Dwarakish

Dwarakish Biography

Dwarakish is an actor, director and producer in the Kannada film industry. His real name is Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath. Dwarakish produced "ApthaMitra" in the year 2004 which was a major success. He was the first director to bring Kishore Kumar to Kannada film industry as a singer and the song - Aadu Aata Aadu became extremely popular.

Dwarakish was born on 19 August 1942 to Bungle Shama Rao and Jayamma in Hunsur. His childhood days were spent at Ittigegud, Mysore where he received primary education. He graduated from CPC Polytechnic with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and alongside his brother, he started an automotive spare parts business called "Bharath Auto Spares". He was attracted towards films and acting and later entered the film industry as an actor. Film director Hunusur Krishnamurthy was his uncle who gave him chance in movies as an actor.

In 1966, he co-produced his first film Mamateya Bandhana. In 1969, he independently produced Mayor Muthanna, under his new banner - "Dwaraka Films".  The movie was a hit, followed by a series of hits and became one of the successful names of the industry as a film producer. He was given the name Dwarakish by famous Kannada film maker C.V. Shivashankar. His first movie as a director was "Nee Baredha Kaadambari" released in 1985. Nee Baredha Kaadambari", ""Shruthi", "Shruthi Haakidha Hejje", "Raayaru Bandharu Maavana Manege" and "Kilaadigalu" are his major hits as a film director.

But later, his career noticed an upside down with a series of flops. Yet he continued giving oppurtunities to new faces of the industry. He is often regarded as ‘Godfather’ to many film actors of the industry. In 2004, he produced the mega blockbuster "ApthaMitra" and thus he regained his throne. He is also successful as a comedian in movies. He is popularly called 'Kulla' (a short man) in Kannada. He has produced 49 Kannada films and acted in more than 300 films.

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Updated: January 16, 2014