Jayathirtha B. V. (born May 8th, 1977) is an Indian theater activist,

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

and filmmaker. He is known for his movies

Olave Mandara ''Olave Mandara'' is a 2011 Indian Kannada road movie written and directed by Jayatheertha, and starring debutantes Srikanth and Aakanksha Mansukhani in the lead roles. The supporting cast features Rangayana Raghu, Veena Sundar, Nassar and Sad ...

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

Beautiful Manasugalu ''Beautiful Manasugalu'' ( Beautiful Minds) is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language romantic thriller film written and directed by Jayatheertha. Jointly funded by S. Prasanna and S. Shashikala Balaji, the film is produced under Skkandda Entertainment ...

, and

Bell Bottom Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. These are similar to flared jeans. History Naval origins In the early 19th century, when a standardized uni ...

. He is also known for his work as a director and play writer.

Early life

Jayathirtha was born and brought up in Bangalore, Karnataka. A high school dropout due to financial constraints, he started working as a salesman at 17 and took up theater as a pastime. He trained at Abhinayataranga under the renowned theatre personality A. S. Murthy and later became a teacher in the same institution. Jayathirtha won several awards for his works in theatre including the ''B. V. Karanth Best Stage Reviewer Award'' (1997) for his critical review of the play, ''Maranayak''.

Film career

In 2007, he directed a short film called Hasivu (Hunger). The movie won the Best Indian Short Film award at Cinerail Film Festival, Paris. In 2011, he directed a full-fledged Kannada feature film,

which brought several awards including the 59th Filmfare Award (Best Director). The sub-plot of

is inspired by the real-life events of

Dashrath Manjhi Dashrath Manjhi (14 January 1934 – 17 August 2007), also known as Mountain Man, was a laborer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India. When his wife died in 1959 due to injury caused by falling from a mountain and due to the mountain h ...

who cut a rocky hill for 22 years to build a road in memory of his wife. Later he directed

(2013) which won him the

Karnataka State Film Award Karnataka State Film Awards are the most notable and prestigious film awards given for Kannada film industry in Karnataka, India. These are considered the highest awards for Kannada language films. They are given annually by the Government ...

for Best Screenplay. Jayathirtha’s philosophical bend drew one of its subplots from

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

’s short story ''

How Much Land Does a Man Need? "How Much Land Does a Man Require?" (Russian: Много ли человеку земли нужно?, ''Mnogo li cheloveku zemli nuzhno?'') is an 1886 short story by Leo Tolstoy about a man who, in his lust for land, forfeits everything. Synopsi ...

''.

Bullet Basya ''Bullet Basya'' is a 2015 Indian Kannada comedy film directed by Jayatheertha, and stars Sharan and Haripriya. The supporting cast features Rangayana Raghu, Sadhu Kokila and Yathiraj Jaggesh. The title of the film was taken from Sudheer's char ...

(2015) was a Kannada comedy film and a commercial entertainer.

(2017) was another successful movie, based on the true occurrences that shocked people in 2012. The movie won Best Dialogues Award at KAFTA Times of India 2017, the only awards given to technicians in Kannada film industry. Vanilla (2018) is a murder mystery with a message of social concerns.

(2019) is a comedy crime thriller, a story of a die-hard fan of detective stories. It became the first Kannada film in 2019 to complete 100 days. It also won the second best commercial film recognition at Bangalore International Film Festival 2020. The movie has won Best Director Award in Critics Choice Film Awards 2020. Jayathirtha - Banaras

Banaras is a love story set against the backdrop of Kashi. Jayathirtha is a part of a five-director collaboration. Five well-known directors of the Kannada film industry, Jayathirtha, KM Chaitanya,

Shashank (director) Shashank (born 24 June 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He made his debut as a director with the 2007 film '' Sixer''. His second directorial ''Moggina Manasu'' (2008) received critical a ...

Yogaraj Bhat Yogaraj Bhat (born 8 October 1972) is an Indian Kannada film-maker, director, screenwriter, lyricist and producer. He is most known for the 2006 film ''Mungaru Male''. The film recorded the highest box-office collections in the history of Kannad ...

, and

Pawan Kumar (director) Pawan Kumar (born 29 October 1982) is an Indian film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter from the Cinema of Karnataka, Kannada film industry. Pawan Kumar is well known for writing the films ''Manasaare'' and ''Pancharangi''. His directo ...

— are coming together to make a film. This will be the first-of-its-kind collaboration in the Kannada film industry. It is 2-hour commercial entertainer. Bell Bottom 2, the sequel to the blockbuster

is also now being directed by Jayathirtha.

Theatre Activities

Jayathirtha has conducted more than 150 theater training programs, focusing on issues including life skills. He penned and directed 65 street plays and ten stage plays from 1996 to 2007. He organized those plays to spread social awareness among illiterates and the backward classes. Jayathirtha directed ''Hathim Thi'', an experiment with 500 actors, at the Al-Ameen school building. Jayathirtha has used street plays as an effective medium to convey philosophical messages, concerning social issues, imbued with the entertaining flow. His approach is to involve the audience in the flow of the plays. He scripted six stage plays and 69 street plays/shows, only on social issues.

Radio

Jayathirtha directed a 450-episode of educational radio drama for children, ''Chukki Chinna – Chinnara Chukki'', for an NGO Education Development Center under ''Sarva Shikshana Abhiyana'' program of Govt. of India. This interactive syllabus-based radio program was recorded between 2005-2007, but it continues to play on the radio for first-standard to sixth-standard students in Karnataka government schools.

Recognition

*Best Back Stage designer 1994 (''Abhinaya Tharanga'') *Best script writer 1996 (''Abhinaya Tharanga'') *Best stage reviewer 1997 (''B.V.Karanth Award'') *Second Best Small Story Award – from ''Gulbarga University'' (2002) *First place in small story award – from ''Belagali Sahithya Pratistana.'' (2002) *First place in small story award – from ''Kannada Sahithya Parishath''. (2002) *First place in script writing – Street play – Pravardhini from ''Sahithya Sankramana'' (2003) *Best Indian short film ''Hasivu'' from Cinerail film festival in Paris

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

*{{IMDb name, 5852303
abhinayataranga.com
Kannada film directors 1977 births Living people