Siddalingaiah

30 Nov, 1935 |

Director

Biography

S. Siddalingaiah is an Indian film director and writer in the Kannada film industry. He has directed about 23 films in Kannada and also a Tamil film. Making his directorial debut in 1969 with Mayor Muthanna, he went on to direct some of the biggest blockbusters and landmark cinemas such as Bangaarada Manushya and Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu . Most of his initial films had actor Rajkumar playing the lead role. Most of his films were social and society oriented with a good noble message in them and he was considered as the "Social director" along with another legendary director Puttanna Kanagal. In 1993–94, he was awarded the Puttanna Kanagal Award for his contribution to Kannada cinema as a director. Family Siddalingaiah belongs to Veerashaiva community. His son Murali was an accomplished and successful actor in Tamil films. Murali died during the early hours of 8 September 2010 from a sudden massive heart attack in Chennai. His grandson Adharvaa is among the emerging actors in Tamil cinema who made his debut in the successful Baana Kaathadi in 2012 and also acted in director Bala's awarding winning movie Paradesi. Early life Siddalingaiah joined the film industry at a very early stage in his life. In his initial days, he worked as a floor boy and a spot boy at the Navajyothi studios. He gradually became an assistant to director Shanker Singh and later worked as junior actor and assistant under the protege of ace director B. Vittalacharya. In the mean time, he learnt languages such as Tamil and Telugu and even worked in those industries. With actor Balakrishna's recommendation, he made his directorial debut in the film Mayor Muthanna in 1969. Career Siddalingaiah directed his first film in 1969 with Mayor Muthanna that had Rajkumar and Bharathi playing the lead roles. This was the first production venture for actor Dwarakish who also starred in the film. The film was a runaway hit thus establishing his position as a director. He cast the same lead pair in some of his immediate future films such as Baalu Belagithu, Namma Samsara, Thayi Devaru and the epic blockbuster Bangaarada Manushya. The latter film received a cult status and was screened for two years successfully. The combination of Siddalingaiah and Rajkumar was very much talked about and was considered most successful. Bangaarada Manushya fetched many awards at the Karnataka State Film Awards including the Second Best Film Award. After Bangaarda Manushya, he began to team up with other actors such as Vishnuvardhan, Ananth Nag, Lokesh, Srinivasa Murthy and his own son Murali. Out of all these, his team up with Vishnuvardhan in Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu proved to be very successful and won him Best Film and Best Screenplay awards at the Karnataka State Film Awards. Narada Vijaya (1980) starring Ananth Nag also proved to be very successful. He introduced his son Murali in the 1983 romantic drama Prema Parva which proved to be successful. He also directed a Tamil film Puthir in 1986 with Murali as the lead actor. However, he could not find success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with all of his films becoming average grossers. His last film till date was Prema Prema Prema released in 1999 after which he retired himself from direction. Death Siddalingaiah passed away in at Suguna Hospital in Rajajinagar Bangalore on March 12 2015. He was 79, and was under going H1N1 treatment.