Kannada film industry is called as Sandalwood - We have had a brilliant Actors, Producers, Directors and prominent people contributed to this industry. We have seen Acotrs and Actress like B.R. Pantulu, G.V.Iyer, Gubbi Veeranna, Dr. Rajkumar(http://www.rajkumarmemorial.com/life.htm), Puttanna Kanagal, Balakrishna, Minugu taare KALPANA, Leelavathi, Srinath, Sunil kumar desai, and over the last few decades Dr.Vishnuvardhan(http://www.vishnuvardhan.com/)), Ambarish, Pandari Bai, B.Sarojadevi,Sahukar janaki, Shivarajkumar, Jayamala, Aarathi, Bharathi, Manjula, Ravichandran, Shankar Nag(http://www.rangashankara.org/), Anant Nag, Girish Karnad, .........list will go on. Today we have numurous talent young actors and actress noticed and un noticed. Beyond all of this this inductry is growing ................
The most famous comedians in Kannada cinema have been Balakrishna, Narasimharaju and Dwarakesh.
If we want to talk about few then Industry will always remember Dr. Rajkumar, Dr. Vishnuvardhan and Shanker Nag for ther respective contributions to the industry. In fact they are the pillars to build this industries in their own way. I would like to call them a Legends for our kannada industry. You can talk a lot about these Legends but let me make a brief note on thier great contributions........
Dr. Rajkumar
The rise of rajkumar gave a path to kannada film industry to make more historical movies which attracted people towards theatre that time,Bedara kannappa was the first kannada movie which completed 100 days and it also got appreciation letter from central government.Later rajkumar also did some movies like naandi,chandavalli thotadalli,kan theradu nodu which gained popularity and critical acclaim for social themes. Dr.Rajkumar and other co artists worked hard to establish a movie studio in bangalore,finally Balakrishan succeeded by opening Abhiman studio in Bangalore. The golden era in the history of Kannada Cinema was here , which gave rise to not only talents of Kannada Cinema but even other film industries. It's not surprising how films made in this era were able to clinch major awards at national level.
In his lifetime, Rajkumar acted in 206 Kannada movies, excluding guest appearances. He owned a film production company called Vajreshwari Production, which produced films under the banner of Dakshayani Combines. Bhagyada Bagilu was his 100th movie and Devatha Manushya was his 200th movie. He participated in several protest marches such as Gokak Chaluvali.
He produced and starred in Kaviratna Kalidasa and Shankar-Guru. He produced movies based on famous Kannada novels. He also made many movies against perceived social evils, such as Shabdavedi, which addressed drug abuse.
Awards & Honour
Rajkumar received numerous state, national and international awards.
Honorary doctorate from Mysore University in 1976.
10 Filmfare Awards South awards in the best actor category
Nine state awards in the best actor category.
National Award in Best Male Playback Singer category in the year 1993 for the song "Naadamaya ee Lokavella" from the movie "Jeevana Chaitra".
Padma Bhushan award in 1983
Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1995
Karnataka Ratna in the year 1993
"Nata Saarvabhowma" (The Emperor of Acting) in 1967
NTR National Award for the year 2002.
Dr. Vishnuvardhan
Sampath Kumar (September 18, 1950 – December 30, 2009),[1] professionally known as Vishnuvardhan (Kannada: ವಿಷ್ಣುವರ್ಧನ್), was an Indian film actor and singer. He was popularly regarded as having been one of the most versatile, talented, stylish and popular actors in the Kannada film industry. He also acted in Tamil and Malayalam films. He donned lead roles in romantic, action, emotional, music, comedy and dramatic films have been widely popular. He adopted the name Vishnuvardhan at the insistence of Puttanna Kanagal, who directed his maiden film Nagarahavu
Awards
2005 Honorary Doctorate awarded by Bangalore University
7 south Indian Filmfare awards for best performances.
7 state awards in the best actor category.
Filmfare lifetime achievement award in 2004.
Dr. Rajkumar Award 2009 (State Award)
Suprabatha created a record in 1988 by bagging 8 different awards and was the first Kannada movie to do so[5]
State Award for Best Actor:
Naagarahaavu - 1972
Hombisilu - 1978
Bandhana - 1984
Suprabatha - 1988
Lion Jagapathi Rao - 1991
Laali - 1998
VerappaNayaka - 1999
Awards for Suprabatha
Aragini Reader's award
FilmFare Awards
Cine Express
Tarangini Berkley
R.Nagendra Rao
Indira Pratishtana National
Kannada Film Fan's Association
Kaladevi Award(Chennai) [5]
Shankar Nag
Shankar Nag (Kannada: ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗ್),(9 November 1954-30 September 1990) originally known as Shankar Nagarakatte (ಶಂಕರ್ ನಾಗರಕಟ್ಟೆ), along with his elder brother Anant Nag (ಅನಂತ್ ನಾಗ್) was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days (ಮಾಲ್ಗುಡಿ ಡೇಸ್), based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's (ಆರ್.ಕೆ.ನಾರಾಯನ್) short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved in Kannada theatre activities. He co-wrote "22 June 1897", an Indian National award winning Marathi film.
Shankar Nag then shifted base to Karnataka. His elder brother Anant Nag had already established himself as an actor and urged Shankar to act in films. He was offered a role of a mercenary by Girish Karnad in the epic movie, Ondanondu Kaaldalli, which was loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, Seven Samurai. His debut film as actor fetched him a national award at the Delhi International Film Festival. Thus began his film career, where, in a span of 12 years (from 1978 to 1990) he acted in some 90 Kannada movies, as a leading man, besides co-producing (with actor-brother Anant Nag ) and directing some films like 'Minchina Ota' (a rare example of a heist movie in Kannada) "Janma Janmada Anubandha" and "Geetha" (both of which had melodious music by South Indian maestro Ilayaraja) which brought acclaim, though not commercial succesWe cannot forget their huge and great contributions. This is a small tribute to their wonderful contributions to the industry and for making us proud. No one can fill their place in our heart and mind, they are LEGENDS
WE SALUTE YOU
WE MISS YOU
YOU ARE EVERGREEN STARS
Warm Ragrds
B. Nagaraj
