Urmila Srivastava
A Mirzapur kajri singer with five decades on radio and Doordarshan who taught music for forty years, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- Uttar Pradesh
Heroes in Art
Showing 241–254 of 254 heroes
Usha Barle
A Pandwani singer and Panthi dancer from Chhattisgarh who uses folk performance to spread social messages, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2023.
- Padma Shri 2023
- Chhattisgarh
Usha Uthup
A pop singer who has performed for fifty years in 17 Indian and 8 foreign languages, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2024.
- Padma Bhushan 2024
- West Bengal
Vani Jairam
A singer who recorded film songs in 19 languages, from 'Bole re papihara' to Tamil classics, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2023. She died that year.
- Padma Bhushan 2023
- Tamil Nadu
Vasudeo Kamath
A Mumbai painter known for life portraits of Presidents and painting series on the Buddha and Swaminarayan, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- Maharashtra
Velu Aasaan
A Madurai parai drummer who learned at 10 and has trained thousands and taken the folk drum to stages abroad, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- Tamil Nadu
Velu Anandachari
A master temple sculptor who worked on temples across the Telugu states, including the rebuilding of Yadadri, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
- Padma Shri 2024
- Telangana
Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar
A Gondhali folk singer who knows over 1,000 songs by heart and has trained 1,000 students for free, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
- Padma Shri 2025
- Mann Ki Baat #110
- Karnataka
Victor Banerjee
An actor who worked with both David Lean and Satyajit Ray and won National Awards in three categories, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2022.
- Padma Bhushan 2022
- West Bengal
Vijayakant
A Tamil film star of 154 films known as "Captain" who founded the DMDK, honoured posthumously with the Padma Bhushan in 2024.
- Padma Bhushan 2024 (posthumous)
- Tamil Nadu
Vinayak Vishnu Khedekar
A Goan folklorist who gave the state the word 'Lokakala' and documented its folk traditions, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2021.
- Padma Shri 2021
- Goa
Vyjayantimala Bali
A Bharatanatyam dancer and one of Hindi cinema's great stars of the 1950s and 60s, later an MP, honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 2024.
- Padma Vibhushan 2024
- Tamil Nadu
Yumnam Jatra Singh
A Manipuri Nata Sankirtana singer who performed for more than seven decades and taught at JNMDA, honoured posthumously with the Padma Shri in 2026.
- Padma Shri 2026 (posthumous)
- Manipur
Zakir Hussain
The Grammy-winning tabla virtuoso who took his instrument to world stages, honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 2023. He died in 2024.
- Padma Vibhushan 2023
- Maharashtra