# Honnappa Bhagavathar

Chowdasandra Honnappa Bhagavathar (14 January 1915 – 2 October 1992; Kannada: ಹೊನ್ನಪ್ಪ ಭಾಗವತರು) was an Indian theatre and film actor, producer, musician and singer. He was best known as a singer and as one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema. He was also active in Tamil cinema. Bhagvathar is known for bringing actress Saroja Devi into the industry. His son Bharath was also an actor who worked in Kannada films and serials.

## Early life

He was born in 1915 at Chowdasandra, Nelamangala to Chikkalingappa and Kallamma. He weaved for a living. At age 5 he lost his father and grew up listening to his mother's Bhajans and music. He moved to Bangalore for work, learn classical music, accidentally he met his guru Sambandha Murthy Bhagavathar (Hari katha vidwan in three south Indian languages & also classical musician) in a relative's marriage function and became his disciple for learning classical music. He first became a pupil of his relative Murthy, then a pupil of harmonium player Arunachalappa.
Honappa staged a play in Salem and at the same time M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, who was a rising star in Tamil cinema, recommended Bhagvathar to director Ellis R. Duncan for a supporting role in his film Ambikapathi. Bhagvathar play was a success and he was honoured with the title "Bhagavathar" and was from then on credited as Honnappa Bhagavathar.

## Career

Bhagavathar acted in many Tamil films. Based now in Bangalore, Bhagavathar replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the 1946 movie Sri Murugan, acting alongside MGR. Both Bhagvathar and Jeevaratnam sang in the movie, with music scored by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu. Bhagvathar founded a production company named Lalithakaala Films. It produced films in Kannada and Tamil. In 1955, his film Mahakavi Kaalidasa was the first in the Kannada language. He produced Uzhavukkum Thozhilukkum Vandhanai Seivom, a Tamil-language film that was released in 1959.
He made his Kannada acting debut in the FILM Subadra. Bhagvathar is known for bringing actresses like B. Saroja Devi into the industry. In the film Valmiki, Bhagvathar replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Valmiki, the sinner-turned-sage. Bhagvathar became a star after M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar's temporary exit, playing the lead role in many Tamil movies and later in Kannada. He played the bandit-turned-sage. He also played the lead role in Mahakavi Kalidasa, which is regarded as a classic in Kannada cinema. At the 3rd National Film Awards, the film won the award for Best Feature Film in Kannada.
In 1960, Bhagavathar started the music school "Nadabrahma Sangeetha Vidyalaya". He became a member of the Kannada Film Advisory Board and worked as a member of Karnataka Sangeeta Nruthya Academy.

## Partial filmography

| No | Film | Year | Director | Language | Co-star | Notes |
| 1 | Krishnakumar | 1941 | S. D. S. Yogi | Tamil | T. S. Rajalakshmi | Lead Actor |
| 2 | Subhadra | 1941 | P. Pullaiah | Kannada | Gubbi Veeranna, J. Jayamma | |
| 3 | Sathi Suganya | 1942 | T. R. Sundaram & P. V. Chari | Tamil | T. R. Rajakumari | Lead Actor |
| 4 | Arundhathi | 1943 | M. L. Tandan & T. R. Sundaram | Tamil | U. R. Jeevarathinam | Lead Actor |
| 5 | Devakanya | 1943 | R. Padmanaban | Tamil | U. R. Jeevarathinam | Lead Actor |
| 6 | Prabhavathi | 1944 | T. R. Raghunath | Tamil | T. R. Rajakumari | Lead Actor |
| 7 | Rajarajeshwari | 1944 | M. L. Tandon & T. R. Sundaram | Tamil | K. L. V. Vasantha | Lead Actor |
| 8 | Burma Rani | 1945 | T. R. Sundaram | Tamil | K. L. V. Vasantha | |
| 9 | Hemareddy Mallamma | 1945 | G. R. Rao & S. Soundararajan | Kannada | Gubbi Veeranna, B. Jayamma | |
| 10 | Bhakta Kalathi | 1945 | R. Padmanaban | Tamil | K. Thavamani Devi | Lead Actor |
| 11 | Subhathra | 1946 | T. R. Sundaram | Tamil | K. L. V. Vasantha | |
| 12 | Sri Murugan | 1946 | M. Soma Sundaram & V. S. Narayanan | Tamil | MGR as support, U. R. Jeevarathinam, K. Malathi | Lead Actor |
| 13 | Valmiki | 1946 | Sundarao Nadkarni | Tamil | U. R. Jeevarathinam, N. C. Vasanthakokilam, T. R. Rajakumari | Lead Actor |
| 14 | Subathra | 1946 | T. R. Sundaram | Tamil | K. L. V. Vasantha | Lead Actor |
| 15 | Kundalakesi | 1947 | Boman D. Irani | Tamil | N. C. Vasanthakokilam | Lead Actor |
| 16 | Bhaktha Jana | 1948 | P. Pullaiah | Tamil | V. Nagayya, Santha Kumari | |
| 17 | Gokuladasi | 1948 | K. Subramaniam | Tamil | M. V. Rajamma | |
| 18 | Bhakta Kumbara | 1948 | Boman D. Irani | Kannada | Pandaribai | Lead Actor & Producer |
| 19 | Deva Manohari | 1949 | A. T. Krishnaswamy | Tamil | P. Bhanumathi | Lead Actor |
| 20 | Sathya Sodhanai | 1953 | H. L. N. Simha | Tamil | Pandaribai | Lead Actor |
| 21 | Gunasagari | 1953 | H. L. N. Simha | Kannada | Pandaribai | Lead Actor |
| 22 | Mahakavi Kalidasa | 1955 | K. R. Seetharama Sastry | Kannada | B. Saroja Devi (Introduced) | Actor, Producer & Music Director |
| 23 | Aashadaboothi | 1955 | D. Shankar Singh | Kannada | B. Saroja Devi | |
| 24 | Pancharathna | 1956 | K. Vembu | Kannada | Udaya Kumar, T. N. Balakrishna | Actor & Music Director |
| 25 | Jagajyothi Basveshwara | 1959 | T. V. Singh Thagore | Kannada | Rajkumar, B. Saroja Devi | |
| 26 | Uzhavukkum Thozhilukkum Vandhanai Seivom | 1959 | M. A. Thirumugam | Tamil | Prem Nazir, E. V. Saroja | Producer, With M. Karunanidhi in a Role |
| 27 | Katari Veera | 1966 | Y. R. Swamy | Kannada | Udaya Kumar | |
| 28 | Sadananda | 1979 | Ananth Hiregowder | Kannada | | Actor & Producer |

## Awards

* Mahakavi Kalidasa and Jagajyothi Basveshwara received National Awards in 1955 and 1959 respectively.
* In 1956, the Madras Sina Pyans Associations awarded him 'Best Actor'.
* In 1976, he was conferred the title "Gana Kalabhushana".
* In 1978, Scholars of Mysore state conferred the title 'Gaanakalaa Gandharva' on him.
* In 1986, he was awarded the 'Rajyothsava Award'.
* In 1990, he was awarded the 'Sangeet Natak Academy Award' by the President of India.
* In 1991, the Center for Music Drama Academy awarded him for his contribution to music. Also awarded for his stage music in this year.