'A' producer Jagannath dies of kidney failure

Jagannath, of the Kannada film producer duo Jagannath-Manjunath, has passed away at his residence on Friday night following a heart attack. The producer was suffering from kidney failure and had been undergoing treatment for a long time. He was 52 years old. The cremation ceremony was performed in the same day afternoon at the Wilson Garden crematorium.

The producer died on the birthday of Upendra, who made his acting debut with the Kannada movie A, produced by Jagannath. The actor was busy in celebrating his birthday on that day so he could contact the family of the late producer at the late hours only. Director Loki, who has been with Upendra for a long time, was quoted saying that when Upendra got ready to reach the crematorium, the cremation was already done. However, he met the beleaguered family on the next day.

Upendra got the boost in his career through the movie A and it was made possible by the producers Jagannath and Manjunath. However, the producers could not get much share of the profit as distributor Yashraj got the lion"s share. In 1998, the film earned a gross collection of 20 crores in 100 days.

The unlucky producer later tried his hands to make a film with Shivaraj Kumar titled Hagaluvesha, which bombed at the Box Office. In his last appearance in media, Jagannath had expressed his intentions of making the sequel of A with Roopesh in the lead and Basavaraj as co producer.