Kashinatha Hathwara (8 May 1951 – 18 January 2018) was an Indian
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
and filmmaker who primarily worked in
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
films. He worked on
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
and
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
movies. With a career spanning over three decades, Kashinath worked in over 40 films carving a niche for himself in comedy genre. He is credited for introducing new talents such as actor
Upendra
Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born sub ...
, musician
V. Manohar and director
Sunil Kumar Desai
Sunil Kumar Desai is an Indian film director, writer and producer, known for his work in Kannada cinema. In most of his films, Desai blends art and commercial cinema. He has written and directed suspense/thrillers and love stories. He has won t ...
alongside many other technicians who went on to become successful in Kannada film industry.
Making his debut as a director through the comedy-drama film ''Aparoopada Athithigalu'' (1976), Kashinath came into limelight with the suspense thriller ''
Aparichita
''Aparichita'' () is a 1978 Kannada-language romantic mystery thriller film directed by Kashinath, starring Suresh Heblikar, Sobha, M. V. Vasudeva Rao and Mohan. The music was composed by noted composer L. Vaidyanathan. The movie was cri ...
'' (1978). He made his acting debut through the successful film ''
Anubhava'' (1984). The same film was remade and directed by him in Hindi as ''
Anubhav'' (1986), making his
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
entry. His films generally touched subjects which were often regarded as
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
in the Indian society and thus attracted the tag of being vulgar by some critics. He was more popular for his double entendre dialogues in his films to the extent that most associated the term "double meaning" with Kashinath and many went to the extent of attributing the decline of Kannada films quality to him. Despite the criticisms faced, his films have influenced the society as well as the industry.
Some of his movie dialogues have entered common lingo; for example the extremely popular phrase of "Mangalooru Manjunatha" (from the film ''
Love Maadi Nodu
''Love Maadi Nodu'' () is a 1989 Kannada-language film. Directed by A. Subramanyam, the movie follows the life and ambitions of the hero, Mangalooru Manjunath, played by Kashinath and his sidekick Gopi (child actor Master Manjunath). Upendra ...
''). Some of his other successful films include ''
Anantana Avantara'' (1989), ''
Avale Nanna Hendthi
''Avale Nanna Hendthi'' () is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by S. Umesh and K. Prabhakar, and produced by Vijay Films. It stars Kashinath and Bhavya. Dealing with the prevalent social issue of dowry system, the pl ...
'' (1988), ''Ajagajantara'' (1991) and ''Hendathi Endare Heegarabeku'' (1995). Kashinath made a prominent return when he was cast as an elderly jail inmate who gets falsely accused in his daughter's death in
Tharun Sudhir
Tharun Kishore Sudhir is an Indian Kannada film actor, director.
He is known for his directorial debut film ''Chowka''. Tharun's next project as a director was ''Roberrt'' and this film was released on 11 March 2021. The movie has Darshan in ...
's ''
Chowka
''Chowka'' is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Tharun Sudhir, making his debut, and produced by Dwarakish, marking his 50th production film. It features an ensemble cast of Vijay Raghavendra, Prem Kumar, Digant ...
'' (2017). His last film performance before his death is ''Olu Muniswamy'' which got released in 25 May 2018.
["Times of India"](_blank)
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Early life
Kashinath was born on 8 May 1951 into a middle class Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
family in Markod, a village near Kundapura. His father G. Vasudeva Rao was a businessman and a trader and mother Saraswathi a homemaker. He was the second son of his parents followed by his elder brother Sathyanarayana and his younger brothers are Dattatreya, Ravi, and Umapathi along with their younger sister Gayathri. He spent his childhood in his birthplace and moved to Bangalore with his father.
Career
Early career and rise to stardom: 1975–1990
During his graduation in Bangalore, Kashinath made a short film titled ''Slip'', "in the year 1971 or 1972". This encouraged him to enroll himself into a filmmaking troupe called "Aseema" along with contemporary filmmaker-actor and his long acquaintance, Suresh Heblikar
Suresh Heblikar ( kn, ಸುರೇಶ ಹೆಬ್ಳೀಕರ) is a Kannada filmmaker, director and actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional med ...
. In 1976, he borrowed money from his father and co-produced with P.R. Ramadas for his directorial debut ''Aparoopada Athitigalu'', a comedy-drama. His second directorial film ''Aparichita
''Aparichita'' () is a 1978 Kannada-language romantic mystery thriller film directed by Kashinath, starring Suresh Heblikar, Sobha, M. V. Vasudeva Rao and Mohan. The music was composed by noted composer L. Vaidyanathan. The movie was cri ...
'' in 1978 was a suspense thriller starring Suresh Heblikar, M. V. Vasudeva Rao, Sundar Krishna Urs and Shoba
Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her rol ...
brought him wide appreciation and recognition. The film paved the way for many other thriller films and was considered to be the "trendsetter" in Kannada cinema.
The success of the project made him direct its Hindi version titled as ''Be-Shaque
''Be-Shaque'' () is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language thriller drama film directed by Kashinath, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Yogeeta Bali, Amrish Puri and Shakti Kapoor. It is a remake of own Kannada directorial Aparichita.
Cast
*Mithun Chakrab ...
'' in 1981, starring Mithun Chakraborty
Mithun Chakraborty (born Gouranga Chakraborty; 16 June 1950) is an Indian actor, producer and politician who predominantly worked in Hindi and Bengali language films. He is a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament. He is the recipient of three ...
. After a brief hiatus, in 1984, he took up acting career by casting himself in the lead role for the film '' Anubhava''. The film was widely acclaimed and was considered bold during its time of release. The film had its music composed by L. Vaidyanathan
Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and compo ...
with whom he shared a long-lasting rapport and also introduced lyricist-music director V. Manohar through the song "Hodeya Doora O Jothegara". The huge success of the film got him the offer to direct its Hindi remake titled as '' Anubhav'' (1986) starring Shekhar Suman
Shekhar Suman (born 7 December 1962) is an Indian actor, anchor, producer, director, and singer.
Personal life
Shekhar Suman married Alka Suman on 4 May 1983, and has a son Adhyayan Suman, a Bollywood film actor. An older son, Aayush, died o ...
and Padmini Kolhapure
Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who works primarily in Hindi films. She began her acting career in 1972 at the age of seven, and her early works include ''Zindagi'' (1976) and ''Dream Girl'' (1977). She had her breakthroug ...
.
In Malayalam, he directed the same film, titled as '' Aadhyate Anubhavam'' (1987). The film found multiple time releases and reached the classic status. Following this, he took up acting assignments offered by other directors and starred in some successful films such as '' Mithileya Seetheyaru'' (1988), ''Avale Nanna Hendthi
''Avale Nanna Hendthi'' () is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by S. Umesh and K. Prabhakar, and produced by Vijay Films. It stars Kashinath and Bhavya. Dealing with the prevalent social issue of dowry system, the pl ...
'' (1988), ''Sura Sundaranga'' (1989), ''Manmatha Raja'' (1989) and ''Avane Nanna Ganda
''Avane Nanna Ganda'' is a 1989 Kannada-language film starring Kashinath and Sudharani. The film was directed by S. Umesh and K. Prabhakar for Vijay Films.
Most of the film's cast and crew reprises from the 1988 film ''Avale Nanna Hendthi
...
'' (1989).
His third directorial film ''Anamika'' (1987) could not repeat the success of his previous film. However, his next directed film '' Anantana Avantara'' (1989) was met with high popularity and success. His socially entertaining romantic films such as ''Avale Nanna Hendthi'' (1988) opposite Bhavya
Bhavya is an Indian actress. She has acted in several Kannada and a few Tamil and Telugu movies. She was a top heroine of Kannada cinema during 1985–1992. She switched over to key supporting roles post 2000.
She is settled in Mumbai, India ...
, ''Avane Nanna Ganda
''Avane Nanna Ganda'' is a 1989 Kannada-language film starring Kashinath and Sudharani. The film was directed by S. Umesh and K. Prabhakar for Vijay Films.
Most of the film's cast and crew reprises from the 1988 film ''Avale Nanna Hendthi
...
'' (1989) co-starring Sudharani and ''Chapala Chennigaraya
''Chapala Chennigaraya'' (Kannada: ಚಪಲ ಚೆನ್ನಿಗರಾಯ) is a 1990 Indian Kannada film, directed by H. R. Bhargava and produced by M Rajagopal and Suresh Kumar. The film stars Kashinath, Kalpana, Vanitha Vasu and Sundar Kr ...
'' (1990) opposite Kalpana were both commercial and critical success. This back to back success made Kashinath one of the most sought-after actors in the 1980s era.
Later career: 1993–2017
In 1991, he co-produced, directed and acted in the film '' Ajagajantara''. The film costarred Anjana and Srilekha and had music composed by Hamsalekha
Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...
with the lyrics written by two of his proteges, Upendra and V. Manohar. The comedy-drama film met with commercial success and the same screenplay was adapted in the 1997 released Hindi film '' Judaai'', starring Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...
, Sridevi
Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Female ...
and Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar (born 4 February 1974) is an Indian actress and politician. Known for her work primarily in Hindi films, in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil films, she has received numerous accolades, including the Filmfar ...
.
After this, barring few films, many films directed, produced or acted by him were commercial failures. In the 1990s, he worked with many popular directors such as H. R. Bhargava
Hunsur Ramachandra Bhagyachandra ( kn, ಹು. ರಾ. ಭಾರ್ಗವ), known mononymously as Bhargava, is an Indian film director who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. Originally a producer, he came to be considered one of the best direc ...
, Om Sai Prakash
Enreddy Prakash Reddy a.k.a. Om Sai Prakash is a Telugu and Kannada film director and producer. Born in Phirangipuram in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, he started as an assistant to Kodi Ramakrishna and then charted his own course in dir ...
, P. H. Vishwanath, B. Ramamurthy
B. Ramamurthy is an Indian director who works in Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all ...
, T. S. Nagabharana
Talakadu Srinivasaiah Nagabharana (born 23 January 1953), commonly known as T. S. Nagabharana, is an Indian film director, in the Kannada film industry and a pioneer of parallel cinema. He is one of the few film directors to have straddled t ...
and Upendra
Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born sub ...
. In 1993, he acted as himself in the horror-thriller film ''Shhh
Shh or Shhh or SHH can refer to:
*''Shh'', a request for silence
Biology
* ''SHH'', sonic hedgehog gene name Films
*'' Sh-h-h-h-h-h'', 1955 American cartoon directed by Tex Avery
* ''Shhh'' (film), 1975 American comedy film starring Rita Moreno
...
'' directed by Upendra which was a success in the box office.
In 1995, he acted and directed the film ''Hendthi Endare Heegirabeku'' alongside Akshata which was moderately successful. His subsequent films such as ''Baduku Jataka Bandi'' (1997), ''Hello Yama'' (1998), ''Chor Guru Chandal Sishya'' (1998), ''Rambhe Urvashi Menake'' (1999) and ''Maava Maava Maduve Mado'' (2000) failed to impress the box office. His next directorial ''Meese Hottha Gandasige Demandappo Demandu'' (1999) based on the popular song line of his previous hit ''Avale Nanna Hendthi'' was a failure as well. In 2004, he starred in three films which included ''Aaha Nanna Thangi Maduve'' in his direction.
In 2007, he directed and acted in the film ''Appacchi'' which became his last directorial until his death in 2018. Later he acted in couple of films in supporting roles such as ''Aathmeeya'' (2008), ''Onti Mane'' (2010) and ''12AM Madhyarathri'' (2012) along with his son Abhimanyu.
Kashinath made a comeback in 2016 through Prashant Raj
Prashant Raj (born 10 March 1982 in Bangalore) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Kannada cinema. He made his directorial debut with ''Love Guru
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotion ...
's ''Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
'' starring Ganesh
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...
by playing a key supporting role. This was followed up by his acting as one of the jail inmates in Dwarakish Chitra's 50th project ''Chowka
''Chowka'' is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Tharun Sudhir, making his debut, and produced by Dwarakish, marking his 50th production film. It features an ensemble cast of Vijay Raghavendra, Prem Kumar, Digant ...
'' in 2017.
The song "Alladsu Alladsu" featuring him in the film Chowka
''Chowka'' is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Tharun Sudhir, making his debut, and produced by Dwarakish, marking his 50th production film. It features an ensemble cast of Vijay Raghavendra, Prem Kumar, Digant ...
was widely acclaimed and topped the charts. His final onscreen appearance in ''Olu Muniswamy'' was released in 25 May 2018.
He also gifted many new artists to Kannada Film Industry
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'' directe ...
. Some of them are given below.
Films remade in other languages
Films directed by or starring Kashinath were remade in other Indian languages. ''Aparichita
''Aparichita'' () is a 1978 Kannada-language romantic mystery thriller film directed by Kashinath, starring Suresh Heblikar, Sobha, M. V. Vasudeva Rao and Mohan. The music was composed by noted composer L. Vaidyanathan. The movie was cri ...
'' (1978) was remade in Malayalam as ''Avano Atho Avalo
''Avano Atho Avalo'' is a 1979 Indian Malayalam film, directed by Baby and Kashinath. The film stars Jayan, KP Ummer, Jagathy Sreekumar, Jose and Jose Prakash in the lead roles. The film has musical score by M. K. Arjunan. The film was a rema ...
'' (1979) and in Hindi as ''Be-Shaque
''Be-Shaque'' () is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language thriller drama film directed by Kashinath, starring Mithun Chakraborty, Yogeeta Bali, Amrish Puri and Shakti Kapoor. It is a remake of own Kannada directorial Aparichita.
Cast
*Mithun Chakrab ...
'' (1981). '' Anubhava'' (1984) was remade in Hindi by Kashinath as '' Anubhav'' (1986) and in Malayalam as '' Aadhyate Anubhavam'' (1987). ''Avale Nanna Hendthi
''Avale Nanna Hendthi'' () is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed by S. Umesh and K. Prabhakar, and produced by Vijay Films. It stars Kashinath and Bhavya. Dealing with the prevalent social issue of dowry system, the pl ...
'' (1988) was remade in Hindi as ''Jawani Zindabad
''Jawani Zindabad'' () is an Indian romance film directed by Arun Bhatt. This film was released in 1990, starring by Aamir Khan and Farha Naaz. It was released on 17 August 1990 and turned out to be Below Average at the box office. It was a r ...
'' (1990) that featured Aamir Khan
Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...
in Kashinath's role.
Filmography
Death
Kashinath was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...
in mid 2017. He was admitted to the Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital in Bengaluru on 16 January 2018. He died at 7:45 a.m (IST
Ist or IST may refer to:
Information Science and Technology
* Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology
* Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan
* Graduate School ...
) on 18 January from cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...
.
As filmmaker
Kashinath came to be regarded as a disciplined and systematic filmmaker with a strong technical knowledge. He would pen down the duration of the film sequences, shot compositions, camera angles and the dialogue flow before execution of a scene. This practice enabled the entire team to stick to the schedule and complete a film within the prescribed timeline and budget.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashinath
1951 births
2018 deaths
20th-century Indian film directors
Hindi-language film directors
Kannada film directors
Kannada comedians
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Indian male film actors
Indian male comedians
Male actors from Karnataka
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors
People from Udupi district
Film directors from Karnataka
Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma
Deaths from cancer in India
Madhva Brahmins