Veteran actor Nagesh passes away
Veteran actor Nagesh passed away this morning at a City Hospital in Chennai after prolonged illness. He was 75. Nagesh (Born on September 27, 1933) was a veteran Indian comedian actor in Kollywood who had acted in more than 1000 films. He was more than a comedian and showed his versatility in different kind of roles with ease and professional approach. As a character artiste, he moved the viewers to tears with his sensitive performance in films like Neer Kumizhi, Yarukkaga Azhuthan and Edhir Neechal.
Born as Gunddu Rao, Nagesh was born to Kannada speaking Brahmin Madhwa parents. He walked out of his house telling his parents that he would be back only after establishing himself in some career. In Chennai, he stayed in a one-room bed-sit at West Mambalam (then a remote area) with lyricist Vaali and veteran actor Srikanth. He found a small time job in the Railways but that didn't satisfy him.
Yesteryear actress B Saroja Devi has been chosen for the prestigious N T Rama Rao National Film Award for 2009. Noted director K Raghavendra Rao has been chosen for the B N Reddy National Film Award while media baron and film producer Ch Ramoji Rao has been chosen for the Nagireddy- Chakrapani National Award instituted by the Andhra Pradesh. Another producer K Raghava has been chosen for the Raghupati Venkaiah Award, the Telugu equivalent of Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will present the awards at a function here on December 12. 
Padmini Ramachandran, who was amongst the first heroines to make it big in the Tamil film industry, died of a heart attack in Chennai at 3 am Monday morning. She was 74. Born in Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on June 12, 1932, Padmini started learning classical dance at the age of four and at the age of ten,she had her arangettam or dance debut. Her entry into the film world was rather unexpected. The legendary dancer Uday Shanker, on seeing her dance performance invited her to act in the film he was making. Thus Padmini became the heroine of the Hindi film Kalpana and started a career in Movies spanning a period of over 40 years. The film garnered her a lot of appreciation. More so, because of her eclectic style and charismatic dance moves.
Multilingual actress B.Saroja Devi wants to dedicate the honourary doctorate degree that she would received from the Bangalore University in January to her husband Late Sri Harsha. According to her Harsha had encouraged her to continue in films and also had a strong influence on her. 
