Ajay Kumar at 05:07, 23 August 2023

2023-08-23T05:07:31Z

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{{Short description|Indian theatre personality, filmmaker}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gubbi Veeranna
| image = GubbiVeeranna.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 24 January 1891
| birth_place = [[Gubbi]], [[Kingdom of Mysore]], (present day in [[Tumkur District]], [[Karnataka]]), [[India]]
| death_date = 18 October 1972
| death_place = Bangalore (St. Martha's Hospital)
| occupation = Theatre director, actor
| children = 11
| website =
| imagesize = 200px
| years_active =
| spouse = Sundaramma, Bhadramma, [[B. Jayamma]]
}}

'''Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna''' (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to [[Kannada]] theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which played a crucial role in promoting the Kannada theatre field. He has been conferred the title ''Nataka Ratna'' meaning ''"A Precious Jewel" in the theatre world''. Gubbi Veeranna laid the foundation stone for the Kannada film industry. He established a studio, produced silent films in early days of cinema and produced good Kannada short films, He built theaters and introduced many actors including Dr Rajkumar, G.V Iyer, B.V Karanth, Girish Karnad and others to the Kannada film industry.

''Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company'' is the first theatre company in [[Karnataka]] to employ female artists to portray female characters on the stage.<ref name="wom">{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/03/06/stories/2003030600800200.htm|work=Online Edition of the Hindu, dated 6 March 2003|author=Deepa Ganesh|title=Dramatic silences|publisher=2003, the Hindu|access-date=19 June 2007|archive-date=22 December 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041222002928/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/03/06/stories/2003030600800200.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Elephants and horses were also brought on stage in war scenes of Kurukshetra. There is a popular saying that ''the story of Gubbi Veeranna's company is itself the story of the Kannada theatre'', which indicates the popularity of this company in the theatre world.<ref name="story">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/10/17/stories/2002101700330200.htm|title=All the city was a stage for them|author=K. Chandramouli|access-date=19 June 2007|location=Chennai, India|date=17 October 2002|archive-date=21 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021120616/http://hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/10/17/stories/2002101700330200.htm|work=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> Apart from theatre, Gubbi Veeranna has also produced films and acted in them as well. He setup one of the first film studio's in Bengaluru called the [[Kanteerava Studios|Sree Kanteerava Studios]] in association with the government and few other personalities like TS Karibasavaiah and V Shankare Gowda.

In 1955, he was awarded the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] for acting, given by the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]], India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama, and the highest Indian recognition given to practising artists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm |title=SNA: List of Akademi Awardees |publisher=[[Sangeet Natak Akademi]]Official website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331060603/http://www.sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/awardeeslist.htm |archive-date=31 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]], in 1972, for his contributions to arts.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2013 |access-date=August 20, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Biography==
Gubbi Veeranna was born in the village [[Gubbi|Gulaganjihalli, Near Gubbi]] in the [[Tumkur district]] of Karnataka in the year 1891.<ref name="stal">{{cite web|url=http://www.karnataka.com/personalities/gubbi-veeranna/|title=The Man Behind Kannada Theater – Gubbi Veeranna|publisher=karnataka.com|work=Online web page of OurKarnataka.com|access-date=12 May 2014|archive-date=13 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513010655/http://www.karnataka.com/personalities/gubbi-veeranna/|url-status=live}}</ref> He started a drama company called ''Gubbi Shree Channa Basaveshwara Nataka Company'' and started producing plays in which he also acted sometimes. He had three wives, Sundaramma, Bhadramma and [[B. Jayamma]].<ref name="wom"/> He had an unnerving commitment towards the theatre. An incident to corroborate this is when his second wife Sundaramma, who was also an artist with the company, died on the stage while enacting a play. It is said that Gubbi Veeranna who was also acting in the play along with his children, did not stop the play but allowed it to continue till the end. He and his children attended to her dead body only after the play stopped.<ref name="wom"/>

Veeranna also is credited for having groomed [[Dr. Rajkumar|Rajkumar]], Narasimharaju, Balakrishna, G.V.Iyer, [[B. V. Karanth]], [[Master Hirannaiah]] and many more artists. He not only helped them with their careers in the theatre field but also provided them with other financial help. As an example, Veeranna provided a financial contribution towards [[B. V. Karanth]]'s graduation and master's degree at [[Banaras Hindu University]].<ref name="kara">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/sep/04spec.htm|title=Tribute|author=Girish Karnad|work=Online webpage of Rediff.com|access-date=19 June 2007|archive-date=13 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713203016/http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/sep/04spec.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Veeranna had many children including G.V Shivanand who was an accomplished dramatist and director. He also had 37 grandchildren including [[B. Jayashree]] and [[Vyjayanthi Kashi]], G.S. Sundarashree and G.S. Nataraj. who have been associated with the Kannada theater and film industry.

==Theatre company==
Initially located in [[Gubbi]], the company started to travel to different places and stage plays in those locations. The company had a troupe of more than 150 artists and backstage workers.<ref name="troupe">{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001111/windows/main1.htm|title=All life is an accident|author=Kuldip Dhiman|work=Online Edition of The Tribune, dated 11 November 2000|access-date=19 June 2007|archive-date=16 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716145247/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20001111/windows/main1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Some popular plays staged by the company included ''Sadaarame'' and ''Yechamma Nayaka''. These plays consisted of innovations like trick scenes, floods, clouds and rain. In those days, dramas used were staged for free with people only paying according to their liking at the end of the drama.

However, Gubbi Veeranna's dramas were an exception with people willing to buy tickets to watch them.<ref name="troupe"/> Most of the actors and actresses that entered the Kannada cinema world in those days were from this drama company.<ref name="story"/> Later the company opened branches in different places. An important branch of the company was the [[Mysore]] branch which staged popular plays and the finances generated from this branch actually sustained the whole company. The humorist Hirannaiah was one of the persons responsible for the popularity of the Mysore branch.<ref name="hiran">{{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/archives/may82005/finearts8467200556.asp|work=Online edition of the Hindu, dated 5 August 2005|title=Blessed with the gift of the gab|publisher=2005, The Hindu|access-date=19 June 2007|archive-date=29 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929123855/http://www.deccanherald.com/archives/may82005/finearts8467200556.asp|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gubbi Veeranna's company first came to [[Bangalore]] in the year 1916. Later Gubbi Veeranna constructed his own theatre in Bangalore on the Subedar Chatram Road in 1924 and the Shivananda Theatre (now called as Movieland) in 1930.<ref name="story"/> Probably, the most famous artist to emerge from the Gubbi Veeranna company was [[Dr. Rajkumar|Rajkumar]]. Rajkumar's father Singanallur Puttaswamiah was an actor in the company and Rajkumar and his brother joined the company as child artistes.<ref name="raj">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2006/04/14/stories/2006041402600100.htm|title=Raja bequeaths empire|author=Muralidhar Khajane|access-date=19 June 2007|location=Chennai, India|date=14 April 2006|archive-date=18 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618024655/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2006/04/14/stories/2006041402600100.htm|work=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rajkumar actually attributed his command over the [[Kannada]] language and his singing skills to the training he underwent under the watchful eyes of Gubbi Veeranna.<ref name="raj"/>

==Film production==
One of the early pioneers of Kannada cinema, Gubbi Veeranna started a limited company called ''Karnataka Films Productions'' to produce films. His first production was a movie 'Song of Life' in 1930, followed by 'His Love Affair' in 1931. He then produced 'Harimaya' in 1932 followed by the evergreen comedy Sadarame in 1935, in which he acted in the lead role. The film had C.I.D. Sakunthala, Ashwathama and [[B. Jayamma]] in the cast and was directed by Raja Chandrasekar. He then produced ''[[Subhadra (film)|Subhadra]]'' which had [[Honnappa Bhagavathar]] in the lead.

In 1942, he produced ''[[Jeevana Nataka]]'' with Kemraj Urs in the lead. He again acted in the lead role in the film Hemareddy Mallamma, in 1945. He produced Sathya Shodhanai in 1953, which was a Tamil Film and had again starred [[Honnappa Bhagavathar]]. ''Karnataka Gubbi Productions'' was later called as ''The Karnataka Films Ltd.'', it is attributed to have started the film career of [[Dr. Rajkumar|Rajkumar]] when it agreed to offer him the lead role in his first film [[Bedara Kannappa]].<ref name="bk">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/14/stories/2006041414760400.htm|title=Rajkumar had a link with Hubli|access-date=19 June 2007|location=Chennai, India|date=14 April 2006|archive-date=23 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423093934/http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/14/stories/2006041414760400.htm|work=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He has also produced silent movies like ''His Love Affair'' which was directed by a foreigner, Raphel Algoet. In this film, the lead role of the actor was played by Gubbi Veeranna himself and the actress was none other than his wife, Jayamma.<ref name="chen">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/10/18/stories/13181282.htm|title=Mylapore and movies|access-date=19 June 2007|location=Chennai, India|date=18 October 2001|archive-date=7 December 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051207182932/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/10/18/stories/13181282.htm|work=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1956, he produced Sadaarme, which had T.N. Balakrishna in lead and also had [[Kalyan Kumar]]. It was the remake of 1936 movie with the same name. In 1959, he produced ''[[Sahodhari]]'', a Tamil Film which had [[K. Balaji]] in the Lead.

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Film
!Year
!class="unsortable" | Director
|-
|''Song of Life''
|1930
|G. P. Pawar
|-
|''His Love Affair''
|1931
|Raphaël Algoet
|-
|''Hari Maya''
|1932
|Y. V. Rao
|-
|''[[Sadarame]]''
|1936
|Raja Chandrasekhar
|-
|''[[Subhadra (film)|Subhadra]]''
|1941
|[[P. Pullaiah]]
|-
|''[[Jeevana Nataka]]''
|1942
|Wahab Kashmiri
|-
|''Hemareddy Mallamma''
|1945
|S. Soundararajan
|-
|''[[Gunasagari]]''
|1953
|H. L. N. Simha
|}

==Recognition==
The Karnataka government has instituted the '''Gubbi Veeranna award''' for excellence in theatre in his memory.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veeranna, Gubbi}}
[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tumkur]]
[[Category:Kannada dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Male actors in Kannada cinema]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Male actors from Karnataka]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male actors]]
[[Category:Film producers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Kannada film producers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]

Gubbi Veeranna - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 05:07, 23 August 2023