13.0826° N, 80.2747° E

CHENNAI

Most Famous People Born in Chennai, India

Notable people
1,072
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1965
Most distinctive
Cinema 11.9×

Tamil cinema's entire machine lives in these numbers — cinema, film, choreographer, and actor all over-index between 5.1× and 11.9×, a fingerprint no other Indian city comes close to. Add Viswanathan Anand's chess dominance and the mathematician footprint behind Ramanujan's home district, and the city balances movie glitter with something much quieter.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Chennai during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 186 notable births.

What Chennai Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Chennai's biggest profession — 27% of all notables (292).

Chennai over-indexes on cinema — 11.9× the global rate.

Chennai under-produces politician — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Actor292
  2. Film89
  3. Cricket83
  4. Politician56
  5. Singer44
  6. Composer38
  7. Writer22
  8. Player21
  1. Cinema1411.9×
  2. Choreographer1111.6×
  3. Film896.8×
  4. Cricket836.1×
  5. Actor2925.1×
  6. Photographer163.1×
  7. Mathematician152.8×
  8. Composer382.7×
  1. Politician560.4×
  2. Writer220.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Chennai's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

175018001850190019502000
  • Film & TV
  • Sports
  • Music
  • Politics & Law
  • Science
  • Writing
  • Other
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Politician56
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Showing 56 of 1,072 notable people

0025 POLITICIAN

Pramila Jayapal

Born 1965

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0032 POLITICIAN

Lakshmi Sahgal

1914 - 2012

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0061 POLITICIAN

Kanimozhi

Born 1968

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0073 POLITICIAN

Edward Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham

1879 - 1955

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0081 POLITICIAN

M. K. Stalin

Born 1953

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0088 POLITICIAN

M. Bhaktavatsalam

1897 - 1987

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0103 POLITICIAN

T. T. Krishnamachari

1899 - 1974

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0132 POLITICIAN

Aruna Roy

Born 1946

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0157 POLITICIAN

Suresh Kalmadi

Born 1944

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0172 POLITICIAN

V. T. Krishnamachari

1881 - 1964

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0175 POLITICIAN

Sitaram Yechury

Born 1952

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0208 POLITICIAN

Jayanthi Natarajan

Born 1954

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0234 POLITICIAN

E. S. L. Narasimhan

Born 1945

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0238 POLITICIAN

William Forster (Australian politician)

1818 - 1882

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0240 POLITICIAN

M. K. Alagiri

Born 1951

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0290 POLITICIAN

C. Natesa Mudaliar

1875 - 1937

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0331 POLITICIAN

M. P. T. Acharya

1887 - 1951

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0410 POLITICIAN

J. Jayavardhan

Born 1988

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0415 POLITICIAN

V. Maitreyan

Born 1955

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0464 POLITICIAN

George Arbuthnot (politician)

1836 - 1912

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0475 POLITICIAN

Rachel Maclean (politician)

Born 1965

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0482 POLITICIAN

Daggubati Purandeswari

Born 1959

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0497 POLITICIAN

N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar

1882 - 1953

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0516 POLITICIAN

Rukmini Lakshmipathi

1892 - 1951

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0548 POLITICIAN

Maragatham Chandrasekar

1917 - 2001

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0584 POLITICIAN

P. Ramamurthi

1908 - 1987

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0597 POLITICIAN

Muhammad Habibullah

1869 - 1948

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0611 POLITICIAN

J. M. Aaroon Rashid

Born 1950

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0612 POLITICIAN

E. M. V. Naganathan

1906 - 1971

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0643 POLITICIAN

R. Nataraj

Born 1951

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0651 POLITICIAN

Priyanca Radhakrishnan

-

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0655 POLITICIAN

Parithi Ilamvazhuthi

1959 - 2018

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0665 POLITICIAN

T. G. Venkatesh Babu

Born 1961

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0679 POLITICIAN

S. R. Vijayakumar

Born 1974

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0683 POLITICIAN

Deepa Jayakumar

Born 1974

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0702 POLITICIAN

Poongothai Aladi Aruna

Born 1964

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0722 POLITICIAN

B. V. Ramanaa

Born 1967

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0732 POLITICIAN

E. Madhusudhanan

-

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0737 POLITICIAN

George Stratton (politician)

1734 - 1800

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0765 POLITICIAN

R. Ramanathan Chettiar

1913 - 1995

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0792 POLITICIAN

Alfred Newman (politician)

1849 - 1924

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0802 POLITICIAN

B. Parthasarathy

Born 1965

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0816 POLITICIAN

K. N. Ramachandran

Born 1955

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0828 POLITICIAN

R. Manoharan

-

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0830 POLITICIAN

Dawsonne Drake

1724 - 1784

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0833 POLITICIAN

T. K. Viswanathan

Born 1948

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0845 POLITICIAN

Nimi McConigley

-

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0873 POLITICIAN

R. Senthil

Born 1962

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0886 POLITICIAN

R. Prabhu

Born 1947

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0890 POLITICIAN

C. R. Pattabhiraman

1906 - 2001

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0921 POLITICIAN

C. Karunakara Menon

1863 - 1922

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0947 POLITICIAN

M. S. Buksh

-

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0959 POLITICIAN

V. Radhika Selvi

Born 1976

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1039 POLITICIAN

R. V. Srinivasa Aiyar

1852 - 1909

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1071 POLITICIAN

C. H. Sibghatullah

1913 - 1985

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1072 POLITICIAN

Mamidipudi Anandam

Born 1919

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