What are some of the lesser known facts about the Indian film director K. Viswanath?

 

• K. Viswanath was an Indian director, screenwriter, dialogue writer, lyricist and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema.
• He was born on 19th February 1930 at his native village, Repalee, which is in the present day Andhra Pradesh.
• His parents were Mr Kashinadhuni Subramanyam and Mrs Kashinadhuni Saraswatamma.
• K Vishwanath finished his intermediate at Guntur Hindu College and pursued a Bachelor of Science from Andhra Christian College which was affiliated to Andhra University.

K Viswanath (extremely left) on film sets

• He never planned to work in the film industry. He aspired to appear in civil service examinations and do an administrative job. He was pursuaded by his maternal uncle to join the film industry.
• Viswanath Garu worked as a Sound Recordist for Vauhini Studios & as an Assistant Director for Annapurna Studios.
• He worked as associate of Indian film director Adurthi Subba Rao before making his own directional debut.

K Viswanath Garu while shooting for one of his films

• In 1965, he made his directional debut with the Telugu film Aatmagouravam starring A. Nageshwar Rao in the lead role. The film won two State Nandi Awards and was a box office hit.
• Apart from direction, Viswanath Garu also contributed as a screenwriter for few other films. He contributed screenplay for films like Sudigundalu & Maro Prapancham.
• He directed many successful mainstream films and established himself as one of the leading directors of his time.

DVD cover of 1976 film Siri Siri Muvva

• His 1976 film, Siri Siri Muvva proved to be the turning point of his directional career. He changed his trajectory and started making films based on Indian fine arts and Telugu Culture.

Sankarabharanam is considered to be a landmark film of Telugu Cinema

• He delivered the biggest film of his career in 1980, Sankarabharanam. It opened to almost empty theatres but gradually became a box office phenomenon through positive word of mouth.
• The title of most of his films after Sankarabharanam started with the letter “S”. He paid tribute to Mother Saraswati through this.

Swathi Mutyam was the first Telugu movie to be sent for Oscar Nomination

• His 1986 film Swathi Mutyam was the first and till date the only Telugu film to be sent as India's submission to Oscars.

(Left to Right) Sirivennela Garu and Veturi Garu were introduced by K Viswanath Garu to Telugu Cinema

• Viswanath Garu is credited for introducing lyricists Veturi Sundararama Murthy and Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry to Telugu Film Industry.

K Viswanath Garu was persuaded by S P Balasubramanyam and Kamal Hassan to make his acting debut

• Viswanath Garu was a great actor! He would often act and explain scenes to actors working in his film. He was pursuaded by S P Balasubramaniam and Kamal Hassan to make his acting debut.

(Left to Right) Kamal Hassan, K Viswanath Garu and Aamani in a still from Subha Sankalpam

• He made his acting debut with the 1995 Telugu film, Subha Sankalpam, which was his own directional venture. It was produced by S P Balasubramaniam and distributed by Kamal Hassan.
• K Viswanath acted in more 30 films in supporting roles. Some of the famous films in which he acted include, Kalisundam Raa, Narasimha Naidu and Uttama Villian.

K Viswanath Garu was also a noted lyricist. He contributed lyrics for two of his own films.

• Apart from directing, screenwriting and acting, he was also a noted lyricist. He wrote the lyrics of two songs, Pattu Chera for Swathi Mutyam (1986) and Kudikannu for Swarabhishekam (2004). Both these films were his own directional.

2010 film Subhapradham was the last directional of K Viswanath

• His last directional was Subhapradham which was released in 2010. Unfortunately, the film performed poorly at the box office.

K Viswanath Garu received Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2017

• K Viswanath was awarded Padmasri in 1992 and the highest cinema award Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2016 for his contribution to Indian Cinema.
• He died at the early hours of 2nd February 2023 at his residence, aged 92. Tragically, he passed away on the day when his magnum opus Sankarabharanam completed 43 years of its theatrical release.

(Photo source: Google)