Narayana Swamy (born 28 December 1944), known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly 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'' directe ...

. He holds the position of vice-president of the

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 ...

television channel

Udaya TV Udaya may refer to * Udaya Pictures, a movie company in Kerala. * Udaya TV, a Kannada-language television channel * Udaya Manikya, a 16th-century king of Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest st ...

. He is popular for presenting the

Game Show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

, ''Adarsha Dampatigalu'' ( kn, ಆದರ್ಶ ದಂಪತಿಗಳು). Srinath has earned the nickname Pranaya RajaPranayaraja Srinath to direct movies
- IndiaGlitz.com Report. Retrieved on 22 April 2007 meaning 'King of Romance' because of his stupendous success in romantic movies during the 70s. In 2003, he was conferred the ‛''Kalaratna''’ Award by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

Early life

Narayana Swamy was born on 28 December 1943 to Ramaswamy Shastri and Lalita in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, in the Kingdom of Mysore of India. Initially, he acted in amateur plays and practiced

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...

in Occupational Institute in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

. He entered films with a small role in the

movie Lagna Pathrike.Srinath's Profile at Chitranga.com
Retrieved on 22 April 2007 After that, he got a chance to play the main role in a film called Madhura Milana and his name was changed to Srinath. In 1975 the stupendous success of the cult movie ''

Shubhamangala ''Shubhamangala'' is a 1975 Indian Kannada language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal, based on a novel of the same name by Vani, starring Aarathi and Srinath. The supporting cast features Shivaram, Ambareesh, Musuri Krishnamurthy and K. S. ...

'' by Puttanna Kanagal made him a popular hero in Kannada cinema.

Film life

Srinath has acted in over 350 films. ''

(ಶುಭ ಮಂಗಳ) ''is his biggest hit. He has won the State award as best actor for Sri Raghavendra Vaibhava'''' and the Filmfare award for

Besuge ''Besuge'' ( kn, ಬೆಸುಗೆ) is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed by Geethapriya, based on a novel of the same name by Ashwini, and stars Srinath, Manjula and Chandrashekar, in lead roles. The film is seen as a land ...

(ಬೆಸುಗೆ). In 1982 he had produced ''

Maanasa Sarovara ''Manasa Sarovara'' ( kn, ಮಾನಸ ಸರೋವರ) is a 1982 Kannada language Indian film directed by Puttanna Kanagal and starring Srinath, Padma Vasanthi and Ramakrishna. Padmavasanthi won the Karnataka State Award for Best Actress ...

(ಮಾನಸ ಸರೋವರ) ''for his mentor Puttanna Kanagal. Srinath was also preparing to direct a Kannada movie. He formed a popular pair with top actress Manjula with whom he acted in a record 35 films during the 1970s and 80s.

Political life

Srinath was nominated by

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

as member of legislative council from the artiste fraternity for a period of six years.Srinath is nominated as MLC by BJP
- A report in IndiaGlitz.com. Retrieved on 22 April 2007

Udaya TV

Srinath was the Vice President of the

Kannada Channel and hosted the

''Adarsha Dampatigalu'' ( kn, ಆದರ್ಶ ದಂಪತಿಗಳು). He still continues to act in films and TV serials.

Awards and honours

In the year of 1980-81 he was honored by the

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada Language films. Superlatives Recipients The first recipient was ...

for his effective portrayal of the role of

Raghavendra Raghavendra Tirtha () (1595 – 1671) was a Hindu scholar, theologian and saint. He was also known as Sudha Parimalacharya (). His diverse oeuvre include commentaries on the works of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, interpretation of the ...

in the movie ''Sri Raghavendra Vaibhava''. In year 2003, Srinath was honoured with the Kalaratna (''Gem of Art'') award by Adarsha Suguma Sangeeta Academy Trust, in

. Nisar Ahmed, film actor Srinath honoured by Adarsha Sugama Sangeeta Academy Trust
-

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

News Report, Retrieved on 22 April 2007 The award was honoured by S.M. Shankar, the brother of S.M. Krishna, the then Chief Minister of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. In the same year, Srinath was honoured with the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava Award given by the

. - A report by

, Retrieved on 22 April 2007 Then in 2013 Karnataka State Film Awards, he's honored by the prestigious Dr. Rajkumar Award for his lifetime achievement to

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'' directe ...

. After completing 100 films he was given the title "Abhinaya Chakravarthy"in 1982.

Personal life

Srinath is the younger brother of renowned Kannada theatre artist as well as film actor and writer C. R. Simha. Srinath is married to Geetha Srinath. The couple have two children, a son and a daughter. His son Rohit has acted in several Kannada movies as a child artist. His daughter Amulya currently lives in the U.S. with her husband and three daughters.

Contribution to society

Srinath has set up a charitable trust called ''Deeya Art Foundation'', to provide a helping-hand to the poor and needy who are affected by diseases like cancer, HIV and heart-related ailments.Inauguration of the Deeya Art Foundation is mentioned in the Times of India, Bangalore Edition, newspaper dated 2007-04-24, page 2, article title: Musical start to Srinath's foundation Among the objectives of the foundation are: * Organising entertainment programs exclusively for cancer-affected patients * Free health check-up camps * Fund-raising camps for the physically handicapped * Service activities at old-age homes * Blood donation camps * Free supply of medicines and nutritional food

Partial filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Srinath's Profile on Chitraranga.com
{{authority control Male actors in Kannada cinema Indian male film actors Living people Male actors from Mysore 1944 births Filmfare Awards South winners Kannada male actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Businesspeople from Mysore Indian television presenters Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2003