Veteran film director and producer of Kannada cinema S.K. Bhagavan passed away due to age-related ailments on Monday (February 20) morning in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Veteran filmmaker S. K. Bhagavan, 89, one of the last few links of the Rajkumar-era Kannada cinema, passed away due to age-related ailments on Monday (February 20) morning in Bengaluru.
Bhagavan directed 49 films, of great versatility and many of them blockbusters, with his collaborator B. Dorai Raj, with the pair popularly known as Dorai-Bhagavan. He directed his last film, his 50th alone, in 2019. The filmmaker duo was closely associated with Dr. Rajkumar, with whom they made several iconic films of Kannada cinema including Kasturi Nivasa. Later, the duo made several hit films with Ananth Nag and Lakshmi.
A winning combo with Dr. Rajkumar
A native of Bengaluru, Bhagavan started out as a theatre actor with Hirannaiah Mitra Mandali and entered the film industry in 1956 as an assistant to Kanagal Prabhakara Shastry. He collaborated with Dorai Raj and the pair made their independent debut with the innovative James Bond-style film Jedara Bale starring Dr. Rajkumar and went on to make several films in the genre, with the matinee idol.
The iconic 1971 film Kasturi Nivasa directed by the duo cemented their collaboration with Dr. Rajkumar further. They went on to make super-hit and critically acclaimed films with him like Eradu Kanasu, Giri Kanye, Hosabelaku, Jeevana Chaitra and Odahuttidavaru. He also made the film Yarivanu, tailored to showcase the acting chops of the recently deceased actor Puneeth Rajkumar as a child actor.
Collaboration with Ananth Nag
The duo’s collaboration with Ananth Nag began with the now iconic film Bayalu Daari in 1976 and they made several hit films, especially pairing Ananth Nag with Lakshmi, including Chandanada Gombe, Benkiya Bale, Bidugadeya Bedi and Sedina Hakki. Most of these films were based on popular novels and earned Ananth Nag a massive following among women. The duo’s last film was Baalondu Chaduranga in 1995 starring Saikumar and Sudharani. Dorai Raj died in 2000 and Bhagavan desisted from making films after that.
In later years, he had a long stint as the principal of the State government’s Adarsha Film and Television Institute where he nurtured many cine talents. In 2019, he made a comeback to filmmaking and directed Aduva Gombe, starring Ananth Nag and Sanchari Vijay which marked his 50th as a filmmaker. However, the film received a lukewarm response and faded away.
