Well-known veteran Kannada cinema actor ‘Mysore’ Srikantayya Umesh passed away on Sunday after a prolonged illness. Family sources said that he was 80 years old. The actor was suffering from cancer for quite some time and was recently admitted to a hospital where he breathed his last.
Film journey of actor Umesh
His career in the film industry spanned more than five decades, where he acted in more than 350 films. Born on April 24, 1945 in Mysore, Umesh started his career at the age of four, when he studied under ‘Lanchavatar’ fame Master K. Played a role in Hiranyya’s theater group.
Got a big break from ‘Katha Sangam’
Later, he joined Gubbi Veeranna’s theater group. Umesh got a big break in the film industry in 1960 when he played the lead role in the film ‘Makkal Rajya’. After the beginning, there was a pause in his film career, which was full of struggles. He was forced to return to theatres. The actor got his next break in the film industry in 1977 through ‘Katha Sangam’. Since then, Umesh never looked back.
Umesh worked with all the leading Kannada actors of his time, including Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh, Srinath, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Arvind Ramesh, B. Saroja Devi and Bharti were included. She also acted with Tamil actors Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth.
Received Karnataka Natak Akademi Award
The actor received the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in ‘Katha Sangam’ in 1975 and the Karnataka Natak Akademi Award in 2013 for his contribution to theatre.Umesh acted in films like ‘Nagra Hole’, ‘Guru Shishyaru’, ‘Anupama’, ‘Kamna Billu’ and ‘Venkat in Sankata’.
The actor worked with all the leading Kannada actors of his time, including Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh, Srinath, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Arvind Ramesh, B. Saroja Devi and Bharti were included. She also acted with Tamil actors Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth.
Umesh was a versatile actor. He received the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in ‘Katha Sangam’ in 1975 and the Karnataka Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to theatre, in 2013.
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy expressed grief over
Condoling the actor’s demise, Janata Dal leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said he was deeply saddened to hear the news. He said, “Umesh used to immerse the audience in a sea of laughter with his fresh humor.” Kumaraswamy said in a post on