Veteran Kannada director, writer and lyricist C Shivashankar passes away in Bengaluru
Veteran Kannada film personality and a celebrity of south TV and film industry C V Shivashankar (89) died of a cardiac arrest in Bengaluru on Tuesday (June 27). He is survived by his wife Radhamma and two sons. His first son Venkat Bharadwaj is also a filmmaker.
Venkat told The Federal that his father was healthy but he suddenly collapsed after doing his pooja. According to the doctors, he died of a cardiac arrest.
A recipient of Dr Rajkumar and Karnataka Rajyotsava awards, Shivashankar entered Kannada cinema as an actor, assistant director and production manager in 1962 with ‘Rathna Manjari’.
He was known for penning the lyrics for film songs which reflected land, language and culture. Kannada audiences will remember him particularly for these memorable songs: Kannadada Ravi Moodi Banda, Naa Nodi Naliyuva Kaaravara, Sirivantanaadaroo Kannada Naadalle Mereve, Bhikshukanaadaroo Kannada Naadalle Madive, Beladide Noda, Bengaluru Nagara, Andadooru Bengaluru and Anandada Tavaruru.
His name figures prominently in the history of the Kannada movement.
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He acted in films including ‘Santha Thukaram’ (1963) and ‘PostMaster’ (1964). His talent for writing scripts, lyrics and dialogues came out in the movie ‘Mane Katti Nodu’. His first film as independent director is ‘Padavidhara’ (1967) starring Udaykumar, Kalpana, TN Balakrishna and Narasimharaju in lead roles. He then went on to become a full-fledged director.
His landmark films are ‘Namma Ooru’ (1968), ‘Mahadiya Mane’ (1970), ‘Maha Tapaswi’ (1977) and ‘Hoysala’ (1978).
From the late 70s, he worked as lyricist and penned melodious and meaningful songs for films including ‘Savaalige Saval’, ‘Thayiya Madilalli’, ‘Chellida Raktha’, ‘Thayiya Nudi’, ‘Thali Bhagya’, ‘Thayiya Hone’, ‘Yakke’, ‘Kannadada Kanda’, ‘Channa’ and ‘Shamboo Shankara’.
‘Yarivanu’, in which Shivashankar acted, was released in 2013 and this film is based on Nityananda. He also worked as producer and lyrics writer for ‘A Day in the City’ directed by his son Venkat Bharadwaj.
