Hunsur Krishnamurthy (9 February 1914 – 13 February 1989) was an Indian playwright, film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist 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 ...

. He worked with noted theatre personalities early in his career;

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 ...

, Mohammed Peer and B. R. Panthulu before entering films. As a film director, he made films mostly in the mythological genre such as '' Satya Harishchandra'' (1965), '' Bhakta Kumbara'' (1974) and '' Babruvahana'' (1977), all of which star Rajkumar. The films were major critical and commercial successes and are seen as milestones in Kannada cinema and in the career of Rajkumar.

Career

Theatre

Prior to working in films, gonna worked in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

as a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, writing plays such as ''Swarga Samrajya''. He then worked for the

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

-based Bharat Nataka Company as a playwright and a scenarist, following which, he had a stint at

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. Afte ...

. He then worked as a part of Marathi stage actor Bal Gandharva's theatre troupe. During that time, he also worked with famed Kannada theatre personalities

and Mohamed Peer. In 1936, during his work with the latter in his drama company Chandrakala Natak, he worked with B. R. Panthulu, another popular theatre personality at the time, in his play ''Samsara Nauke'', as an assistant director.

Films

Krishnamurthy entered the Kannada cinema primarily as a dialogue writer for films such as ''Hemareddy Mallamma'' (1945) and ''Krishnaleele'' (1947). He also wrote the screenplay for the films. Writing lyrics for the soundtracks of films such as ''Kanyadana'', (1954), ''Devakannika'' (1954) and '' Sodari'' (1955), he made his debut as a director in the 1958 mythological film '' Shree Krishna Gaarudi'', that features Rajkumar in the lead role, an actor who would go on to dominate Kannada cinema as an actor for over two decades. Krishnamurthy followed this up with other films such as ''Veera Sankalpa'' (1964), '' Satya Harishchandra'' (1965), ''Sri Kannika Parameshwari Kathe'' (1966), '' Bhakta Kumbara'' (1974), '' Babruvahana'' (1977), ''Bhakta Siriyala'' (1980), ''Bhakta Dnyanadeva'' (1982) and ''Shiva Kotta Sowbhagya'' (1985). Most of his films in the mythological genre had Rajkumar playing the lead role. Commercial successes during the time, they were instrumental in shaping Rajkumar's career as an actor. His film ''Satya Harishchandra'' won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 13th National Film Awards, and is seen as a milestone in Kannada cinema. His 1977 film ''Veera Sindhoora Lakshmana'', which was based on the life of Lakshmana, a freedom fighter who fought the British during the Indian freedom struggle, was major commercial success. Actors M. P. Shankar and Rajesh were introduced by him in his films; Shankar in ''Rathnamanjari'' (1962) and Rajesh in ''Veera Sankalpa''.

Filmography

Awards

National Film Awards * 1965 - Best Kannada Film – ''Sathya Harishchandra'' * 1965 - Third Best Kannada Film – ''Maduve Madi Nodu'' Karnataka State Film Awards * 1973-74 - Best Dialogue Writer – ''Boothayyana Maga Ayyu'' * 1974-75 - Third Best Film – ''Bhaktha Kumbara'' * 1981-82 - Best Dialogue Writer – ''Edeyooru Siddalingeshwara'' * 1986-87 - Lt. Puttanna Kanagal Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamurthy, Hunsur 1914 births 1977 deaths Kannada dramatists and playwrights Kannada screenwriters Kannada-language lyricists Kannada film directors Kannada film producers Male actors in Kannada cinema Place of death missing 20th-century Indian male actors Male actors from Karnataka Screenwriters from Karnataka People from Mysore district 20th-century Indian poets Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Film producers from Karnataka Indian male film actors Poets from Karnataka Malayalam film producers 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian screenwriters