A long procession of loss for films and theatre

Mastan 

Johny Lal

One of the early casualties in the Kannada film industry, after the pandemic broke out, was actor Rockline Sudhakar. Last September, he had recovered from the virus, but died of a heart attack soon after.

The most striking thing about Rockline Sudhakar was his voice: he just couldn’t speak softly. Yogaraj Bhat put his gruff, booming voice to great comic effect in ‘Pancharangi’. He was acting in his 199th film when he died.

Little over a month later, veteran actor, author and theatre personality HG Somashekar Rao died of a cardiac arrest. He was 86. Rao’s best works in cinema came in ‘Accident’, ‘Minchina Ota’ and ‘Harakeya Kuri’.

The second wave of the pandemic has claimed many reputed artistes. Here is a list of casualties over the past month:

April 18

DS Manjunath, Producer

The young producer’s comedy film ‘Chemistry of Cariappa’, which released in 2019, was an above-average hit. He also produced ‘Samyukta 2’. He was set to make his acting debut in ‘Zero Percent Love’, directed by Abhiram. Manjunath also played a small role in ‘Chemistry O Cariappa’. The film, which had Chandan Achar in the lead while Sanjana Anand played the heroine.

April 21

Mastan (63), Poster Designer

Mastan worked for over four decades as a poster designer for Kannada films. Apart from designing posters of over 2000 films, he also directed films like ‘Shuklambaradharam’ and ‘Kalleshi Malleshi’.

April 22

Johny Lal, Cinematographer

Johny, who predominantly worked in Bollywood, won the Karnataka State Award for his work in ‘Aathanka’, starring Anant Nag, and directed by Sai Prakash. He went on to collaborate with Sai Prakash multiple times. Johny’s father, SS Lal, was the cinematographer of Dr Rajkumar’s cult classic ‘Bhakta Prahlada’. Johny’s popular Bollywood projects are ‘Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein’, ‘Partner’ and ‘Yaadien’.

April 26

Ramu (53), Producer

Ramu was an ace Kannada film producer who bankrolled famous projects like ‘Golibar’, ‘AK 47’, ‘Lockup Death’ and ‘Kalasipalya’. He shot into the limelight as a producers who didn’t hesitate to spend lavishly, and hence earned the prefix of ‘Koti,’ which means ‘crore’. He went on to marry Malashri, who made waves in the industry in the 90s. Under the banner Ramu enterprises, he produced 39 films.

April 28

Ramu Kanagal (53), Dancer

Son of legendary director Puttanna Kanagal, Ramu was the founder of Kanagal Nrithyalaya in Bengaluru. He taught dance to many who made a name in the movies and the performing arts.

April 29

Chandrashekar (65), Producer

Under the banner of Nimishamba Productions, Chandrashekar produced hit films like Ravichandran’s ‘Annayya’, Ramesh Aravind-starrer ‘Karpoorada Gombe’, ‘Bindaas’, starring Puneeth Rajkumar and ‘Ranna’ starring Sudeep. He had recently announced a big-budget project with Upendra.

May 6

Renuka Sharma (81), Director

Renuka Sharma made hit films like ‘Kaviratna Kalidasa’, ‘Anjada Gandu’ and ‘Kindara Jogi’. His first directorial was ‘Anupama’, starring Anant Nag. The film was a musical hit. Renuka Sharma’s other popular film is the Ambareesh-starrer ‘Shabhash Vikram’.

May 7

Shankanaada Aravind (70),

Actor (Films)

Aravind, known for his roles in ‘Bettada Hoovu’ and ‘Shankanaada’ had acted in over 250 Kannada films. Aravind, who debuted with Kashinath’s ‘Aparoopada Athithigalu’ in 1976, acted in the maverick director’s popular films ‘Aparichita’ and ‘Anubhava’. Aravind’s daughter Manasa Holla is a playback singer. Aravind received praise for his performance in the political comedy ‘Shankanaada,’ which won an Award.

May 10

R S Rajaram (83), Actor

An actor on stage and in films, Rajaram was a respected name. He had acted in plays directed by C R Simha, B V Karanth, M S Sathyu, Sreenivas G Kappanna, C H Lokanath, R Nagesh and Prakash Belawadi. He was also the founder of many theatre and cultural groups. Some of the popular plays he acted in are ‘Tughlaq’, ‘Sankranti’, ‘Tipu Sultan’ and ‘Kittur Rani Chennamma’.