Tiptur Ramaraju Narasimharaju (24 July 1923 – 11 July 1979) was an Indian actor 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 ...
who specialised in roles that required ample comic timing. He was the comedy stalwart of the Kannada film industry. He acted in more than 250 Kannada films between 1954 and 1979. He was also referred to as Hasya Chakravarti.
[A Tribute Comedian]
Deccan Herald.
Early life
Narasimharaju was born to RamaRaju, a police constable and Venkatalakshmamma on 24 July 1923, in
Tiptur
Tiptur is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. It is the second largest and the fastest growing city in Tumkur district. It is a sub-divisional headquarters of Tumkur district in Karnataka. Capital city Bengaluru is ...
.
Career
Theatre
Narasimharaju's stage debut happened when he was 4 years old. The poverty prevailing in the house made his uncle Lakshmipathiraju take the young lad to the 'Chandramouleshwara Drama Company' run by C. B. Mallappa who happened to be touring Tiptur during that period. He played the roles of
Prahlada,
Lohithaswa
Lohithaswa T. S. (5 August 1942 – 8 November 2022) was an Indian Kannada film actor and playwright and an English professor. He acted in more than five hundred Kannada movies, stage plays, and television serials. He was popularly known for h ...
,
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
, Markanda among others. After some time, Narasimharaju left that company and formed his own troupe and enacted his roles from his now previous performances – ''Gora-Kumbara,'' and ''Harischandra''. He soon joined "Edathorey Drama Company" after his troupe sustained losses. He took on the garb of a lady in the mythological ''Vishvamitra'', ''Rama'', ''Ravana'', and ''Bharata'' among others. He spent the first 27 years of his acting career in professional drama companies. He donned different roles in the plays of different companies like "Shri Chandramauleshwara Nataka Sabha", "Hirannaiah Mitra Mandali", "Bharatha Lalitha Kala Sangha", "Gunda Joisara Company" of Belur, and Gubbi "Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company". He did not neglect these drama companies even after becoming hugely popular as a film actor.
Films
He made his film debut in 1954 when he acted in the film ''
Bedara Kannappa
''Bedara Kannappa'' is a 1954 Indian Kannada-language Hindu mythological film directed by H. L. N. Simha and written by G. V. Iyer. The film stars Rajkumar playing the title character along with Pandari Bai, Kushala Kumari, G. V. Iyer, Sandh ...
'' alongside
Rajkumar in the role of the son of the temple priest. Both were colleagues from the time they were in Gubbi Veeranna's drama company. Narasimharaju took inspiration from
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
. He is referred to by some as one of the greatest comedians of his time. It is also said that people would not have watched
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 in the 1960s if he did not star in them.
[
Though known for his comic timing, Narasmimharaju unfortunately spent his last days mourning the death of his son in an accident. He died aged 56 on 11 July 1979 at around 4.30 a.m. due to severe heart attack. After his death, an annual cine award, the ''Narasimharaju Prashasti'' was established in his memory. He was the busiest actor in the ]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 ...
, even actors like Rajkumar used to wait for his callsheet, and used to adjust to his dates. However, despite his iconic status among Kannadigas, it is ironic that he was not awarded even once either by the state or the central governments.
A comedian by profession, Narasimharaju was a family man and knew what he had to do for his family. Narasimharaju intelligently invested his earnings into building houses in the then Madras city and Bangalore. In fact, he was the first Kannada actor to own a house in Madras, even before the matinee idol Rajkumar and is even credited to have completed 100 films before Dr Rajkumar through the 1967 film, Nakkare ade swarga
Filmography
Sources
*
References
University of Pennsylvania
''Search string: narasimha raju'
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narasimharaju
Indian male comedians
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Indian male film actors
People from Tumkur
Kannada people
1923 births
1979 deaths
20th-century Indian male actors
Male actors from Karnataka
20th-century comedians