Agni Shridhar is a Kannada former gangster, writer, critic and artist. [1] He founded Karunada Sene. [2] Later he founded the weekly Kannada newspaper Agni, and turned a professional writer. He has written a book called "Daadagiriya Dinagalu", meaning the days of Goondaism.
He hails from Channapattana and studied in Bangalore. [3]
Year | Film | Director | Screenplay | Story | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Aa Dinagalu | No | Yes | Yes | also dialogue writer |
2009 | Kallara Santhe | No | Yes | Yes | |
2010 | Thamassu | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directorial debut |
2012 | Edegarike | No | Yes | Yes | Dialogue writer |
2016 | Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu | No | Yes | No | |
2021 | Head Bush | No | No | Yes | |
TBA | Silent Sunila | No | Yes | Yes | |
Thamassu directed by Agni Shridhar was adjudged as the second best film in the Karnataka State Film Awards for the year 2010-11. He also won the Best Screen Play writer award for the same movie. [6]
Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore. The 1934 film Sati Sulochana directed by Y. V. Rao was the first talkie film released in the Kannada language. It was also the first film starring Subbaiah Naidu and Tripuramba, and the first screened in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. It was produced by Chamanlal Doongaji, who in 1932 founded South India Movietone in Bangalore.
Girish Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
Gangaraju, professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, dialogue writer, instrumentalist and conductor, having composed and written over 500 albums.
Aa Dinagalu is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language crime drama film based on the non-fiction novel Daadaagiriya Dinagalu by Agni Shridhar, and directed by K. M. Chaitanya. It stars Chethan Kumar in the lead role. The supporting cast features Sharath Lohitashwa, Ashish Vidhyarthi, Atul Kulkarni and Veda Sastry. The plot revolves around mafia in Bangalore during the 1980s when gangsters Kotwal Ramachandra and M. P. Jayaraj dominated the Bangalore underworld. The film's soundtrack and background music was scored by Ilayaraja.
K. M. Chaitanya is a film director, documentary maker and theater person. His first feature film Aa dinagalu in Kannada, won several awards including the Filmfare Awards South for Best Director and Best Feature Film in 2007. Chaitanya also won awards for Best Debutant Director by the South Indian Cinematographers' Association, Chennai Film Fans Association and Raghavendra Chitravani Award. Aa Dinagalu was listed by The Week among the top 10 Indian films of 2007. Chaitanya studied Journalism at Christ College.
Sharatchandra Lohithaswa, known popularly as Sharath Lohithaswa, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Kannada cinema alongside some Tamil and Telugu films. He has had a successful career in theatre, where he continues to work, and television. After working as a lecturer for a brief period, Sharath took to acting as a full-time profession and worked on stage following the footsteps of his father Lohithaswa. He began working in films in 1995 and has today established himself as a character actor.
Thamassu (transl. Darkness) is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language film written directed by journalist Agni Shridhar, starring Shiva Rajkumar and Padmapriya. The movie was released on 11 June 2010 and received extremely positive reviews. The story was inspired by a Hindu-Muslim incident in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.
Mysore Puttaswamaiah Jayaraj, known as M. P. Jayaraj (1944/1946–1989) was an Indian mafia gangster who operated in Bangalore during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a hobbyist wrestler from his childhood who seriously practiced at Annayappa Garadi in Thigalrapete. He was brought into forefront of Bangalore underworld by M. D. Nataraj, the then son-in-law of the Chief Minister of Karnataka Devaraj Urs.
Kotwal Ramachandra was a gangster in Bangalore in the 1970s and 1980s. He covered Bengaluru North and operated in Kodandarampura and Srirampura there. He was a contemporary of rival M. P. Jayaraj. The two had a power struggle over who would rule the Bangalore underworld under the crime boss Oil Kumar. Jayaraj was successful in bumping off Ramachandra with the help of Agni Shridhar, Bachchan and Varadharaja Nayak.
K Kalyan is an Indian songwriter and music composer known for his works in Kannada film industry. He is also called as "Premakavi.
Shashidhar Adapa is an Indian production designer, set designer and puppet designer, known predominantly for his work in Kannada cinema. In 1984, he formed Prathiroopi, a television, film, and stage set design company.
Harshika Poonacha is an Indian actress who mainly works in Kannada films. She rose to fame with the 2008 Kannada film PUC.
Edegarike is a 2012 Indian Kannada crime drama film directed by Sumana Kittur. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Agni Shridhar and stars Aditya in the lead role, while Atul Kulkarni, Achyuth Kumar, Srujan Lokesh, Dharma and Aakanksha Mansukhani play supporting roles.
Birugaali is a 2009 Indian Kannada language action film written and directed by Harsha making his second directorial after Geleya. The film stars Chetan Kumar of Aa Dinagalu fame along with Sithara Vaidya, Charisma Bharadwaj and Tara in main roles. The film featured the musical score by Arjun Janya which was received positively among the critics and masses.
Shwetha Srivatsav is an Indian actress, known for her work in Kannada cinema and television. She began her career in theatre, before moving to television, where she received recognition for her role in T. N. Seetharam's Manvantara. She subsequently went on to work in films. Having made her film debut with Mukha Mukhi (2006), she shot to fame with her performance in Simple Agi Ondh Love Story (2013). Her performance in Fair & Lovely (2014) won her the Filmfare Award South for Best Actress.
My Days in the Underworld: Rise of the Bangalore Mafia is an autobiographical book written by Agni Sreedhar. Before becoming a writer, film maker and journalist he was an underworld don. He wanted to enter the Indian Administrative Service after studying for law. Circumstances, which he narrates in his novel, made him an underworld don for 20 years in Bangalore. In this book he tells of his own experiences and encounters in the crime world of Bangalore, which runs on a track that never coalesces with the chaotic world of the common people governed by a distorted justice system. Initially, Sreedhar wrote a series of articles under the title Dadagiriya Dinagalu in Kannada language for his tabloid Agni, which he later translated into English under the title My Days in the Underworld-Rise of Bangalore Mafia with the help of Prathiba Nandakumar and V.G. Jaideep. The book was first published in 2013 by Tranquebar Press. The author says the book "also works as the story of the city".
D. Suman Kittur is an Indian journalist, film director and lyricist working in Kannada cinema. She began as an independent director with Slum Bala (2008), before working on films such as Kallara Santhe (2009), Edegarike (2012) and Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu (2016). Most of her films deal with anti-social elements. She is one of the few women directors to win a state award.
Aake is a 2017 Indian Kannada language neo noir horror film directed by K. M. Chaitanya. It features Sharmiela Mandre and Chiranjeevi Sarja in the lead. Achyuth Kumar and Prakash Belawadi play the supporting roles.Screenplay was written by Sunanda and Carl Austin.The movie is an official remake of the 2015 Tamil movie Maya.
Aa Karaala Ratri is a 2018 Kannada-language thriller film directed by Dayal Padmanabhan and produced under his own banner, D Pictures.
Syed Aman Bachchan is an Indian film producer in the Kannada film industry. Edegarike, a film produced by him and directed by Sumana Kittur, was the only Indian film selected for screening in Mumbai Women's International Film Festival, 2013.