B V Karanth
Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (Kannada: ಬಾಬುಕೋಡಿ ವೆಂಕಟರಮಣ ಕಾರಂತ್; 19 September 1929 – 1 September 2002) was a renowned film and theatre personality from India. Throughout his life he was director, actor and musician of modern Indian theatre both in Kannada as well as Hindi,[1] and one of the pioneers of Kannada and Hindi new wave cinema.
He was an alumnus of the National School of Drama (1962) and later, its director. He has directed many successful plays and has directed award winning Kannada movies. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri.
Born in Manchi, a village near Babukodi in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina
Kannada district in 1929, Karanth's passion for theatre started at an
early age. His first tryst with theater was when he was in standard III —
he acted in Nanna Gopala, a play directed by P.K. Narayana.
He then ran away from home and joined the legendary Gubbi Veeranna drama company where he worked alongside Rajkumar[2] who also was starting out then as a novice.
Gubbi Veeranna sent Karanth to Banaras to do his Masters in Arts where he also underwent training in Hindustani music under Guru Omkarnath Thakur.
Thereafter, along with his wife, Prema Karanth,
Karanth set up "Benaka", one of Bangalore's oldest theater groups. It
is an acronym for Bengalooru Nagara Kalavidaru. Then, Prema took up a
teaching job in Delhi and supported Karanth through the National School of Drama. He was to return the compliment after he graduated from the NSD, and eventually became its director.
He later graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, in 1962, then headed by Ebrahim Alkazi. Between 1969 and 1972, he worked as a drama instructor at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya,
New Delhi after which the couple returned to Bangalore. Here Karanth
dabbled in some cinema as well as music and was involved with the likes
of Girish Karnad and U.R. Ananthamurthy in these ventures.
He then returned to the NSD, this time as its Director in 1977. As
the director of NSD, Karanth took theatre to far-flung corners of India.
He conducted several workshops in places far away as Madurai
in Tamil Nadu. After his stint as the director of NSD, the Madhya
Pradesh government invited him to head the Rangamandal repertory under
the aegis of the Bharat Bhavan. After rendering yeoman service to the
theatre scene in Madhya Pradesh
between 1981 and '86, Karanth returned to Karnataka. It was alleged by
the MP Police that he was having an affair with one actress-Vibha
Mishra, where in a drunk state, he poured Kerosene over her, and burnt
her. However, Vibha, after recovering from her injuries, gave a
statement that proved Karanth's innocence and freed him from the charges
of an attempt to murder. He was criticized bitterly by Women activists
and was forced to move out of Bhopal.
In 1989, the Karnataka government invited him to set up a repertory in Mysore, which he named Rangayana and headed until 1995.
Karanth directed over a hundred plays, more than half of which were in
Kannada with Hindi close behind. He also directed plays in English, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit and Gujarati. Hayavadana (by Girish Karnad), Kattale Belaku, Huchu Kudure, Evam Indrajit, Oedipus, Sankranti, Jokumara Swami, Sattavara Neralu, Huttava Badidare and Gokula Nirgamana
are some of his most popular plays in Kannada. Of the forty or so plays
he directed in Hindi, Macbeth (using the traditional Yakshagana dance
drama form), King Lear, Chandrahasa, Hayavadana, Ghasiram Kotwal,
Mrichha Katika, Mudra Rakshasa, and Malavikagni Mitra are some of the
more popular ones. Karanth also reveled in directing children and
directed several children plays like Panjara Shale, Neeli Kudure, Heddayana, Alilu Ramayana and The Grateful Man.
In 1974, Karanth started BeNaKa a repertory in Bangalore. Benaka was an acronym for Bengalooru Nagara Kalavidaru. Benaka stages several hugely popular plays like Hayavadana
all across Karnataka and even overseas. At Benaka, Karanth also took a
special interest in children's theatre and directed several plays with
children. This group has been taken care of by Prema Karanth, Karanth's
late wife and a noted theatre personality in her own right. She died on
29-10-07.
Courtesy : Wikepedia
T. S. Nagabharana
T. S. Nagabharana(born 23 January 1953) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada film industry and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema.
He is one of the few film directors to have straddled both the
mainstream as well as parallel cinema worlds. He has achieved success
both in Television and Cinema He has been the recipient of
international, national, state and other awards for 20 of his 30 Kannada movies in the last 26 years. He was also selected as the Chairman of Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (KCA), Bangalore [Government of Karnataka] (State Film Academy).
Talakadu Srinivasaiah Nagabharana was born on January 23, 1953. He is an
ardent and avid reader of Indian English literature. He holds a degree
in Science and Law.
Nagabharana was interested in film making since his college days; he
acted and directed many stage plays. Nagabharana, early in his teens
came under the indelible influence of the great playwright Adya
Rangacharya. When in college he directed the plays Evam Indrajit and
Shoka Chakra.
He worked as a back stage worker, actor, singer and director. He had
the opportunity of associating with leading theatre personalities like B. V. Karanth, Chandrashekhara Kambara and Girish Karnad.
Plays that Nagabharana has acted in and directed are - Sangya Balya,
Kathale Belaku, Shakarana Sarotu, Jokumaraswamy, Oedipus, Sattavara
Neralu, Krishna Parijata, Tingara Buddanna, Mundena Sakhi Mundena,
Hayavadana, Neegikonda Samsa, Baka and Blood Wedding.[2]
He received a gold medal from the Government of India for his
achievement in theater. He is the founder of a theater organization
called "Benaka".[3]
He also started Shruthalaya, an organization for organizing, writing,
composing, camera work, lighting, art, acting, editing or directing.[4]
He is fan of Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman.
Nagabharana has won 8 National Awards and 14 State Awards.
Of the 30 films he has made so far, 14 have received prestigious
awards at the state and national level. Seven of his movies have been
selected for the Indian Panorama. He has received the Best Regional
Director Award at the national level seven times.
T.S.Nagabharana occupies the crown of hat trick of national
integration award. Three of his films won the best Film on National
Integration, and he is the only director in India to have won so.
Courtesy : Wikepedia
