Honnappa Bhagavathar

Bhagvathar is known for bringing actress Saroja Devi into the industry. His son Bharath was also an actor who worked in Kannada films and serials.

• Name — Honnappa Bhagavathar • Born — 14 January 1915 • Birthplace — Chowdasandra, Nelamangala, Bangalore, British India • Died — 2 October 1992 • Place of death — Karnataka, India • Occupation — Actor, singer, producer, musician, stage artist • Children — 7 • Years Active — 1935–1992

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, learned classical music, then accidentally he met his guru Sambandha Murthy Bhagavathar (Hari katha vidwan in three south Indian languages & also classical musician) in a relative's marriage function and became his disciple for learning classical music. He first became a pupil of his relative Murthy, then a pupil of harmonium player Arunachalappa. Honappa staged a play in Salem and at the same time M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, who was a rising star in Tamil cinema, recommended Bhagvathar to director Ellis R. Duncan for a supporting role in his film Ambikapathi. Bhagvathar play was a success and he was honoured with the title "Bhagavathar" and was from then on credited as Honnappa Bhagavathar.

Bhagavathar acted in many Tamil films. Based now in Bangalore, Bhagavathar replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the 1946 movie Sri Murugan, acting alongside MGR. Both Bhagvathar and Jeevaratnam sang in the movie, with music scored by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu. Bhagvathar 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 FILM Subadra. Bhagvathar is known for bringing actresses like B. Saroja Devi into the industry. In the film Valmiki, Bhagvathar replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Valmiki, the sinner-turned-sage. Bhagvathar 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. He also played the lead role in Mahakavi Kalidasa, which is regarded as a classic in Kannada cinema. At the 3rd National Film Awards, the film won the award for Best Feature Film in Kannada. 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. • Illustration — DVD Cover of: Jagajyothi Basaveshwara. Bhagavathar acted as Basava, while Rajkumar acted as a supporting cast in the film.

• 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 — Arundhathi — 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, 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 — V. Nagayya, 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