Bengaluru: Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath, popularly known as Dwarakish, legendary actor and producer in the Kannada film industry, passed away following a heart attack in Bengaluru this morning. He was 81.

His son informed the media that he died at his house in Electronic City. He leaves behind five sons including Giri Dwarakish and Yogish Dwarakish.

Born on Aug. 19, 1942, at Hunsur in Mysuru district, Dwarakish grew up at Ittigegud in                            Mysuru where he attended Sarada Vilas and Banumaiah’s School for his primary education and later studied in CPC Polytechnic and obtained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

Following his education, Dwarakish, along with his brother, ventured into automotive spare-parts business and founded ‘Bharath Auto Spares’ near Gandhi Square, Mysuru.

Despite his business pursuits, Dwarakish harboured a strong passion for acting and frequently approached his maternal uncle and renowned cinema director Hunsur Krishnamurthy for opportunities in the film industry.

In 1963, he made the decision to leave his business behind and pursue a career in acting. It is Kannada filmmaker C.V. Shivashankar who gave him the name Dwarakish.

In 1966, Dwarakish collaborated with two others to co-produce film ‘Mamatheya Bandhana’ under Thunga Pictures banner.

In 1969, he achieved his first independent production success with ‘Mayor Muthanna,’ featuring late Dr. Rajkumar and Bharathi in the lead roles, which became a hit at the box office.

Following the success of ‘Mayor Muthanna,’ Dwarakish continued to deliver a string of box office hits to Kannada cinema for the next two decades.

He is also credited with introducing noted Hindi playback singer Kishore Kumar to Kannada film industry with the song ‘Aadu Aata Aadu.’

From the year 1985, Dwarakish started directing movies; his first movie as a director was ‘Nee Bareda Kadambari.’ He went on to direct movies for other producers.

Behind the camera, Dwarakish was successful. As a director, he created movies such as ‘Dance Raja Dance, Nee Bareda Kadambari, Shruthi, Shruthi Haakidha Hejje, Rayaru Bandaru Mavana Manege’ and ‘Kilaadigalu.’ His latest blockbuster was ‘Apthamithra,’ with late Vishnuvardhan in the lead role.

His mortal remains will be kept at his residence in Electronic City for the public and dignitaries to pay their last respects.

He is likely to be cremated at Chamarajpet crematorium tomorrow.