Ravi Belagere (15 March 1958 – 13 November 2020) was an Indian writer and journalist based in

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 ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He was the editor of the

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

-language tabloid ''

Hai Bangalore ''Hai Bangalore'' is a mass circulation weekly Kannada language tabloid published in Bangalore. It was founded by Ravi Belagere along with R. T. Vittalamurthy, MaSuri, & Jogi in 1995 which he published from his Padmanabhanagar office in Benga ...

'' and fortnightly magazine ''

O Manase ''O Manase'' ''(meaning: O Mind)'' is a Kannada-language fortnightly youth magazine published in Karnataka, India. Journalist Ravi Belagere was the CEO and editor of the magazine. Sister publications *''Hai Bangalore'', a weekly Kannada langua ...

''. He founded Bhavana Prakashana, Prarthana School and Bhavana Audio Reach.

Personal life

Early life

Belagere was born on 15 March 1958 at Sathyanarayanapete, in

Bellary Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India. Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...

. He studied his high school education from Siddhaganga High School,

Tumkur Tumkur, officially Tumakuru, is a city and headquarters of Tumakuru district in the Karnataka state of India. Tumkur is known for Siddaganga Matha. Tumkur hosts India's first mega food park, a project of the ministry of food processing. The Ind ...

for couple of years and he failed in SSLC. Later, he completed his master's degree in history and archaeology from Veerashaiva College,

Married life

Belagere has been married twice. His first wife is Lalitha and the second wife is Yashomati, who was his colleague at

office. His first wife has three children namely Chethana Belagere (daughter), Bhavana Belagere (daughter) and Karna (son). His second wife Yashomati has a son named Himavanth. He was an ardent fan of

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh FKC (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write '' Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 ( ...

and he said he was attracted to leftist ideology and he had no political leanings.

Career

Belagere started his career as a lecturer of history, working as a lecturer of history in

, Hassan and

Hubli Hubli (officially Hubballi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad district of ...

before heading to

Bengaluru 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 ...

in 1984. After coming to

, he started his own newspaper

on September 25, 1995 along with R. T. Vittalamurthy, Ra. Somanath, Jogi and I. H. Sangam Dev which he published from his Padmanabhanagar office in

. The columns like ''Love Lavike'', ''Bottom Item'' and ''Khaas Baat'' apart from ''Papigala Lokadalli'' which was about the underworld, created many admirers and his paper was the largest circulated newspaper over the five years. After this success, he started a magazine

which focused on difficulties and troubles of young people. Later, he produced several TV programs and acted in some movies.

Literary works

Media works

* He was the producer and narrator of the crime investigation show Crime Diary which aired on

ETV Kannada Colors Kannada (previously known as ETV Kannada), is an Indian Kannada language general entertainment channel, owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programs such as serials, reality shows ...

and he has also given his voice for the movie

Deadly Soma ''Deadly Soma'' is a 2005 Indian Kannada-language biographical crime film written and directed by Ravi Srivatsa. The film is based on the real life incidents of an infamous underworld don, Deadly Soma. The film stars Aditya in the title role and ...

* He hosted a TV program Endhu Mareyada Haadu, ''Break fast'' which aired on Janashri TV * He has acted in movies like

Ganda Hendathi ''Ganda Hendathi'' () is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language erotic thriller film, directed by Ravi Srivatsa and produced by Shailendra Babu. The film stars newcomers Vishal Hegde, Sanjjana and Thilak Shekar The film is a remake of Hindi hit film ' ...

Madesha ''Madesha'' is a 2008 Indian Kannada-language action-thriller film directed by Ravi Srivatsa and starring Shiva Rajkumar and Sonu Bhatia. The movie was released in August. Audio was launched on 24 Jun 2008. Cast *Shiva Rajkumar as Madesha * ...

and Vaarasdhara and also he has played the role of a judge in ''Muktha Muktha'' serial * He has also produced a TV programs such as ''Night Beat Crime'', ''Heli Hogu Karana'' which is based on his own novel on Suvarna TV * He has also conducted a radio program ''Bel Belagge Ravi Belagere on'' Akashvani. *He was a participant in

Bigg Boss Kannada ''Bigg Boss Kannada (BBK)'' is the Kannada version of the reality TV show ''Bigg Boss'', which is broadcast in India through Colors Kannada channel. The show is produced by Endemol Shine India, who owns the global format of '' Big Brother''. ...

seventh season.

Awards and honours

Controversies

In December 2017, Ravi Belagere was accused of contracting the killing of his former colleague and journalist Sunil Heggaravalli. It was alleged that he had paid Rs 15,000 as advance to the contract killers and also provided them with a country-made gun to kill his fellow journalist. He was arrested by the Bangalore Central Crime Branch under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and sections under the Arms Act. The officials seized a revolver and 53 bullets, a double barrel gun and 41 bullets from his Bengaluru residence. He spent many days at the Parappana Agrahara central jail in connection with the case. He wrote a controversial article on the actor

Rupini Komal Mahuvakar, better known by her stage name Rupini, is an Indian former actress who has appeared in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu language films during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Early life Mahuvakar was born in Mumbai i ...

which invited strong criticism. Belagere directed the movie ''Mukhyamantri I Love You'', which was based on the love story of H D Kumaraswamy and actor

Radhika Kumaraswamy Radhika Kumaraswamy (born Radhika Poojary) is an Indian actress and producer, who primarily appears in Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2002 with the Kannada film '' Ninagagi''. In 2012, she produced her first film, ''Lucky'' starri ...

. The movie never hit the screen as H. D. Deve Gowda brought a stay on its release. In December 2010, he made a derogatory comment on

Pratap Simha Prathap Simha (born 21 June 1976) is an Indian journalist and politician who was a Member of Parliament for Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore ...

, then a writer at

Vijaya Karnataka ''Vijaya Karnataka'' is a Kannada newspaper published from a number of cities in Karnataka. The newspaper is published from Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Gangavathi, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Chitradurga. It was ...

. It led to the resignation of Simha, the editor-in-chief

Vishweshwar Bhat Vishweshwar Bhat (born 22 July 1966) is an Indian journalist in Karnataka and the author of 94 books in Kannada language. He was the editor of ''Vijaya Karnataka'' and Kannada Prabha newspapers and the television channel Suvarna News. He starte ...

, P. Thayagaraj and several others. After that,

hit back at Ravi Belagere on his website and the spat between the two continued for a while. He had a spat with the producers of the movies such as

Bheema Theeradalli Bheema Theeradalli is a 2012 Kannada biopic action film directed by Om Prakash Rao and produced-shot by cinematographer Anaji Nagaraj. The film stars Duniya Vijay, Vijay Kumar (Duniya Vijay) and Pranitha Subhash. Controversial Excise minister ...

and Om(Kannada film) over alleged copyright infringement of his works.

Death

Ravi died at 2:30 AM on 13 November 2020 due to heart attack in Bangalore. He was 62.

References

External links

Official website
*

Official YouTube ChannelNamma Nammalli : Vijayavani newspaper articles by Ravi Belagere
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belagere, Ravi 1958 births 2020 deaths Indian editors Writers from Bengaluru Kannada-language journalists Journalists from Karnataka 20th-century Indian journalists Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2008