Ganapathi Venkataramana Iyer (3 September 1917 â€" 21 December 2003),
popularly known as G. V. Iyer, was a well-known Indian film director
and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma",[1] and was the only
person who made films in Sanskrit. His film Adi Shankaracharya (1983)
won four National Film Award, including Best Film, Best Screenplay,
Best Cinematography and Best Audiography.[2][3] His films were well
known for their spiritual themes. He was born in 1917 in Nanjanagud in
Mysore district of Karnataka state in South India. His most critically
acclaimed films were Bhagavad Gita (1993), which won the National Film
Award for Best Feature Film and was nominated for Best Film at the
Bogotá Film Festival and Swami Vivekananda (1998), for which Mithun
Chakraborty won the national award for Best Supporting Actor.He
started his career at the age of eight when he joined the Gubbi
Veeranna theatre group.[4] His first role as an actor in cinema was in
the film Radha Ramana. Besides this he acted in a number of other
movies such as Mahakavi Kalidasa, Sodhari, Hemavati, Hari Bhaktha and
Bedara Kannapa. He is credited with providing breaks to two of the
greatest Kannada actors, Dr Raj Kumar and Narasimha Raju in the movie
Bedara Kannappa. Though Raj Kumar had acted in a single scene in a
movie previously, the movie Bedara Kannappa where Mr Iyer cast him as
the hero, is where he got his break and is regarded generally as his
first movie. Iyer also produced the critically acclaimed movie Vamsha
Vriksha. Based on an acclaimed novel by S L Bhairappa, it was jointly
directed by B V Karanth and Girish Karnad.He soon started directing
his own movies. The movie Hamsageethe (music by Dr. Balamuralikrishna,
B. V. Karanth and T.G. Lingappa) was well received and made him
famous. Iyer wrote scripts, lyrics and produced and directed many
commercial Kannada movies. Iyer's biggest effort was Ranadheera
Kanteerava. He continued to make commercial movies until 1970.
popularly known as G. V. Iyer, was a well-known Indian film director
and actor. He was nicknamed "Kannada Bheeshma",[1] and was the only
person who made films in Sanskrit. His film Adi Shankaracharya (1983)
won four National Film Award, including Best Film, Best Screenplay,
Best Cinematography and Best Audiography.[2][3] His films were well
known for their spiritual themes. He was born in 1917 in Nanjanagud in
Mysore district of Karnataka state in South India. His most critically
acclaimed films were Bhagavad Gita (1993), which won the National Film
Award for Best Feature Film and was nominated for Best Film at the
Bogotá Film Festival and Swami Vivekananda (1998), for which Mithun
Chakraborty won the national award for Best Supporting Actor.He
started his career at the age of eight when he joined the Gubbi
Veeranna theatre group.[4] His first role as an actor in cinema was in
the film Radha Ramana. Besides this he acted in a number of other
movies such as Mahakavi Kalidasa, Sodhari, Hemavati, Hari Bhaktha and
Bedara Kannapa. He is credited with providing breaks to two of the
greatest Kannada actors, Dr Raj Kumar and Narasimha Raju in the movie
Bedara Kannappa. Though Raj Kumar had acted in a single scene in a
movie previously, the movie Bedara Kannappa where Mr Iyer cast him as
the hero, is where he got his break and is regarded generally as his
first movie. Iyer also produced the critically acclaimed movie Vamsha
Vriksha. Based on an acclaimed novel by S L Bhairappa, it was jointly
directed by B V Karanth and Girish Karnad.He soon started directing
his own movies. The movie Hamsageethe (music by Dr. Balamuralikrishna,
B. V. Karanth and T.G. Lingappa) was well received and made him
famous. Iyer wrote scripts, lyrics and produced and directed many
commercial Kannada movies. Iyer's biggest effort was Ranadheera
Kanteerava. He continued to make commercial movies until 1970.
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