South Indian cinema, is the segment of Indian cinema. It refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major languages of the region, namely — Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. They are often colloquially referred to as Tollywood, Kollywood, Sandalwood and Mollywood, respectively.
This article lists notable families in the South Indian cinema, who have been involved in a variety of professions related to the film rather than South Indian films, see List of Hindi film families.
A Adivi family Adivi Sesh, Actor, Screenwriter, Director; Grandson of Adivi Gangaraju Sai Kiran Adivi, Director; cousin to Adivi Sesh Adivi Baapiraju cousin to Adivi Sesh's grandfather
Agathian family Agathian, director. Kani Thiru, television personality; daughter of Agathian. Thiru, director; husband of Kani Vijayalakshmi Ahathian, actress and television personality; daughter of Agathian. Feroz Mohammed, director; husband of Vijayalakshmi. Niranjani Ahathian, actress and costume designer; daughter of Agathian. Desingh Periyasamy, director; husband of Niranjani.
Ajith Kumar family Ajith Kumar, actor. Shiva, actor; husband of Ajith's cousin, Priya. Shalini, former actress; wife of Ajith Kumar. Shamlee, actress; sister of Shalini. Richard Rishi, actor; brother of Shalini.
Akkineni and Daggubati family
The Akkineni–Daggubati family is a prominent film family with a long history in Telugu cinema. Akkineni Nageswara Rao and influential movie Mogul D. Ramanaidu are the prominent heads of both families. Akkineni Nageswara Rao Nagarjuna (younger son of ANR) Naga Chaitanya (son of Nagarjuna and Daggubati Lakshmi) Amala (second wife of Nagarjuna) Akhil Akkineni (son of Nagarjuna and Amala) Sumanth (nephew of Nagarjuna) Sushanth (nephew of Nagarjuna) A. V. Subba Rao (paternal grandfather of Sushanth, Noted Film Producer) D. Ramanaidu (producer, former MP, father of Venkatesh and grandfather of Rana Daggubati) D. Suresh Babu (producer, elder son of Ramanaidu and father of Rana Daggubati) Rana Daggubati (actor and grandson of Ramanaidu) Venkatesh (actor, younger son of Ramanaidu and uncle of Rana Daggubati)
Akkineni Prasad (L. V. Prasad) family
L. V. Prasad (Telugu and Hindi film producer, and Prasad's Group founder) Akkineni Ramesh Prasad son of L. V. Prasad, and owner of Prasads Group A. Sreekar Prasad (Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi film editor, son of Akkineni Sanjeevi)
Ambareesh family Chowdiah, musician Ambareesh, actor-politician, grand-nephew Chowdiah Sumalatha, actress-Politician, wife of Ambareesh Abhishek Ambareesh, actor, son of Ambareesh and Sumalatha
Anandan family C. L. Anandan, actor (d. 1989). Disco Shanti, actress; daughter of C. L. Anandan. Srihari, actor; husband of Disco Shanthi. (d. 2013) Lalitha Kumari, actress, daughter of C. L. Anandan. Prakash Raj, actor; ex-husband of Lalitha Kumari. Pony Verma, choreographer; wife of Prakash Raj. Prasad Raj, actor; brother of Prakash Raj.
Asif Ali family Asif Ali, actor Askar Ali, actor, younger brother of Asif
Azhagappan family A. L. Azhagappan, producer. A. L. Vijay, director; son of Azhagappan. Amala Paul, actress; ex-wife of Vijay. Udhaya, film actor; son of Azhagappan. Keerthika Udhaya, dubbing artiste; wife of Udhaya. Hamaresh, actor; grandson of Azhagappan.
B Balasubrahmanyam family S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, playback singer (d. 2020) S. P. B. Pallavi, playback singer; daughter of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. S. P. Charan, playback singer; son of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. S. P. Sailaja, playback singer; sister of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. Subhalekha Sudhakar, actor; husband of S. P. Sailaja. K. Viswanath, actor and director; uncle of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. Chandra Mohan, actor; cousin of K. Viswanath.
Bhagyaraj family K. Bhagyaraj, director. Praveena Bhagyaraj (d. 1983), actress; late wife of Bhagyaraj Poornima Bhagyaraj, actress; wife of Bhagyaraj Saranya Bhagyaraj, actress; daughter of Bhagyaraj Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, actor; son of Bhagyaraj Keerthi Shanthanu, television personality; wife of Shanthnu. (see Subramanyam family)
Bhanupriya family Bhanupriya, actress. Vindhya, actress; sister-in-law of Bhanupriya. Shantipriya, actress; sister of Bhanupriya. Siddharth Ray (d. 2004), actor; husband of Shantipriya. V. Shantaram (d. 1990), director; grandfather of Siddhanth Ray.
Bharathiraja family Bharathiraja, actor and director (d. 2026) Jayaraj, actor; brother of Bharathiraja Manoj Bharathiraja (d. 2025), director; son of Bharathiraja. Nandana, actress; wife of Manoj. Manoj Kumar, director; brother-in-law of Director Bharathiraja.
C Chalasani family C. Aswini Dutt, producer and founder of Vyjayanthi Movies Swapna Dutt, producer; daughter of Aswini Dutt. Priyanka Dutt, producer; daughter of Aswini Dutt. Nag Ashwin, film director and screenwriter; husband of Priyanka Dutt.
Chandrasekhar family S. A. Chandrasekhar, director Xavier Britto, entrepreneur; brother-in-law of Chandrasekaran. Sneha Britto, director; daughter of Xavier Britto. (see Murali family) Akash, actor; husband of Sneha Britto Shoba Chandrasekhar, playback singer; wife of Chandrasekhar. S. N. Surendar, Singer and Dubbing Artist, Brother of Sobha Viraj, Actor, Son of Surendar Sheela, actress; sister of Shoba. Sanjeev, director; son of Sheela. Vikranth, actor; son of Sheela. Manasa, actress; wife of Vikranth. Kanakadurga, actress; mother of Manasa. C. Joseph Vijay, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Politician, Actor, Singer; Son of Chandrasekhar. Sangeetha Sornalingam, Wife of Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu C. Joseph Vijay Jason Sanjay son of Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu C. Joseph Vijay Divya Sasha Daughter of Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu C. Joseph Vijay
Cho Ramaswamy family Cho Ramaswamy, actor. Ramya Krishnan, actress; niece of Cho Ramaswamy. Krishna Vamsi, director; husband of Ramya Krishna.
Choudary family R. B. Choudary, producer. Jithan Ramesh, actor; son of Choudary. Jiiva, actor; son of Choudary.
Chittajallu family C. Pullayya, director C. S. Rao, director, actor and writer; son of C. Pullaiah. Rajasulochana, actress and classical dancer; wife of C.S. Rao.
D Deva family Deva, music director. Srikanth Deva, music director; son of Deva. Febi Mani, playback singer; wife of Srikanth Deva. Sangeetha Bhaskar, playback singer; daughter of Deva. Parthi Bhaskar, director; husband of Sangeetha. (see Ilaiyaraaja family) Murali, music director; brother of Deva. Bobo Shashi, music director; son of Murali. Sabesh, music director; brother of Deva. Karthik Sabesh, actor; son of Sabesh Jai, actor; nephew of Deva.
Deve Gowda family H. D. Deve Gowda (Politician, Former Prime Minister of India) H. D. Kumaraswamy (film producer and politician; son of Devegowda) Anitha Kumaraswamy (film producer; wife of Kumaraswamy) Radhika Kumaraswamy (actress; second wife of Kumaraswamy) Nikhil Kumaraswamy (actor; son of Kumaraswamy and Anitha Kumarswamy) Revathi - wife of Nikhil M. Krishnappa, Indian politician (grand uncle of Revathi) Priya Krishna (politician, cousin of Revathi) H. D. Revanna (politician; son of Devegowda) Bhavani Revanna (politician, wife of Revanna) Suraj Revanna(politician;son of Revanna) Prajwal Revanna (politician; son of Revanna) C. N. Manjunath (Indian cardiologist, son-in-law of Devegowda) C. N. Balakrishna (politician, brother of Manjunath)
Dileep Family Dileep, actor; producer; businessman Manju Warrier, actress; ex-wife of Dileep Kavya Madhavan, actress; wife of Dileep
F Fazil family Fazil, director and actor. Fahadh Faasil, actor and producer, son of Fazil Nazriya Nazim, actress and producer, wife of Fahadh Naveen Nazim, actor, brother of Nazriya, brother-in-law of Fahadh. Farhaan Faasil, actor, son of Fazil, brother of Fahadh, brother-in-law of Nazriya.
G
Ghattamaneni family
Krishna (actor, director and producer) Ramesh Babu (actor and producer, elder son of Krishna and Indira) Mahesh Babu (actor, producer and philanthropist, younger son of Krishna and Indira) Namrata Shirodkar (actress, wife of Mahesh Babu) Manjula Ghattamaneni (actress and producer, daughter of Krishna and Indira, sister of Mahesh Babu) Sudheer Babu (actor, son-in-law of Krishna and Indira, husband of Priyadarshini Ghattamaneni) Galla Ashok (actor, grandson of Krishna and Indira, son of Padmavathi Ghattamaneni and Jayadev Galla) Vijaya Nirmala second wife of Krishna. Naresh Murthy, actor, son of Viaya Nirmala R. Balasaraswati Devi, playback singer, paternal aunt of Vijaya Nirmala
Ghantasala Family Ghantasala Sai Srinivas, widely known as S. Thaman, composer, multi instrumentalist, conductor singer-songwriter, actor, and music producer. Ghantasala Balaramayya Grandfather to S. Thaman Ghantasala Siva Kumar, Composer and drummer, son of Ghantasala Balaramayya, father to S.Thaman Ghantasala Savitri, Playback singer, wife of Ghantasala Siva Kumar, mother to S. Thaman Ghantasala Sri Vardhini, Playback singer, wife of S. Thaman B. Vasantha, Playback singer, Aunt of S. Thaman.
Gemini Ganesan family Muthulakshmi Reddy, aunt of Gemini Ganesan Gemini Ganesan, actor (d. 2005). Pushpavalli, actress; partner of Gemini Ganesan (see Vedantham family). Savitri Ganesan, actress; second wife of Gemini Ganesan. Rekha, actress; daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli. Gigi, actress; daughter of Gemini Ganesan Abhinay Vaddi, actor, grandson of Gemini Ganesan and Savitri. Medha Raghunath, actress; granddaughter-in-law of Gemini Ganesan. Y. G. Madhuvanthi, actress; granddaughter-in-law of Gemini Ganesan (see Vyjanthimala family). Vedantam Raghavayya, filmmaker; brother-in-law of Pushpavalli. Tej Sapru, actor; brother-in-law of Rekha. Shubha, actress; niece of Pushpavalli. Kamala Selvaraj, doctor; half-sister of Rekha.
Gowda family K. C. N. Gowda, producer. (d. 2012) K. C. N. Chandrasekhar, producer; son of KCN Gowda. K. C. N. Mohan, producer; son of KCN Gowda. Poornima Mohan (d. 2017), director; wife of K. C. N. Mohan.
H Haasan family Kamal Haasan, Actor, film producer, film director, screenwriter, playback singer, lyricist, television presenter, choreographer, dancer, philanthropist & politician Vani Ganapathy, classical dancer; ex-wife of Kamal Haasan Sarika, actress; ex-wife of Kamal Haasan Shruti Haasan, elder daughter of Kamal Haasan and Sarika. Akshara Haasan, younger daughter of Kamal Haasan and Sarika Gautami, actress; ex-partner of Kamal Haasan. Charuhasan, actor; brother of Kamal Haasan. Komalam, actress; wife of Charuhasan. Suhasini Maniratnam, actress; daughter of Charuhasan and Komalam. Mani Ratnam, director; husband of Suhasini. G. Venkateswaran, producer (d. 2003); brother of Mani Ratnam. G. Srinivasan, producer (d. 2007); brother of Mani Ratnam. Chandrahasan, producer (d. 2017); brother of Kamal Haasan. Geethamani; wife of Chandrahasan. Anu Hasan, actress; daughter of Chandrahasan. Nalini Raghu, dancer; sister of Kamal Haasan. Gautam Kanthadai, actor; son of Nalini Raghu Rama Ramasamy, actress; cousin of Kamal Haasan.
Hema Chaudhary Family Brindavana Chaudhary, Telugu actress and mother of Hema Chaudhary Hema Chaudhary, Actress and Dancer
Hunsur family Hunsur Krishnamurthy, producer and director. (d. 1989) H. R. Bhargava, director; cousin of Hunsur Krishnamurthy. Dwarakish, actor Giri Dwarakish, actor; son of Dwarakish.
I
Ilaiyaraaja family Ilaiyaraaja, music director. Karthik Raja, music director; son of Ilaiyaraaja. Yatheeswaran, playback singer; son of Karthik Raja. Yuvan Shankar Raja, music director; son of Ilaiyaraaja. Zafroon Nizar, costume designer; wife of Yuvan. Bhavatharani, playback singer; daughter of Ilaiyaraaja.(d. 2024) Gangai Amaran, music director; brother of Ilaiyaraaja. Venkat Prabhu, director; son of Gangai Amaran. Premji Amaran, actor; son of Gangai Amaran. R. D. Bhaskar, producer; brother of Ilaiyaraaja. Parthi Bhaskar, director; son of Bhaskar.