Kavitha Lankesh is an Indian film director, screenwriter and a lyricist known for her work in Kannada cinema industry. She began as a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

-maker before directing her first feature film, ''

Deveeri ''Deveeri'' is a 1999 Kannada language film based on the novel ''Akka'' by noted Kannada writer P. Lankesh. The novel was adapted for the film by his daughter Kavitha Lankesh. The film won the 1999–2000 Karnataka State Award for best film. ...

'' (1999), which went on to win international, national and state awards. She is considered to be one of the renowned film-makers of Kannada cinema. She has directed and produced more than fifty documentaries/informational films and more than forty corporate films. Some of the films Kavitha directed have won awards and accolades from critics.

Early life and background

Kavitha was born in Bangalore to journalist

P. Lankesh Palya Lankesh (8 March 1935 – 25 January 2000) was an Indian poet, fiction writer, playwright, translator, screenplay writer and journalist who wrote in the Kannada language. He was also an award-winning film director. Early life and career ...

and Indira. Her mother runs a sari shop in Bangalore. Kavitha hails from a prominent family of journalists and media publishers. Her father

founded the highly successful weekly tabloid ''

Lankesh Patrike ''Lankesh Patrike'' is an Indian vernacular weekly published in Kannada language from Bangalore, Karnataka. The weekly newspaper was started by P. Lankesh in 1980 on the lines of ''Harijan'', a newspaper published by Mahatma Gandhi. The week ...

''. She has two siblings,

Indrajit Meghanada (), also referred to by his epithet Indrajita , according to Hindu texts, was the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. He is a major character mentio ...

and Gauri. Her brother is also a film-maker and her sister, Gauri Lankesh, was the chief editor of the tabloid. Kavitha holds a masters in English Literature from

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by Univers ...

and a diploma in advertising. Before her film career, Kavitha owned an advertisement agency. Kavitha decided to remain single. Instead, Kavitha is a single mother by choice to her daughter, Esha Lankesh. She now lives in a suburb of Bangalore with her daughter and her two Labradors.

Career

Kavitha started in films with a series of documentaries. She has made films about

Bannerghatta National Park Bannerghatta National Park is a national park in India, located near Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded in 1970 and declared as a national park in 1974. In 2002, a small portion of the park became a zoological garden, the Bannerghatta Biolog ...

in Bangalore, the

Siddi The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, or Habshi are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa and Ethiopia, most whom arrived to ...

tribe, and

Ninasam Ninasam (Kannada: ನೀನಾಸಂ) is a cultural organisation located in the village of Heggodu in Sagar Taluk of the Shivamogga district in the state of Karnataka, India. Ninasam (also spelt as Neenasam) is the short form of Sri NIlakantesh ...

, a cultural organization that promotes the development of theater and films. Kavithas first documentary was on a children's nature camp. She went to more than 50 documentaries and corporate films. ''

'', a movie based on a short story by

, ''Akka'', represented Kavitha's debut as a feature film director. The film stars

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

Bhavana ''Bhāvanā'' (Pali;Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Chicago" a Sanskrit: भावना, also ''bhāvanā''Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā", retriev ...

, Master Manja, Kashi,

B. Jayashree B. Jayashree (born 9 June 1950) is a veteran Indian theatre actress, director and singer, who has also acted in films and television and worked as dubbing artist in films. She is the creative director of Spandana Theatre, an amateur theatre co ...

. ''Deveeri'' won Kavitha Lankesh state, national and international awards, including the International Critics Award, National Debut Director Award, and the

Aravindan Puraskaram Aravindan Puraskaram (Aravindan Award) is an award instituted in 1991 in the memory of iconic Malayalam filmmaker G. Aravindan for the best debutant director in Indian languages. The award comprises Rs. 25,000, a memento and a citation. The award i ...

for best debutante director in 2000. ''Deveeri'' participated in eighteen international film festivals and won nine awards. Kavitha’s second film was ''Alemaari''. The film has Bhavana and

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

in the lead roles. Kavitha wrote the story and screenplay and directed ''Bimba''. The film has Raksha, Prakash Raj,

Daisy Bopanna Daisy Bopanna is an Indian actress who appears in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil language films. Personal life Bopanna is from Kodagu. She attended Aurobindo School, pre-university at Kumarans College and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine A ...

and Sampath Kumar in the lead roles. ''Bimba'' was selected to compete in the Bangkok film festival and received raving reviews from critics. Kavitha wrote and directed ''

Preethi Prema Pranaya ''Preethi Prema Pranaya'' is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language drama film written and directed by Kavitha Lankesh. The film features an ensemble cast of Anant Nag, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, Sudharani, Prakash Raj, Bhavana, Anu Prabhakar and Sunil ...

'', a drama film, in 2003. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada and the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Story and was a commercial hit running for 100 days in theaters across Karnataka. '' Malgudi Days'' was a Hindi television series originally directed by

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

, but was revived in 2006 with Kavitha as director. The reviews were positive. Kavitha also wrote and directed ''

Tananam Tananam ''Tananam Tananam'' is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language romantic musical film directed and written by Kavitha Lankesh. The film has Ramya and Rakshita teaming up together for the first time, and introduces Shaam, a Tamil actor, to Kannada cinema. ...

'', a romantic musical drama in 2006. The story was based on a Tamil story written by

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

. This film debuts Tamil actor,

Shaam Syria (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔒂𔒠 ''Sura/i''; gr, Συρία) or Sham ( ar, ٱلشَّام, ash-Shām) is the name of a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in Western Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. Other s ...

, with

Ramya Ramya (Sanskrit: रम्य) is a Sanskrit female given name, which means "pleasant" and "delightful". Notable people * Ramya (born 1982), Indian actress and politician * Ramya Barna (born 1986), Indian actress * Ramya Krishnan (born 1970), ...

and

Rakshita Shweta, known by her stage name Rakshita, is an Indian television personality, film producer and former actress known for her work in Kannada cinema. Early life Rakshita was brought up in Bangalore. Her father B. C. Gowrishankar was a cinemat ...

in the lead roles. Although the film had average to negative responses from critics, it won at Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress and Best Lyricist. Kavitha directed ''

Avva Avva (russian: А́вва) is an old and uncommon Russian male first name. Included into various, often handwritten, church calendars throughout the 17th–19th centuries, it was omitted from the official Synodal Menologium at the end of the 19th ...

'', a Kannada drama film, in 2008. The film was based on a novel, ''Mussanjeya Katha Prasanga'', written by her father. The film has Shruti,

Duniya Vijay B R Vijay Kumar, who is professionally known as Duniya Vijay and Duniya Viji, is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. He began his career playing small roles until he got his big break in '' Duniya'' (2007). He is noted for his perform ...

and

Smitha Smita (born Smita Vallurupalli on 4 September 1980) is an Indian pop singer, playback singer and actress known for her works in Tollywood, Telugu Music Industry, Bollywood, Kollywood and Kannada cinema. She has appeared in films such as '' Malli ...

in the lead roles. The film had many positive reviews from critics and won awards at the Karnataka State Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Story writer. Kavitha also directed ''

Crazy Loka ''Crazy Loka'' is a 2012 Kannada film starring V. Ravichandran and Daisy Bopanna. The film is directed by Kavita Lankesh and produced by Confident Group and Shanti Pictures. Manikanth Kadri is the music director for the film. Cast * Ravichand ...

'' in 2012. The stars of the film were

V. Ravichandran Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

and Daisy Bopanna. Crazy loka was commercially successful but a film that Kavitha is not proud of because of many ' uncontrolled factors'. Kavitha directed and produced a socially relevant film, '' Kariya Kan Bitta''. The film stars Pradyumna a child artist who won the state award and also had Duniya Vijay,

Yogesh Yogesh is an Indian masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' is a compound of the words ' and ' and has the meaning "master of yoga" and has also been used as an epithet of Shiva. Notable people * Yogesh (actor) (born 1990), Indian actor * Y ...

Srinagar Kitty Krishna (born 8 July 1977) known by his stage name Srinagara Kitty, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Kannada television series and films. He started off as a child artist working in a host of television serialized dramas before making ...

, and

Anu Prabhakar Anu Prabhakar, also known by her married name Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Kannada films and a few Tamil films. Early life Anu was born in Bangalore to M. V. Prabhakar, an employee with Bharat He ...

The film won rave reviews across the state. Kavitha Lankesh also runs a resort exclusively for children called Grameen Camp which introduces school children to various traditional village games and life styles as well educate them about farming.

Filmography

Kavitha Lankesh has also served as Jury for many festivals -International Film Festival of India, Kerala State Awards, Jagran Film Festival and the OSCAR film selection.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lankesh, Kavitha Living people Kannada film directors Kannada-language writers Kannada screenwriters Indian women screenwriters Hindi-language film directors Film directors from Bangalore Filmfare Awards South winners Indian women film directors 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian film directors Women writers from Karnataka Screenwriters from Bangalore Special Mention (feature film) National Film Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Indian screenwriters