Mysore/Mysuru: Rich tributes were paid to renowned Kannada Film Director late Puttanna Kanagal on his 87th birth anniversary in city on Tuesday.

Speaking at a function organised by Parivarthanam Trust at Apurva Auditorium in Chamundipuram, R. Raghu Kautilya, Chairman, D. Devaraj Urs Backward Classes Development Corporation, said a number of persons who grew in the ‘Garadi’ of “Chitra Brahma” and National award-winning Director Puttanna Kanagal became kings but they forgot about their ‘king-maker.’ At a time when people were watching mythological and religious movies, Puttanna brought in a sea change and attracted the audience towards movies revolving around the social issues. 

Puttanna worked under B.R. Pantulu as a mechanic and director, and went on to become dialogue delivery director. His works in cinema field caught the attention of the whole country, he added.

He said thespian Dr. Rajkumar had a lot of love and respect for two giants of Kannada cinema, Kanagal Prabhakar Shastri and Puttanna Kanagal. Though a number of youths trained by Puttanna made a name in film field but they forgot about their mentor. Puttanna Kanagal directed women-centric movies and never compromised till the artistes achieved perfectness in acting. Unfortunately, the Kannada cinema world has forgotten about one of the great Directors, he noted.

H.V. Rajeev, Chairman, Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), said Puttanna was known for giving life to characters in his movies. Leading actors like Dr. Vishnuvardhan, M.H. Ambarish, Srinath and Ramakrishna who were trained by Puttanna, made a name in Kannada filmdom. He played a vital role in taking Mysore to the pinnacle in Kannada film field.

N.M. Naveen Kumar, a Congress leader, said at a time when Kannada filmdom was struggling for its existence against tri-lingual, it was Puttanna who made the entire film fraternity to look towards Kannada film field. He introduced hundreds of artistes to Kannada filmdom.

Dr. Y.D. Rajanna, President, Mysuru District Kannada Sahitya Parishat, said Puttanna introduced to the nation Mysore Dasara, Navarathri, Malenadu, Chitradurga fort to Kanyakumari and Manasa Sarovara through his films. The films directed by Puttanna run packed houses for one hundred days.

MUDA Member Lakshmidevi, KMPK Charitable Trust President Vikram Iyengar, Parivarthanam Trust President Vinay Kanagal, Ajay Shastri, Apurva Suresh, Kadakola Jagdish, Jeevadhara Blood Bank Centre Director Girish, Rakesh Kunchitiga, S.N. Rajesh, Ranganath, Srikanth Kashyap, Harish Naidu and Suchendra Gopal were present.

Set up Kanagal Chair at UoM

In another function organised by Samarpana Educational and Endowment Charitable Trust, Mysuru, noted Columnist Bannur K. Raju urged University of Mysore to set up a Chair in the name of Puttanna Kanagal, who was like a milestone in Indian film industry. He belonged to Mysuru too. It would be befitting to start the Chair in the name of Puttanna Kanagal to introduce him to the present generation. At the same time, the State Government must protect the ancestral house of Puttanna in Kanagal village as a monument. He said Puttanna had directed 24 Kannada movies, 6 Malayalam, three Tamil, three Telugu and one Hindi movie that had a lot of message for society. Retired Railway employee S. Venkatakrishna, Trust Treasurer Rajendraprasad Honnalagere, industrialist K.M. Theerthaprasad and others were present.