''Jeevana Nataka'' is a 1943 Indian

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 ...

film directed by Wahab Kashmiri, based on a play of the same name written by A. N. Krishna Rao. The film was produced by

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 ...

, his first as an independent producer. Veeranna also appeared in a lead role in the film alongside debutante

Kemparaj Urs D. Kemaparaj Urs (5 February 1917 – 18 May 1982) was an Indian freedom fighter, actor, director and producer who worked mainly in the Kannada film industry. His movies in 1940s and 1950s created an impact on the audience. Even before Dr. Rajk ...

Shanta Hublikar Shanta Hublikar (14 April 1914 – 17 July 1992), was an actress and singer from early years of Indian cinema. Shanta worked in Marathi, Hindi and Kannada films from 1934 to 1963. Her songs ''Ab kis liye kalki baat'' from Aadmi and its Marathi v ...

and B. Jayamma.

Cast

The cast of the film: *

as Anand * D. Kemparaj Urs as Mohan *

as Kamala * B. Jayamma as Padma * Singanallur Puttaswamayya * Basavarajappa * Mohana Kumari * Muradi Kulla * Entadi Lambu * Rajamma * Sundaramma * Kamalamma * Kamalabai * Sundaribai * Sharadamma * Vijaya (credited as Baby Vijaya) * M. G. Marirao * Mahabala Rao * Krishnamurthy * B Hanumanthaiah * Raju * Radhakrishna * M. C. Veer

Production

Wahab Kashmiri was a theatre personality working in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

's New Theatre group. The film was his first in Kannada as director. The writer A. N. Krishna Rao, who wrote the film's story, assisted him by handing him over the story in English, and the dialogues. The film was also

's first as an independent producer and produced under the banner Gubbi Films. Future actor Rajkumar's father and stage actor Singanalluru Puttaswamayya was voice-tested for acting in the film. "Since his voice was rough and did not suit cinema, he was asked to dub for his voice by holding the mike far away from his mouth." D. Kemparaj Urs, the brother of future Chief Minister of Mysore State, D. Devaraj Urs, made his acting debut in the film. Filming took in Central Studios, Coimbatore, for a year before release on 1 January 1943.

Reception

The reviewer for ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' wrote, "Apart from Veeranna's superb comedy, Jayamma and Shanta Hublikar put over grand performances. Lilting music is provided in plenty."

References

External links

* 1943 films 1940s Kannada-language films Indian black-and-white films {{1940s-Kannada-film-stub