· Chennai
Ilaiyaraaja's first film score, for Annakili, carried rural folk music into the Tamil cinema mainstream.
Released on 14 May 1976, Annakili was a Tamil romantic drama with a screenplay by Panchu Arunachalam and direction by Devaraj-Mohan. Sivakumar and Sujatha played the leads. The film marked Ilaiyaraaja's debut as a film composer, as he wrote its soundtrack. He later became one of Indian cinema's most prolific and influential composers.
MGR wins the Bharat Award for Best Actor
M. G. Ramachandran won the national Best Actor (Bharat) award for Rickshawkaran, the first South Indian actor to receive it.
Akilan becomes the first Tamil writer to win the Jnanpith
Novelist Akilan received the Jnanpith Award for his novel Chithirappavai, the first for a Tamil writer.
Television arrives in Madras with Doordarshan Kendra
Doordarshan began television broadcasts from Madras, the first TV station in South India.
Bharathiraja's 16 Vayathinile released
Bharathiraja's first film, 16 Vayathinile, with Kamal Haasan, Sridevi and Rajinikanth, moved Tamil cinema from studio sets to real village settings.
Organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India, the first Madras Book Fair later developed into the yearly Chennai Book Fair.
Rajinikanth's Baashha released
Baashha, Suresh Krissna's gangster drama with Rajinikanth as an auto-rickshaw driver hiding his past, opened and became one of the actor's most famous films.
