Dorai–Bhagavan were an Indian filmmaking duo consisting of directors B. Dorai Raj (died 2000) and S. K. Bhagavan (5 July 1933 – 20 February 2023), active mainly 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. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

. The duo directed twenty seven films together, most of which starred Rajkumar and were highly successful at box-office. Fourteen of them were based on Kannada novels. Bhagavan was the principal of Adarsha Film Institute, Bangalore.

Film career

Srinivasa Krishna Iyengar Bhagavan was born on 5 July 1933. He completed his schooling in Bangalore High school. At a young age, he was acting on stage dramas with Hirannaiah Mithra Mandali. He started his film career as an assistant to Kanagal Prabhakar Shastri in 1956 through the film ''Bhagyodaya''. He then went on to direct his debut movie '' Sandhya Raga'' in 1966 though officially its direction was credited to A.C. Narasimha Murthy. However, next year, he was credited as the co-director of '' Rajadurgada Rahasya'' (1967) alongside A.C. Narasimha Murthy. His official directorial debut happened when he co-directed ''

Jedara Bale ''Jedara Bale'' ( ) is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language spy thriller written and directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan. It stars Rajkumar in the lead role, alongside Jayanthi, K. S. Ashwath, Narasimharaju, and Udayakumar. The music for the fi ...

'' (1968) with Dorai Raj under the name Dorai–Bhagavan thus becoming the first directors to make

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

-style movies in Kannada. The duo then directed films like ''

Kasturi Nivasa ''Kasturi Nivasa'' ( ) is a 1971 Indian Kannada-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by the director duo Dorai–Bhagavan based on a story by G. Balasubramanium which was loosely inspired by William Shakespeare' ...

'', '' Eradu Kanasu'', ''

Bayalu Daari ''Bayalu Daari'' ( ) is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language film directed and produced by the Dorai–Bhagavan duo. It is based on the novel of the same name by Bharathi Sutha. This was the first movie of the director duo without Dr. Rajkumar in t ...

'', '' Gaali Maathu'', '' Chandanada Gombe'', ''

Hosa Belaku ''Hosa Belaku'' ( ) is a 1982 Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Dorai–Bhagavan duo. It is based on the novel of the same name by Vani. The film starred Rajkumar, Saritha, Mamatha Rao and K. S. Ashwath. The movie saw a theatric ...

'', '' Benkiya Bale'', ''

Jeevana Chaitra ''Jeevana Chaitra'' () is a 1992 Indian Kannada language film directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan starring Rajkumar and Madhavi. It marked the re-entry of Rajkumar in films after a hiatus of three years, and was an instant hit. The film is ba ...

'' and more Bond-style movies such as ''Goa dalli C.I.D 999'', ''Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999'' and ''Operation Diamond Racket''. Apart from Rajkumar, the duo directed many movies with

Anant Nag Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 250 Kannada films and few films in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Malaya ...

and

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

, most of which were based on novels. After the death of Dorai Raj, Bhagavan ceased directing for many years – their last film was ''Baalondu Chaduranga'' in 1996. In 2019, he made his comeback at the age of 85 with '' Aduva Gombe'', which marks 50th film of his direction.

Awards

Bhagavan was the principal of Adarsha Film Institute.About us
Adarsha Film Institute

Filmography

Dorai–Bhagavan directed a number of films. Apart from directing movies, Bhagavan also acted in films including Bhagyodaya, Rowdy Ranganna, Vasantha Geetha, Shravana Bantu, Sootradhaara, Haalu Jenu, Jeevana Chaithra and Bangalore Mail. He mostly worked with music director duo

Rajan–Nagendra Rajan–Nagendra was an Indian musical duo who were prominent composers of film music in Kannada and Telugu cinema from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Rajan, along with his brother Nagendra, created a niche for themselves for nearly four dec ...

and G. K. Venkatesh for most of his films. ''Note*: This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorai-Bhagavan 20th-century Indian people Kannada film directors Indian filmmaking duos Film directors from Karnataka Artists from Mysore 21st-century Indian people