Hunsur Krishnamurthy (9 February 1914 – 13 February 1989) was an Indian playwright, film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist in
Kannada cinema
Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directed ...
.
He worked with noted theatre personalities early in his career;
Gubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which play ...
, Mohammed Peer and
B. R. Panthulu
Budaguru Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu (26 July 1910 – 8 October 1974) was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is best known for directing films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. His most popular films are '' Karnan'', ''Veerapandiya ...
before entering films. As a film director, he made films mostly in the mythological genre such as ''
Satya Harishchandra'' (1965), ''
Bhakta Kumbara'' (1974) and ''
Babruvahana'' (1977), all of which star
Rajkumar. The films were major critical and commercial successes and are seen as milestones in Kannada cinema and in the career of Rajkumar.
Career
Theatre
Prior to working in films, Krishnamurthy worked in
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
as a
playwright, writing plays such as ''Swarga Samrajya''. He then worked for the
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
-based Bharat Nataka Company as a playwright and a scenarist, following which, he had a stint at
Bombay Talkies
Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay.
The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. After R ...
. He then worked as a part of Marathi stage actor
Bal Gandharva
Narayan Shripad Rajhans, popularly known as Bal Gandharva, (26 June 1888 – 15 July 1967) was a famous Marathi singer and a stage actor. He was known for his roles in female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not allowed to act on ...
's theatre troupe. During that time, he also worked with famed Kannada theatre personalities
Gubbi Veeranna
Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which play ...
and Mohamed Peer. In 1936, during his work with the latter in his drama company Chandrakala Natak, he worked with
B. R. Panthulu
Budaguru Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu (26 July 1910 – 8 October 1974) was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is best known for directing films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. His most popular films are '' Karnan'', ''Veerapandiya ...
, another popular theatre personality at the time, in his play ''Samsara Nauke'', as an assistant director.
Films
Krishnamurthy entered the Kannada cinema primarily as a dialogue writer for films such as ''Hemareddy Mallamma'' (1945) and ''Krishnaleele'' (1947). He also wrote the screenplay for the films. Writing lyrics for the soundtracks of films such as ''Kanyadana'', (1954), ''Devakannika'' (1954) and ''
Sodari'' (1955), he made his debut as a director in the 1958 mythological film ''
Shree Krishna Gaarudi
''Shree Krishna Gaarudi'' is 1958 Indian Kannada language film written and directed by Hunsur Krishnamurthy based on the story by Bellave Narahari Shastri. It narrates the tale of Bheema and Arjuna's pride being crushed by Krishna, after the Kur ...
'', that features
Rajkumar in the lead role, an actor who would go on to dominate Kannada cinema as an actor for over two decades. Krishnamurthy followed this up with other films such as ''Veera Sankalpa'' (1964), ''
Satya Harishchandra'' (1965), ''Sri Kannika Parameshwari Kathe'' (1966), ''
Bhakta Kumbara'' (1974), ''
Babruvahana'' (1977), ''Bhakta Siriyala'' (1980), ''Bhakta Dnyanadeva'' (1982) and ''Shiva Kotta Sowbhagya'' (1985). Most of his films in the mythological genre had Rajkumar playing the lead role. Commercial successes during the time, they were instrumental in shaping Rajkumar's career as an actor. His film ''Satya Harishchandra'' won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada
The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of severa ...
at the
13th National Film Awards, and is seen as a milestone in Kannada cinema. His 1977 film ''Veera Sindhoora Lakshmana'', which was based on the life of Lakshmana, a freedom fighter who fought the British during the
Indian freedom struggle
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...
, was major commercial success.
Actors
M. P. Shankar
M. P. Shankar (20 August 1935 – 17 July 2008) was an Indian actor in Kannada cinema. He acted in films like Satya Harishchandra (1965 Kannada film), Satya Harishchandra as 'Veera Baahu', Naagarahaavu as 'Pailwan Basanna', ''Bhootayyana Maga Ay ...
and
Rajesh
Rajesh is a given name of Indian and Nepali origin.
Given name
* Rajesh (actor), South Indian actor
* Rajesh (Kannada actor), Kannada actor
* Rajesh Bishnoi, Indian cricketer
* Rajesh Chauhan, Indian cricketer
* Rajesh Gangwar, Indian social ...
were introduced by him in his films; Shankar in ''Rathnamanjari'' (1962) and Rajesh in ''Veera Sankalpa''.
Filmography
Awards
National Film Awards
* 1965 - Best Kannada Film – ''Sathya Harishchandra''
* 1965 - Third Best Kannada Film – ''Maduve Madi Nodu''
Karnataka State Film Awards
* 1973-74 - Best Dialogue Writer – ''Boothayyana Maga Ayyu''
* 1974-75 - Third Best Film – ''Bhaktha Kumbara''
* 1981-82 - Best Dialogue Writer – ''Edeyooru Siddalingeshwara''
* 1986-87 - Lt. Puttanna Kanagal Award
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamurthy, Hunsur
1914 births
1977 deaths
Kannada dramatists and playwrights
Kannada screenwriters
Kannada-language lyricists
Kannada film directors
Kannada film producers
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Place of death missing
20th-century Indian male actors
Male actors from Karnataka
Screenwriters from Karnataka
People from Mysore district
20th-century Indian poets
Indian male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
Film producers from Karnataka
Indian male film actors
Poets from Karnataka
Malayalam film producers
20th-century Indian male writers
20th-century Indian screenwriters