Ganapathi Venkataramana Iyer (3 September 1917 – 21 December 2003) was a well-known Indian film director and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada

Bheeshma Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic M ...

", and was the only person who made films in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. His film ''

Adi Shankaracharya Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

'' (1983) won four

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

, including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Audiography. His films were well known for their spiritual themes. He was born in 1917 in

Nanjanagud Nanjangud, officially known as Nanjanagudu, is a town in the Mysuru district of Indian state of Karnataka. Nanjangud lies on the banks of the river Kapila (also called Kabini), 23 km from the city of Mysore. Nanjangud is famous for the S ...

Mysore district Mysore district, officially Mysuru district is an administrative district located in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mysore division.Chamarajanagar District was carved out of the origi ...

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 ...

state in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. His most critically acclaimed films were '' Bhagavad Gita'' (1993), which won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

and was nominated for Best Film at the Bogotá Film Festival and Swami Vivekananda (1998), for which

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 ...

won the national award for Best Supporting Actor.

Early life

He was born in 1917 in an orthodox

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 (gur ...

family in

Nanjangud Nanjangud, officially known as Nanjanagudu, is a town in the Mysuru district of Indian state of Karnataka. Nanjangud lies on the banks of the river Kapila (also called Kabini), 23 km from the city of Mysore. Nanjangud is famous for the S ...

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 ...

district

Career

He started his career at the age of eight when he joined the

Gubbi Veeranna Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which play ...

theatre group. His first role as an actor in cinema was in the film ''

Radha Ramana Radha Ramana (Devanagari: राधा रमण, IAST: rādhā ramaṇa) (or Radharaman) is a famous image of Radha Krishna worshiped in Hinduism. There is a famous temple of this deity in Vrindavana, Uttar Pradesh, India. Name This name of Kr ...

''. Besides this he acted in a number of other movies such as ''

Mahakavi Kalidasa ''Mahakavi Kalidasa'' is 1955 Indian Kannada-language film directed by K. R. Seetharama Sastry, in his debut direction. The movie is based on the legends of the poet Kālidāsa. It stars Honnappa Bhagavatar as Kālidāsa, a Sanskrit poet who ...

'', ''Sodhari'', ''Hemavati'', ''Hari Bhaktha'' and '' Bedara Kannapa''. He is credited with providing breaks to two of the greatest

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 ...

actors,

Dr. Rajkumar Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...

and Narasimha Raju in the movie Bedara Kannappa. Though Raj Kumar had acted in a single scene in a movie previously, the movie Bedara Kannappa where Mr Iyer cast him as the hero, is where he got his break and is regarded generally as his first movie. Iyer also produced the critically acclaimed movie

Vamsha Vriksha Vamsha Vriksha (The genealogy tree), is a 1971 Indian Kannada-language film directed by B. V. Karanth and Girish Karnad, based on S. L. Bhyrappa's novel of the same name. The film won the National Film Award for Best Direction.Shampa Banerjee, ...

. Based on an acclaimed novel by S L Bhairappa, it was jointly directed by

B V Karanth Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (Kannada: ಬಾಬುಕೋಡಿ ವೆಂಕಟರಮಣ ಕಾರಂತ) (19 September 1929 – 1 September 2002) widely known as B. V. Karanth was an Indian film director, playwright, actor, screenwriter, co ...

and

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

. He soon started directing his own movies. The movie ''Hamsageethe'' (music by Dr.

Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

, B. V. Karanth and T.G. Lingappa) was well received and made him famous. Iyer wrote scripts, lyrics and produced and directed many commercial

movies. Iyer's biggest effort was '' Ranadheera Kanteerava''. He continued to make commercial movies until 1970. In his younger days, he was committed to

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and his ideals. He stopped wearing footwear from the day Gandhi died and never wore them again. He also wore hand-spun clothes colloquially called "Khadi" as was advocated by Gandhi. He was proficient in both

and

and was soon to make the first movie in Sanskrit, about the famous philosopher ''

'' (1983). The movie received the National Film Awards for

, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Audiography. It is believed that the movie made a great impact on Iyer. He later made a film on

Madhvacharya Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the '' Dvaita'' (dualism) sch ...

in Kannada and

Ramanuja Ramanuja ( Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents ...

charya in Tamil. He also made a remarkable Sanskrit movie '' Bhagavad Gita'' (1993), which won

at the National Film Awards of 1993. The film was also nominated for Best Film at the Bogotá Film Festival. He produced ''Natyarani Shanthala'', a historical television series on the

Hoysala The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved ...

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

queen Shanthala, who was married to a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

King. It was re-made in

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 ...

as well as in Kannada. It was based on several works by Samethanahalli Rama Rao in Kannada. He later went on to make a movie '' Swami Vivekananda''. It was an attempt to portray Swami Vivekananda, realistically. For this film

won a national award for Best Supporting Actor.

played Shri Ramkrishna Paramhansa. Though it had many famous actors such as

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

and

Sarvadaman Banerjee Sarvadaman D. Banerjee is an Indian film and television actor known for his works in Hindi cinema, Bengali cinema and Telugu cinema. He is best known for playing Krishna in Ramanand Sagar's hit television series ''Krishna'' (1993). He played ...

, the movie failed commercially. He was planning a film based on the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

epic ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'', with

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...

playing the role of

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

, before his sudden death on 21 December 2003 at the age of 87. His last rites took place at his Bharadhwaja Ashrama, near Dodda Aladamara, on the outskirts of Bangalore, near

Kengeri Kengeri is a suburb in Bangalore city. It is located on the western corridor along Mysore Road, bordered by Nagarbhavi to the north and Rajarajeshwari Nagar to the east. History The name Kengeri comes from the Kannada words Tengu coconut and K ...

Filmography

Director, Writer and Producer

Actor

* ''

'' (1943) * '' Bedara Kannappa'' (1954) * '' Sodari'' (1955) * ''Bhakta Mallikarjuna'' (1955) * ''Sadarame'' (1956) * ''

Jagajyothi Basveshwara ''Jagajyothi Basveshwara'' is a 1959 Indian Kannada-language film directed by T. V. Singh Thakur featuring actors Honnappa Bhagavatar, Rajkumar, K. S. Ashwath, B. Saroja Devi, Narasimharaju, Balakrishna in pivotal roles. The film is based on ...

'' (1959) * '' Ranadheera Kanteerava'' (1960) * ''Kantheredu Nodu'' (1961) * '' Bhoodana'' (1962) * ''Vamsha Vriksha'' (1971) * ''Hemavathi'' (1977)

Awards

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

: ''

'' ** Best Screenplay: ''

'' *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

: '' Bhagavad Gita'' *1993: Bhagavad Gita – nominated for Best Film at the Bogotá Film Festival in Golden Precolumbian Circle. **

Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada The Filmfare Best Director Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Kannada (Sandalwood) films. The award was first given in 1972. Superlatives Winners References {{DEFAULTSORT:Filmfare ...

: '' Hamsa Geethe''- 1976 **

Filmfare Award for Best Film – Kannada The Kannada Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the prod ...

: ''

''- 1972

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iyer, G. V. Iyer, GV Iyer, GV Iyer, GV Iyer, GV Male actors from Mysore Kannada screenwriters Filmfare Awards South winners Indian Sanskrit scholars Male actors in Kannada cinema 20th-century Indian film directors Writers from Mysore 20th-century Indian male actors Film producers from Karnataka Indian male film actors Tamil screenwriters 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Film directors from Karnataka Screenwriters from Karnataka Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award 20th-century Indian screenwriters