Legendary director K Viswanath no more

Veteran director, actor, and screenwriter K Viswanath passed away in Hyderabad late on Thursday due to age related issues. He was 92.

He was admitted to a private hospital in the city where he breathed his last. Many celebrities took to social media to express their disbelief.

Born in 1930 in Repalle of Andhra Pradesh, Viswanath began his career as a sound recordist at Vahini Studios in Madras, where his father, K Subramanyam, worked as an associate.

He switched to direction in 1951 working as an assistant director in the Telugu-Tamil film Pathala Bhairavi.

He directed 53 feature films in a variety of genres. He received international recognition for his works and is known for blending parallel cinema with mainstream commercial cinema. Viswanath’s filmography is known for addressing the issues of caste, color, disability, gender discrimination, misogyny, alcoholism, and socio-economic challenges through liberal arts medium.

Known as Kala Tapasvi, he was the recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South, and a Filmfare Award in Hindi. He was honored with the “Prize of the Public” at the “Besançon Film Festival of France” in 1981. In 1992, he received the Andhra Pradesh state Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and the civilian honor Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of arts. In 2017, he was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema.

Stars like Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi and others mourned his passing. Chiranjeevi released a statement that reads, “I am shocked to hear the passing of Viswanath, a great director who took Telugu films to an international level. His passing is a huge loss not just to me but for the Telugu film industry.”