Dwarakish was Kannada cinema’s prachanda kulla, who never let his short stature get in the way of his passion for films. As an actor and producer, Dwarakish fuelled Kannada cinema’s golden phase in the late 1970s and 1980s. Marked by the top-notch production value and sustained entertainment, films such as Bhagyavantharu (1977), Kittu Puttu (1977), Singaporenalli Raja Kulla (1978), Manku Thimma (1980), Guru Shishyaru (1981), and others became blockbusters.
First showman
“He was Kannada cinema’s first showman, a moniker later given to V. Ravichandran,” says senior film writer and author S. Shyam Prasad. “He didn’t slot himself as a comedian and became a hero. Nobody in the Kannada film industry had even imagined shooting a film in Africa, but he pulled it off with Africadalli Sheela (1986),” says Mr. Prasad. Earlier, he had shot Singaporenalli Raja Kulla, starring himself and Vishnuvardhan, in Singapore, making it the first Kannada film to be shot abroad.
