Puttanna Kanagal

Puttanna Kanagal (born Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma, 1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), was an Indian filmmaker and is considered as one of Kannada's cinema's greatest filmmakers. He was born in Kanagal, a village in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore into a poor Madhwa Brahmin family. Starting his career as a publicity boy, Kanagal was drawn into independent filmmaking after a stint in theatre and working with film director and producer B. R. Panthulu as his assistant. Kanagal's assiatants include Tamil directors SP. Muthuraman and P. Bharathiraja, and T. S. Nagabharana.

Although a majority of Kanagal's films were on offbeat or taboo subjects, generally women-centric, he endeared himself to both the critics and ordinary film goers alike making "bridge films" between art and commercial cinema. His first film in Kannada, Gejje Pooje, based on a novel of the same name by M. K. Indira is considered a landmark film. He would go on to direct other films such as Kappu Bilupu (1969), Sharapanjara (1971), Naagarahaavu (1972), Edakallu Guddada Mele (1973), Shubhamangala (1975) and Ranganayaki (1981), all of which are seen as milestones in Kannada cinema. He also directed a handful of films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages.