Kannada theatre and film veteran Sadananda Suvarna (92) passed away on July 16, 2024 at a private hospital in Mangaluru. He was best known for the 13-part television series Gudda Bhoot, which he produced and directed for Doordarshan in 1991, and an eight-part documentary on Kannada writer Dr K Sivarama Karanth. His collaboration with noted writer Girish Kasaravalli resulted in several great films. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Senior Kannada theatre and film personality Sadananda Suvarna, 92, died at a private hospital in Mangaluru on July 16. He was suffering from age-related ailments.
He was best known for his 13-part television series Doll Ghost which he produced and directed for Doordarshan in 1991, and also an eight-part documentary on Kannada writer Dr. K. Shivarama Karanth. His collaboration with noted writer Girish Kasaravalli produced several cinematic masterpieces.
Suvarna, who hails from Mulki in Dakshina Kannada district, spent five decades of his life in Mumbai. He worked as a teacher and later, for nearly three decades, as a wall paint dealer. He was one of the leading stars of Kannada theatre in Mumbai. In later years, he moved to Mangaluru, where he remained active in theatre. He directed hundreds of plays in Kannada and Tulu and staged many plays.
While in Mumbai, he ran a film society called Srishti, which showed only Indian language films, while other film societies showed only foreign language films. Through the film society movement, he came into contact with the parallel cinema movement of the 1970s.
Girish Kasaravalli said, “A week after I finished my course at the Film and Television Institute of India, I met him at a film festival. He was trying to make a film based on the script. Doll Ghostand asked me to assist him. But I had already worked as an assistant director in two films and was looking to direct a film. I submitted the script Ghatashraddhawhich he liked and produced.” Ghatashraddha went to victory Golden Lotus It received the Best Film award that year.
Sadanand Suvarna directed only one film Kubi Matu IyalaKP is based on a short story by Poornachandra Tejaswi. He worked as an executive producer on several films, including Means, cruelty And Tabrana KatheAll of which were directed by Mr. Kasaravalli and which won several awards. Mr. Kasaravalli in turn worked as a creative director in the serial Doll Ghost,
“He was a person who never minced words and never tried to please anybody. I shared all my scripts with him and waited for his response because he was very honest,” Mr Kasaravalli said.
The two also worked on several other projects, although they all failed to materialise.
“He wanted to make a film in his mother tongue, Tulu. We worked on several scripts but somehow none of them took off. We also worked on a documentary on Sree Narayana Guru but that too did not take off,” he said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was also among those who offered condolences.
