Kannada /ˈkʌnədɑː/, or Kanarese /kænəˈriːz/, is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas (Kannadigaru) and number roughly 38 million, is one of the 40 most spoken languages in the world. It is one of the scheduled languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka.

The Kannada language is written using the Kannada script, which evolved from the 5th century Kadamba script. Kannada is attested epigraphically from about one and a half millennia, and literary Old Kannada flourished in the 6th century Ganga dynasty and during 9th century Rashtrakuta Dynasty. With an unbroken literary history of over a thousand years, the excellence of Kannada literature continues into the present day. Works of Kannada literature have received eight Jnanpith awards and fifty-six Sahitya Akademi awards.

Based on the recommendations of the Committee of Linguistic Experts, appointed by the Ministry of Culture, the Government of India officially recognised Kannada as a classical language. In July 2011, a centre for the study of classical Kannada was established under the aegis of Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) at Mysore to facilitate research related to the language.

Ravi Shankar (Bengali: রবি শংকর; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury on 7 April 1920), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the most known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.

Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent his youth touring Europe and India with the dance group of his brother Uday Shankar. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.

In 1956, he began to tour Europe and America playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of The Beatles. Shankar engaged Western music by writing concerti for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992 he served as a nominated member of the upper chamber of the Parliament of India. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999, and received three Grammy Awards. He continues to perform in the 2000s, often with his daughter Anoushka.

Vijay aka Duniya Vijay (Kannada: ದುನಿಯಾ ವಿಜಯ್) is a Kannada film actor who started of as a junior film artist in the industry essaying small insignificant roles, before he got the big break in Duniya.

Vijay was born to Rudrappa and Narayanamma in a poor family in Anekal. He was not too good at studies, but was a good athlete. To support himself, he has also worked as a stuntman and a gym instructor. Vijay is married and has three children. His nephew Yogesh is also a popular Kannada hero.

Vijay met Soori and Yograj Bhat who fostered his ambition to become an actor. Vijay wanted to be a hero, but was advised to start with smaller roles so he could hone his acting skills. Vijay started off with a role in Yograj Bhat's Ranga SSLC with Sudeep. He then acted in films like Jogi, Shree, Ee Rajeev Gandhi Alla among others. He also did roles in television.

The turning point in Vijay's career came with mentor Soori's directorial debut Duniya. Vijay was cast as the idiot with the golden heart who gets mercilessly used by the underworld. His acting won rave reviews from critics, he was even appreciated personally by his idol Rajnikant. Vijay went on to win the State and Filmfare awards for his role in the film. In 2007, Vijay appeared in three more films - Yuga, Chanda and Geleya. Yuga was an action oriented film on the lines of Duniya, but it was not a box office success. Vijay did a supporting role in Geleya, when Prakash Rai walked out of the film at the last moment.