V. Somashekhar

Venkatappa Somashekhar (27 July 1937 – 22 August 2003) was an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter in Kannada and Malayalam cinema. In 40 years of his career as a director, he directed 49 films that includes commercial successes such as Premada Kanike (1976), Shankar Guru (1978), Seetharamu (1979) and Chakravyuha (1983).^[1]

Following his directorial career, he worked as the President of Kannada Film Directors Association. Recognizing his contribution to Kannada cinema, he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award in 2001.^[2]

Career

In 1955, in Madras (now Chennai), at the age of 18, Somashekhar entered cinema hoping to become an actor and started as a clapperboard operator. He then appeared in uncredited film roles before working as a dubbing artiste. Following this, he worked as an assistant director to popular film directors at the time, R. Nagendra Rao, N. G. Rajan, Y. R. Swamy, Ramamurthy and Babu Rao.

Somashekhar started out as an independent director with the 1974 film Bangaarada Panjara that stars Rajkumar in the lead role. The film was a commercial success. Collaborating with Rajkumar, he followed this up with other hit films such as Premada Kanike (1976), Shankar Guru (1978), Thayige Thakka Maga (1978) and Parashuram (1989). He was also said to be instrumental in building the career of Shankar Nag, directing him in films such as Seetharamu (1979), Aarada Gaaya (1980) and Devara Aata (1981). He directed Ambarish in the 1983 film Chakravyuha, a commercial success during the time and was said to have revived the latter's career following a series of failures.^[3] With Vishnuvardhan, he worked in the 1980 film, Kalinga and Chanakya (1984). Other popular films directed by him include Point Parimala (1980), Ranaranga (1988) and S. P. Bhargavi (1981).^[1]

Final years and death

Following his film career as a director after retiring in 1992, Somashekhar associated himself with Kannada cinema as the President of Kannada Film Directors Association and as a working committee member of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce.^[1] Recognizing his contribution to Kannada cinema, he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award in 2001, for 1999–2000. He took to agriculture in the following years and also suffered from renal disorder during the time. He died on August 22, 2003, at a hospital in St. John's Medical College, Bangalore.^[3]

Filmography

References

External links

• V. Somashekhar at the Internet Movie Database
• V. Somashekhar profile