SK Bhagawan passes away: Tributes pour in for director who introduced James Bond-style films in Kannada

Veteran Kannada film director SK Bhagawan is no more. The filmmaker who was one half of the famous duo Dorai-Bhagavan passed away at the age of 89. Dorai-Bhagavan were known for churning out James Bond-style films in Kannada.

Bengaluru: Renowned veteran Kannada film director SK Bhagawan passed away this morning. He was 89 and the cause of death is suspected to be an age-related illness. More details are awaited in this regard. A while ago Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai took to Twitter to confirm the news and express grief over the demise.

He wrote a special message for the late director in Kannada which translates to - "Renowned director of Kannada film industry Shri S. K. I was very saddened to hear the news of Bhagavan's death. I pray for his soul. I pray that God gives strength to his family to bear this pain."

He continued, "Dorai-Bhagavan duo has given many tasteful films to Kannada cinema. Dr and his friend Dorai Raj directed 55 films including 'Kasthuri Niwas', 'Eradu Soyam', 'Bayalu Dari', 'Giri Kanye', 'Hosa Lekuk' starring Rajkumar. Om Shantih."

Playback singer-music producer Aniruddha Sastry tweeted, "The legend lives on!"

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Actor-producer Raghavendra Rajkumar too took to social media to mourn SK Bhagwan's demise.

Born on July 5, 1933, Bhagawan began performing in theatre plays at an early age alongside Hirannaiah Mithra Mandali. In 1956, he began working in the movie industry as Kanagal Prabhakar Shastri's assistant. Soon, he was listed alongside A.C. Narasimha Murthy as the co-director of Rajadurgada Rahasya (1967).

He made his directorial debut with Jedara Bale (1968) for which he shared credit with Dorai Raj. In following years Dorai-Bhagavan duo rose to fame with James Bond-style films in Kannada. After Dorai Raj passed away, Bhagavan took a long break from directing; their last film together was Baalondu Chaduranga in 1996. He made a comeback in 2019 with Aduva Gombe, the 50th movie he has directed, at the age of 85. (With agency inputs)