Honnappa Bhagavathar

Honnappa Bhagavathar

Honnappa Bhagvathar in 1948
Born (1915-01-14)14 January 1915
Chowdasandra, Nelamangala, Bangalore, British India
Died 2 October 1992(1992-10-02) (aged 77)
Karnataka, India
Occupation Actor, singer, producer, musician, stage artist
Years active 1935–1992
Children 7

Honappa Bhagavatar, also known as C. Honnappa Bhagavathar (born Honappa, 14 January 1915 – 2 October 1992, Kannada: ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ ಭಾಗವತರು, Tamil: ஹொன்னப்ப பாகவதர்), was a Kannada – Tamil theatre artist, film actor, producer, musician and singer.[1][2] He was best known as a singer and as one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema. His son Bharath Bhagavathar was also an actor who worked in Kannada films and serials.

Early life

He was born in 1915 at Chowdasandra, Nelamangala to Chikkalingappa and Kallamma. He weaved for a living. At age 5 he lost his father and grew up listening to his mother's Bhajans and music. He moved to Bangalore for work,learn classicalmusic,accidentally he met his guru Sambandha Murthy Bhagavathar (Hari katha vidwan in three south Indian languages & also classical musician)in relatives marriage function & become his disciple for learning classical music. first becoming a pupil of his relative Murthy, then as a pupil of harmonium player Arunachalappa.

Honappa staged a play in Salem and at the same time M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, a filmmaker, was casting his latest film Ambikapathi. Honnappa's play was a success and he was honoured with the title "Bhagavathar". From then on, Honnappa's name became Honnappa Bhagavathar.[3]

Career

Honnappa Bhagvathar in Mahakavi Kalidasa (1955)

Honnappa Bhagavathar acted in many Tamil films. Based now in Bangalore, Honnappa Bhagavathar replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the 1946 movie Sri Murugan, acting alongside MGR. Both Honnappa and Jeevaratnam sang in the movie, with music scored by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu.[1] Honnappa founded a production company named Lalithakaala Films. It produced films in Kannada and Tamil. In 1955, his film Mahakavi Kaalidasa was the first in the Kannada language. He produced Uzhavukkum Thozhilukkum Vandhanai Seivom, a Tamil-language film that was released in 1959.

He made his Kannada acting debut in the movie Subadra.[4] Honnappa is known for bringing actresses like B. Saroja Devi into the industry.[5]

In the film Valmiki, Honnappa replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Valmiki, the sinner-turned-sage. Honnappa became a star after M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar's temporary exit, playing the lead role in many Tamil movies and later in Kannada. He played the bandit-turned-sage.[6]

In 1960, Bhagavathar started the music school "Nadabrahma Sangeetha Vidyalaya". He became a member of the Kannada Film Advisory Board and worked as a member of Karnataka Sangeeta Nruthya Academy.[3]

DVD Cover of: Jagajyothi Basaveshwara. Honnappa Bhagavathar acted as Basavanna, while Rajkumar acted as a supporting cast in the film.

Partial filmography[7][8]

No Film Year Director Language Co-star Notes
1 Krishnakumar 1941 S. D. S. Yogi Tamil T. S. Rajalakshmi Lead Actor
2 Subhadra 1941 P. Pullaiah Kannada Gubbi Veeranna, J. Jayamma
3 Sathi Suganya 1942 T. R. Sundaram & P. V. Chari Tamil T. R. Rajakumari Lead Actor
4 Arunthathi 1943 M. L. Tandan & T. R. Sundaram Tamil U. R. Jeevarathinam Lead Actor
5 Devakanya 1943 R. Padmanaban Tamil U. R. Jeevarathinam Lead Actor
6 Prabhavathi 1944 T. R. Raghunath Tamil T. R. Rajakumari Lead Actor
7 Rajarajeshwari 1944 M. L. Tandon & T. R. Sundaram Tamil K. L. V. Vasantha Lead Actor
8 Burma Rani 1945 T. R. Sundaram Tamil K. L. V. Vasantha
9 Hemareddy Mallamma 1945 G. R. Rao & S. Soundararajan Kannada Gubbi Veeranna, B. Jayamma
10 Bhakta Kalathi 1945 R. Padmanaban Tamil K. Thavamani Devi Lead Actor
11 Subhathra 1946 T. R. Sundaram Tamil K. L. V. Vasantha
12 Sri Murugan 1946 M. Soma Sundaram & V. S. Narayanan Tamil MGR as support,[9] U. R. Jeevarathinam, K. Malathi Lead Actor
13 Valmiki 1946 Sundarao Nadkarni Tamil U. R. Jeevarathinam, N. C. Vasanthakokilam, T. R. Rajakumari Lead Actor
14 Subathra 1946 T. R. Sundaram Tamil K. L. V. Vasantha Lead Actor
15 Kundalakesi 1947 Boman D. Irani Tamil N. C. Vasanthakokilam Lead Actor
16 Bhaktha Jana 1948 P. Pullaiah Tamil Chittor V. Nagaiah, P. Santha Kumari
17 Gokuladasi 1948 K. Subramaniam Tamil M. V. Rajamma
18 Bhakta Kumbara 1948 Boman D. Irani Kannada Pandaribai Lead Actor & Producer
19 Deva Manohari 1949 A. T. Krishnaswamy Tamil P. Bhanumathi Lead Actor
20 Sathya Sodhanai 1953 H. L. N. Simha Tamil Pandaribai Lead Actor
21 Gunasagari 1953 H. L. N. Simha Kannada Pandaribai Lead Actor
22 Mahakavi Kalidasa 1955 K. R. Seetharama Sastry Kannada B. Saroja Devi (Introduced) Actor, Producer & Music Director
23 Aashadaboothi 1955 D. Shankar Singh Kannada B. Saroja Devi
24 Pancharathna 1956 K. Vembu Kannada Udaya Kumar, T. N. Balakrishna Actor & Music Director
25 Jagajyothi Basveshwara 1959 T. V. Singh Thagore Kannada Rajkumar, B. Saroja Devi
26 Uzhavukkum Thozhilukkum Vandhanai Seivom 1959 M. A. Thirumugam Tamil Prem Nazir, E. V. Saroja Producer, With M. Karunanidhi in a Role
27 Katari Veera 1966 Y. R. Swamy Kannada Udaya Kumar
28 Sadananda 1979 Ananth Hiregowder Kannada Actor & Producer

Awards

References

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