Mangaluru : Veteran Kannada theatre and film personality Sadananda Suvarna, 92, passed away at a private hospital in Mangaluru on July 16. He was suffering from age-related ailments.

He was best-known for his 13-part television series Guddada Bhoota that he produced and directed for Doordarshan in 1991, and an eight-part documentary on Kannada writer Dr. K. Shivarama Karanth. His collaboration with noted auteur Girish Kasaravalli resulted in several cinematic masterpieces.

Hailing from Mulki in Dakshina Kannada district, Suvarna spent over five decades of his life in Mumbai. He worked as a teacher and later, for nearly three decades, as a dealer in wall paint. He was one of the leading lights of Kannada theatre in Mumbai. In later years, he shifted to Mangaluru, where too he was active in theatre. He had directed hundreds of plays, adapted many to the stage, in Kannada and Tulu.

While based out of Mumbai, he used to run a film society Srushti, which screened only Indian language films, while most of the other film societies showed foreign language films. Through the film society movement, he came in touch with the parallel cinema movement of the 1970s.

Girish Kasaravalli said, “A week after I finished my course at Film and Television Institute of India, I met him at a film festival. He was trying to make a film based on the script of Guddada Bhoota, and asked me to assist him. But I had already worked as an assistant director in two films and was looking to direct a film. I submitted the script of Ghatashraddha, which he liked and produced.” Ghatashraddha went on to win the Swarna Kamal award for best film that year.

Sadananda Suvarna directed only one film Kubi Mattu Iyala, based on a short story by K. P. Poornachandra Tejaswi. He worked as an executive producer on many films, inclujding Mane, Kraurya and Tabarana Kathe, all of which were directed by Mr. Kasaravalli and which went on to win several awards. Mr. Kasaravalli, in turn, worked as a creative director on the serial Guddada Bhoota.

“He was one person who never minced words and never tried to please anybody. I shared all my scripts with him and waited for his response, as it was very honest,” Mr. Kasaravalli said.

The duo had worked on several other projects, though not all of them materialised.

“He wished to do one film in his mother tongue Tulu. We tried multiple scripts, but somehow none of them took off. We also worked on a documentary on Sri Narayana Guru, but that too did not materialise,” he said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was among those who offered condolences.

Sadananda Suvarna, one of the oldest heads of the theater world, has left us today. He is famous for Guddeda Bhoota drama and serial, he is the creator of Tulu and Kannada dramas in Mumbai city. He brought theater to life on the coast through Suvarna Pratishthan. Ayana Nataka team pays a final tribute to this veteran stage spirit.