Dwarakish obit: He elevated Kannada screen comedian to status of hero

Dwarakish's son Yogish told The Federal that his father was ailing for some time. He complained of a stomach pain in the morning and had a disturbed sleep at night.

"He drank his morning coffee and told me he would sleep for some time but never woke up as promised. My father made the world smile and laugh and he left this mortal world, like the way lived, with his signature smile," he said.

Many firsts to his credit

Dwarakish, a popular comedian, also directed and produced Kannada films. He was an intrepid producer and is credited with bringing the legendary singer Kishore Kumar to the Kannada film industry to sing 'Aadu Aata Aadu'.

The song continues to be a craze among Kannada audiences. He was the first filmmaker in the Kannada film industry to shoot his films, ‘Singapoornalli Raja Kulla’ and ‘Africadalli Sheela,’ in foreign locations.

“It is not an exaggeration to describe Dwarakish as a man, who elevated the screen comedian almost to the status of a leading man. He was an intrepid adventurer, who did not want to brand himself merely as an actor, but also became a producer. He was an ambitious man, who wanted yet another identity for himself as a director and also fulfilled that dream," said a senior film critic Chetan Nadiger.

A glorious chapter in Kannada cinema

According to B N Subrahmanya, a national award-winning film writer, “The history of Kannada cinema will remain incomplete without a chapter on Dwarakish. He was the one who had many achievements to his credit and one of the few filmmakers, who could analyse the industry's past with authority. He was well-versed in the struggling days of Kannada cinema when it was yet to find its feet. For many people in the Kannada cinema industry, he was a role model, but for a few others he was also a controversial personality, who did not like to share his glory with others."

Also, he added, "Dwarakish was a fantastic actor with terrific comic timing, a producer with a brave heart and a director, who was not short of ideas. He identified many great talents and was an exceptional friend to a selected few."

An emotionally-charged Subrahmanya also shared that many people are unaware that Dwarakish even distributed few Kannada films to support few producers.

Dwarakanath became Dwarakish

A diminutive young man in his twenties with a terrific comic presence on screen captivated audiences of Kannada cinema, which was struggling to gain a foothold in the Indian film industry in 1964.

He was first noticed in the role of a prince in ‘Veera Sankalpa’. He had pestered his uncle Hunsur Krishnamurthy, one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema to introduce him in films, which he did as Bangle Shama Rao Dwarakanath.

In his six-decade journey, popularly known as Kannadada Kulla (the dwarf of Kannada cinema), Dwarakish left his footprints in the history of Kannada cinema. He was unquestionably one of the few practitioners of Kannada cinema who rose to the level of a Super Showman. He once confessed to this writer that “it was filmmaker C V Shivashankar, who had given him the name of Dwarakish.”

A trailblazer

The Kannada audience loved every bit of his jerky gait, pout, his trademark guffaw and coyness. During an interaction with this writer, Dwarakish said: “I was madly in love with cinema during the 60s, when Charlie Chaplin was a great influence on the comedians of Indian cinema. I was an innocent boy, my only goal was to act in films. But, I had no role models. It is probably my good fortune that I ended up being an actor in my own style without anybody’s influence.”

Dwarakish elevated the screen comedian to the status of leading artist. Though there were other comedians, who were ruling Kannada cinema at that time, including Narasimharaju and comedian Guggu and others, Dwarakish capitalised on his short stature to build special characters around his personality.

Notably, his diminutive stature did not come in the way of his thinking big. He is instrumental in introducing directors such as Siddalingaia, who made films such as ‘Mayor Muttanna’ starring Rajkumar’ and ‘Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu' with Vishnuvardhan. As a producer, he brought professionalism to Kannada cinema and set new trends.

Aptamitra- a landmark

Dwarakish's celluloid career lasted over six decades. He acted in 175 films, directed over 20 films, and produced as many as 50 films.

He produced ‘Mamateya Bandhana’ in 1966 and ‘Ayushmanbhava’, which released in 2019 was his last production. Dwarakish was credited with also introducing the genre of cowboy films to Kannada cinema. The cowboy genre was a rage in Hollywood at that time. In the films produced by him, when the titles rolled, the logo would feature his face roaring like the famous lion in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios Inc logo.

His film ‘Aptamitra’ starring Vishnuvardhan released in 2004. It is the first Kannada cinema to be screened in two theatres for one year and first one to complete one year of screening with four shows daily.

‘Aptamitra’ bagged almost all the awards of that year. His films such as ‘Nyaya Ellide’, ‘Shruthi’and ‘Indina Ramayana’ celebrated 25 weeks in the theatres. After failure of some of his films he once confessed that he had decided "against taking risks". "Only two persons in this country at the age of 62 went through a lot of trouble in their life. One is Amitabh Bachchan and another is Dwarakish. I tapped the doors of my debtors and cleared their loans," he had said.

Dwaraksh, who was born on August 19, 1942, did a diploma in enginering and ran an auto spare shop with his brother. He produced ‘Mayor Muttanna’ starring Rajkumar and Bharathi in 1969 and he directed his first film ‘Nee Bareda Kadambari’ in 1985 starring Vishnuvardhan and Bhavya. However, he went through a rough patch with a number of flop films.

At one point of time he was almost written off by the Kannada film industry. But, he resurrected himself by producing ‘Aptamitra’. He did face criticism for ushering in the remake culture in Kannada cinema, which later became an inseparable part of the industry. But he brought only good films from other languages, such as ‘Manichitratazhu’, which was remade in Kannada as ‘Aptamitra’.

Regardless of his age, Dwarakish connected with new-age filmmakers. When this writer last met him some months ago, he referred to Yogaraj Bhat, Suri, Pawan Kumar, Ram Reddy and few others and said, “They brought new gravitas to Kannada cinema."

Certainly, with DwarakIsh’s death, a vacuum has been created in the Kannada cinema world, which cannot be filled. He has left behind a rich legacy for the Kannada film industry.

Fake news

When the news broke about Dwarakish's death, the film fraternity did not believe it at first.

In July 2019 too, news about Dwarakish's death was circulated on social media. At that time, filmmaker K M Chaitanya sprang into action and dismissed the rumour in his tweet: “Dwarakish Sir is fine, God Bless. Please don’t entertain any rumours about his condition”.

Noted producer K P Srikanth also took to his twitter account posting a video in which Dwarakish himself dismissed the rumours. Srikanth captioned the video like this: “Great Comedian, producer, hero our Dwarakish sir, is very much fine and healthy."

In the video, Dwarakish said he was healthy and doing well. "Don’t propagate false information or rumour. Whatever happens to me, you will get to know first. Your love, faith and blessings kept me healthy. And I am healthy, I will be healthy, Thank you”, he had added.

Similarly, in April 2023, rumours about his death emerged on social media. When this was brought to Dwarakish’s notice, he issued a clarification through a video saying, “With all your blessings there is no need to worry. I am absolutely fine. I am healthy."

In August last year, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce celebrated Dwarakeesh's 80th birthday with pomp and splendour.

This is precisely why it has become a bit difficult for many, including this writer, to come to terms with the sad demise of one of the most legendary actors that the Kannada film industry had ever seen.