Honnappa Bhagavathar
| Honnappa Bhagavathar | |
|---|---|
Honnappa Bhagvathar in 1948
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| Born |
14 January 1915 Chowdasandra, Nelamangala, Bangalore, British India |
| Died | 2 October 1992 (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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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