa Varaadhu...

Film Career

After debuting in the Tamil film Ezhai Padum Padu in 1950, he acted in more than 250 films.  He predominantly was casted in supporting roles in films of M.G.Ramachandran like Nam Naadu, En Annan, Thedi Vandha Mapillai and others. Later starred in films including Rajinikanth's Thambikku Entha Ooru. The scenes in which he appeared as a mahout were popular in the 1980s.  Though he has made many films, he became famous for his dialogue in Thottal Poo Malarum (Varum, Aanaa Varaadhu...) with Vadivelu.

Death

He died on 7 August 2012; his wife Rajam had died some time before. He is survived by 2 sons, Ashokan and Saiganesh, and 4 daughters, Amudha, Dhanalakshmi, Maheshwari and Shanmughapriya.