Showing all artists born in April 13

Vidya Pradeep is an Indian model and actress, who works in the South Indian film industry. Vidya is also a Research scientist pursuing her PhD in stem cell biology (Biotechnology) and continues to work in the profession, alongside her film commitments.  Recently her research work was published in the "International Journal of Cell Therapy".

Vidya Pradeep completed a master's degree in biotechnology and then pursued a PhD at an undisclosed eye hospital in Chennai. As a research scientist, she studied stem cell biology and continues to balance her commitments alongside work in the entertainment industry.

When Vidya had completed her Masters, she got an opportunity to act in a film by Malayalam director A. K. Lohithadas. Lohithadas died in 2009 and the project did not materialise, but his associate Meera Kathiravan offered her another role in his debut directorial Aval Peyar Thamizharasi (2010). Although she was not interested initially since it was not the lead role, Kathiravan succeeded in convincing her and she made her acting debut in the film under the stage name Dhyana.  The same year she landed her first lead role in the film Virundhali directed by Whaterman, another associate of Lohithadas; it received negative reviews and was a box office bomb. Following Virundhali's failure, Vidya took a break from acting.
In the following years, Vidya worked as a model and appeared in several print and television advertisements. During that period, she also performed a cameo role in the Malayalam film Kammath & Kammath and appeared in the music video for A. R. Rahman's "Aabhi Jaa" from his studio album Raunaq alongside Yami Gautam and several other models. She was spotted by director A. L. Vijay, who cast her in his successful family drama film, Saivam (2014) to portray Sara Arjun's mother. For the film, she reverted to her original name and put on weight to portray a middle aged woman. The film and the ensemble cast won positive reviews for its portrayal of a family. She then featured in the action drama, Adhibar (2015) as the lead actress opposite Jeevan, which opened to negative reviews.

Vidya then worked on Pandiraj's Pasanga 2 (2015) portraying the mother of a small child. In the film, she worked alongside actors Ramdoss, Karthik Kumar and Bindu Madhavi, while the producer Suriya also made a guest appearance.  The film opened to positive reviews in December 2015, with Vidya winning critical acclaim for her performance.  Critics noted that Vidya added "solidity to the film by coming up with a credible performance"and that she has done "commendably well".  She has worked on the psychological thriller Onnume Puriyala, which made the headlines for becoming the first Tamil film to be remade in Hollywood.

Vidya is the first female lead to be chosen for Shivarajkumar and Sudeep starrer Kali, directed by Prem.  Vidya made a positive impact with her portrayal of a speech impaired girl in the movie "Achamindri"

Lekha Washington is an Indian origin film actress and product designer, who has appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu films and Kannada language films. She was first recognised for her work as a sculptor in 2002 and then as a theatre actress in Chennai based stage plays. After appearing as a video jockey with SS Music, Lekha's breakthrough film role was as an independent estranged sister in Jayamkondaan (2008), whilst she has gone on to portray roles in the multi-starrer Vedam and the comedy Va.

Lekha Washington was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to a father of mixed Burmese, Italian and Punjabi ancestry, Kenneth, and a Maharashtrian mother. Despite the mixed heritage, Lekha has stated she considers herself South Indian due to her upbringing and speaks English and Marathi at home.

Lekha pursued a degree in Fine Arts at Stella Maris College, Chennai and went on to attend the National Institute of Design taking courses in first, Lifestyle Product Design, and then re-applying to enrol in the Film and Video Communication course. During her time studying film-making, she opted that she preferred a career in "front of the camera, rather than from behind". During her time on the course, she made three short films called Spoonerism, Catch 22 and Sunn with locations ranging from Myanmar to Mauritius.

Geetha is an Indian actress who has performed in Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. She debuted in the Tamil language film Bhairavi as Rajnikant’s sister. Since then she has acted in films of all the South Indian languages, and in a few Hindi films.

Geetha studied in bangalore up to grade 10, at Raghavendra High School, Malleswaram, Bangalore 1978 batch. Her father worked for a multinational company and they moved to Chennai, where Geetha completed her high school at T Nagar Girls’ High School.....

She made her debut in Tamil film Bhairavi as Rajanikanth`s sister by K. Balachander.Her first notable role was in a Malayalam movie for her performance in Panchagni (based on the true life story of Naxalite revolutionary Ajita), opposite Mohanlal. Geetha was nominated for that year`s national award for best actress. The role in Panchagni was the turning point for Geetha and made her a star. Some of her other notable films include Valtsalyam, Sukhamo Devi, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, Aadhaaram, Aavanazhi and Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal.

She has over 100 south Indian Films including over 50 Kannada Films to her credit.

Geetha also acted in Tamil tele-serials like Kai Alavu manasu and Engirindho Vanthaal.

After her marriage in 1997- she quit acting for a brief period- however she has returned to the Industry and has acted usually as the hero`s mother in movies like Santhosh Subramaniam and Something Something... Unakkum Enakkum.

In 1997, she married Vasan, a chartered accountant. The couple moved to New York, where Vasan works as the CFO of an Internet company.

Makkal Kavignar Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram (April 13, 1930 - October 8, 1959) is a well-known poet, lyricist. He is the most popular lyricist in 1950's before Kannadasan fame . He had penned some wonderful philosophy-tinged, upbeat lyrics to MGR’s successful movies.

He was born on April 13, 1930. His father Arunachalam Pillai was also a Tamil scholar and poet. PKS was born to an ordinary farming family at Senkapaduthan Kadu village in Pattukottai town of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu. His parents were Arunasalam Pillai (a folk poet) and Visalachi Amma. He was the second son to this couple. Eldest was Kanapathisundaram. Another sibling was a sister Vethambal. PKS never went to school, but had an in-born talent for poetry. He married Kavravambal in 1957, and had a baby son Kumaravel was born in 1959.

He has worked at Kuyil, A magazine run by Barathidasan . Tamil movie world invited PKS casually, and he received the first offer to write two lyrics for the movie Paditha Penn [Educated Women], that was released on April 20, 1956. However, it lacked star value, with one M. N. Kannappa as the hero, and a nondescript Arun as music director. Nevertheless, PKS’s star was destined to rise, as Lady Luck showered her blessings and Tamil movie fans noticed him, when five of his lyrics that adorned the movie Maheswari (a Modern Theatres production with Gemini Ganesan as the hero), was released ahead on November 13, 1955. The music director for this movie was G. Ramanathan, a versatile hand in the field. C. V. Sridhar, who became well known as a trendy director later, wrote the script and dialogue.

Kalyanasundaram-Sridhar combination hit the jackpot subsequently in the successful movie Kalyana Parisu [1959, Venus Pictures; again starring Gemini Ganesan]. As detailed above by director Sridhar’s reminiscences, PKS wrote 8 lyrics for this triangular love plot, and all of them became great hits. This movie had the optimal mix of tear-jerking scenes, tasteful songs and a parallel comedy track of husband-wife team K. A. Thangavelu - M. Saroja pair.PKS’s versatile career received tremendous boost, as he wrote memorable lyrics for the two leading Tamil stars of that period – MGR and Sivaji Ganesan. Here is a list of movies, which feature PKS lyrics of these two stars.

MGR: 7 movies; Chakravarthi Thirumagal (1957), Mahadhevi (1957), Nadodi Mannan (1958), Arasilangkumari (1961), Thirudadhe (1961), Vikramaadhithan (1962) and Kalai Arasi (1963).

Sivaji Ganesan: 11 movies; Rangoon Radha (1956), Ambikapathi (1957), Pudhaiyal (1957), Makkalai Petra Magarasi (1957), Uthama Puthiran (1958), Padhi Bhakti (1958), Aval Yar ? (1959), Bhaaga Pirivinai (1959), Thanga Padhumai (1959), Irumbu Thirai (1960), Punar Jenmam (1961).

Within the years 1954–1959 he became active in the film industry of southern India. After suffering major migraines, Pattukkottaiyaar underwent surgery to his nose in September 1959. A few days after surgery, he died of cereberal haemorrhage on October 8, 1959.

The first compilation of Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram's songs appeared in 1965 in print form. Comparative studies and criticism have also been published in the form of books by several authors, like Paa. Udayakumar, Ki. Sembiyan, Solomon Pappaiah, Irakuladasan, M. P. Manivel, Pandian, Paa. Veeramani and others.

Tamil Nadu Murpokku Ezhuthalar Sangam, Pattukkottai, brought out souvenirs on Pattukkottaiyaar's 50th, 56th and 60th birthdays. A bronze statue was unveiled at a busy junction in Pattukkottai town and a special souvenir was released on the statue unveiling ceremony in 1995.

Government Of India brought out a souvenir on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of India's Independence recognising Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi,Pavendhar Bharathidasan and Makkal Kavignar Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram as the three foremost poets of the 20th century in Tamil.In 1981, the then Chief Minister of the state, M. G. Ramachandran conferred posthumously the prestigious Bharathidasan Award to Pattukkottaiyaar.

Later in 1993,the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram declared nationalization of Pattukkottaiyaar's literary works.  In 2000,a memorial structure, Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram Manimandapam, has been erected in Pattukkottai and was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi.

He married Gowravammal from Athikkottai (a village adjacent to Pattukkottai) at the age of 27. His mentor Bharathidasan presided over the nuptials on September 11, 1957 at Madras.  In 1959, this couple gave birth to their only child, whom they named Kumaravelu who is now a state government employee,married and settled in Chennai along with his wife Kavitha,daughter Akalya and son Selvasundaram.