Puttanna Kanagal - Echoes of Cinematic Eternity

Considered to be one of the most renowned film auteurs of Kannada cinema or the world of Indian cinema itself in general, the journey of Puttanna Kanagal from being born in a poor Brahmin family to becoming one of the pioneers of influential cinema is nothing short of an inspiring tale of hardships, success, and celebrating the influential yet powerful energy of art and its transformative potential towards society.

Source - Art house Cinema

Moments of Pain

Born on December 1, 1933, to Brahmin parents Ramakrishna and Subbamma in Kanagal, which was a part of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, he was destined to endure some of life’s various hardships due to the poor condition of his family and had struggled a lot to even find a decent job. As a part of his early stages of growth, he worked as a teacher, salesman, and even a cleaner. Pretty tough life, isn’t it? But destiny can play a big hand in changing the lives of those who strive for it, and so did his job as a publicity agent, introducing him to the powerful world of theatre and cinema. The journey towards actual growth had only begun when he decided to work under one of the prominent filmmakers of his time, Mr. B.R. Panthulu, as an assistant director and driver, with his first venture as an assistant director being Rathnagiri Rahasya (1957), a cinematic cradle that further unlocked the potentiality of detective themes in Indian cinema.

A Remarkable Legacy

As a director, he went on to direct his first directorial venture, School Master (1964), which in turn was a remake of one of the classics of his former guru, B.R. Panthulu. Belli Moda (1967), on the other hand, became his first big critical and commercial success. It took Puttanna a whole week to scout the right location for one of the songs in the film known as “Moodala Maneya." Even though most of the stories of his film have been a part of various popular Kannada novels, he insisted on adding mandatory songs and emotions, which in turn ended up marking his work as a symbolic bridge between commercial and alternate cinema. His command over symbolism, colour, and imagery, especially in the field of song picturization, has always put him ahead of many of his contemporaries.

Most of his films were women-centric in nature and dealt with themes that were considered quite sensitive in nature, such as mental illness, depression, caste conflicts, etc. Imagine having a legacy so vast that even K. Balachander, one of the legendary filmmakers of his time and winner of the 2010 Dadasaheb Phalke Award who was older than him, considered him to be his guru in the world of filmmaking. Balachander just like Puttanna, had dealt with female-centric themes and subjects most of the time. He became the cinematic platform for various young actors who would later on end up ruling the masses and the field of cinema, such as Rajinikanth, Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Vajramuni, Srinath, Jai Jagadish, Aarathi, and many more.

Sharapanjara - Brilliance of the Silver Screen

This is still considered to be one of the boldest movies of Indian cinema due to its strong yet bold narrative regarding mental health and societal norms. Starring Kalpana and Gangadhar as the leads, it was adapted from a Kannada novel of the same name by one of the greatest female writers of Kannada literature known as Triveni. It is considered to be one of the greatest films in the history of Kannada cinema and had won the award for Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 20th National Film Awards in 1972. It had even become eligible for winning three awards in the 1970-71 Karnataka State Film Awards, including the award for the First Best Film. It gave birth to one of the most widely acclaimed female characters of Kannada cinema and had become a humongous milestone in the career of actress Kalpana. Her performance as a woman dealing with postpartum psychosis had received critical acclaim from most of the film critics back then. This cinematic sojourn was even remade in Telugu in 1974 under the title Krishnaveni, further extending its beloved reach and influence. It played a role in staging a deeper conversation regarding the mental well-being of women in the field of cinema.

Written By Shashank

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