Kannada

Kannada is spoken in Karnataka, a southern state in India sandwiched between Andhra Pradesh to the east, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to the south, and Maharasthra to the north. Karnataka has a film tradition dating back 70 years to the first Kannada-language talkie, "Sathi Sulochana," in 1934. In the years since, Karnatak artists have seldom composed exclusively in Kannada -- the film industries of the south frequently cross-pollinate, borrowing singers, lyricists and composers from each other. The wealth of Karnatak musicians are too numerous to mention; some of the better known include lyricist SK Kareem Khan and the award-winning singers Aswath and Ratnamala Prakash. The now-retired Dr. Rajkumar, with his sizeable discography of both film and devotional songs, is one of the best known and beloved film stars/singers in the Kannada language.