Tamil cinema (also known as the Kollywood, the Tamil film industry, the Cinema of Tamil Nadu or the Chennai film industry) is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of feature films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam area, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered. With reference to this, the industry is also colloquially referred to as Kollywood, a portmanteau of Kodambakkam and Hollywood. Tamil cinema is known for being India's second largest film industry in terms of films produced, revenue and worldwide distribution, with audiences mainly including people from the four southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, placing the industry among the largest in the world.

Silent films were produced in Chennai since 1917 and the era of talkies dawned in 1931 with the film Kalidas. By the end of the 1930s, the legislature of the State of Madras passed the Entertainment Tax Act of 1939. Tamil cinema later had a profound effect on other filmmaking industries of India, establishing Chennai as a secondary hub for Telugu cinema, Malayalam cinema, Kannada cinema, and Hindi cinema. In its modern era, Tamil films from Chennai have been distributed to various overseas theatres in Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia, Japan, Oceania, the Middle East, Western Europe, and Northern America. The industry also inspired filmmaking in Tamil diaspora populations in other regions, such as in Europe and Canada.

Prabhu Deva born 3 April 1973 is an Indian dancer, choreographer, film actor and director. He has performed in a wide range of dancing styles. He has also been labelled as Indian Michael Jackson and holds Michael Jackson as his dance idol.

Prabhu Deva was born in Mysore, Karnataka and grew up in Alwarpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Prabhu Deva was inspired by his father, Mugur Sundar (known as Sundaram Master), who was a choreographer for popular South Indian movies. Prabhu took dancing as his passion, learning Indian classical dance forms such as Bharatanatyam as well as Western styles. He is widely considered to be one of Indian cinema's greatest dancers and choreographers; Prabhu Deva has revolutionized some of the aspects of dance and choreography in modern popular Indian cinema. His brothers Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad are also established South Indian choreographers.

Prabhu Deva's first movie as a choreographer was Vetri Vizha (1989). Before that, he had appeared as a background dancer for a song in the Tamil film Agni Natchathiram. He has since then choreographed in over 100 movies. From choreography, he went on to establish himself as an actor. His first film as an actor was Indhu (1994) with actress Roja. In 1999, Deva, Shobhana and A. R. Rahman performed with a Tamil cinema dancing troupe at the "Michael Jackson and Friends" concert in Munich, Germany. He has a significant fan following in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries. He acted alongside his brothers in the movie 123. As of 2010, he serves as chairman and director of the Prabhudeva's Dance Academy in Singapore. He planned to release his first video album called It is boring (in Tamil போருடா) in 2012. He is acting in lead role in the film ABCD (Any Body Can Dance), the first 3D dance film in India, co-starring with So You Think You Can Dance contestant Lauren Gottlieb.

Anushka Shetty (born on 7 November 1981 as Sweety Shetty) is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu (2006). After starring in a series of high-budget productions alongside leading Telegu and Tamil actors, she went on to became one of Telegu and Tamil cinema's leading actresses in the successive years, while receiving high critical acclaim for her portrayal of the titular character in Arundhati, and as Saroja in Vedam, which fetched her two Filmfare, one Nandi and two CineMAA Awards.

Anushka Shetty was born as Sweety Shetty on 7 November 1981 in Mangalore. Shetty is an ethnic Bunt hailing from the landed Bellipady Uramalu Guthu family. Her parents are Prafulla and A.N. Vittal Shetty. She has two brothers Gunaranjan Shetty and Sai Ramesh Shetty who is a cosmetic surgeon. She attended her schooling in Bangalore. She did her Bachelor of Computer Applications at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She was also a Yoga Instructor and has trained under yoga guru Bharat Thakur.

Amy Louise Jackson (born 31 January 1991) is a British beauty pageant titleholder, model and actress. She won the Miss Teen World competition in 2008, went on to win Miss Liverpool in 2009, and was hotly tipped to be Miss England in 2010 but lost out to Jessica Linley in the final. She made her acting debut with the successful 2010 Tamil period-drama Madrasapattinam, which won her plaudits for her role and launched her acting career. She made her Bollywood debut with Ekk Deewana Tha (2012), starring along side Prateik Babbar.

Born in the Isle of Man to Alan and Marguerita Jackson, she has an elder sister Alicia. The family returned to their parents' home of Woolton, Liverpool, two years later so that her father could continue in his media career, where he is BBC Radio Merseyside's sports presenter. Jackson attended St. Edward's College, gaining 10 GCSEs, and then went on to Sixth form to study English Language, English Literature and Philosophy and Ethics.

Some sources have reported that Amy is dating Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, who has moved into her apartment in Bandra, Mumbai However, Prateik denies that they live together, or that they are dating each other.

Rana Daggubati'(Telugu:రాణా దగ్గుబాటి)' better known as Rana, is an Indian film actor and producer. He made his acting debut with the Telugu film Leader. The film, written and directed by Sekhar Kammula, hit the theatres on 19 February 2010, and became an instant success, gaining Rana Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South.

He was born on 14 December 1984 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to prolific film producer Suresh Babu Daggubati, the latter being the elder son of Ramanaidu Daggubati. Actors Venkatesh Daggubati and Nagarjuna Akkineni are Rana's uncles. His cousin is actor Naga Chaitanya Akkineni. Other relatives include Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Amala, Sumanth, Sushanth, and Akhil. Rana has attended his high school in Chennai along with his best friends actors Ram Charan Teja Konidala. and Allu Arjun.

Grandson of Telugu movie Mughol and Dada Saheb Phalke award winner Dr. D. Ramanaidu, son of producer D. Suresh Babu, and nephew to Telugu superstar Venkatesh, Rana Daggubati made a sensational debut as the lead actor in the political thriller Leader in the year 2010. His debut performance in the Leader directed by Sekhar Kammula and produced by AVM Studios, established him as an accomplished actor and star.