BELAGAVI: Enagi Balappa, a versatile artiste who towered over Karnataka's theatre scene, died at the ripe old age of 103 on Friday. Hailing from Enagi village of Saundatti taluk in Belagavi, Balappa ajja, as he was fondly known, had been ailing for some time.
The veteran actor and theatre company owner was famous for his role as Basavanna and has acted and sung in hundreds of plays and movies.
Born in 1914, Balappa founded the theatre company ‘Kala Vaibhava’ in 1947 and became popular for his role as Basavanna in ‘Jagajyoti Basaveshwara’. His other plays include Kittur Chennamma, Mavabandnappo Mava, Akkamahadevi, Kumkuma, Devaramaga, Shala Mastara, Hemareddi Mallamma, Raja Harischandra and Ramayana.
He also donned female roles owing to his fair skin and youthful looks. A few movies include Maadi Madidavaru, Janumada Jodi, Gadibidi Krishna, Ganayogi Panchakshari Gawai and Parikshe.
However, Balappa's career in theatre began as a child artiste. His vast experience in theatre culminated in the publication of two books penned by him, ‘Rangasangeeta’ and ‘Uttara Karnatakada Sangeetada Vibhava’.
He used his plays as a medium to fight for India's freedom and to unify Karnataka. His plays were popular and spread the richness of classical Kannada language. Never one to compromise on his art, at the same time believed theatre should
evolve.
In 2013, he was diagnosed as paralytic which restricted his movements but not his spirit. He reprised his famous role of Basaveshwara during a farewell performance at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru on his 100th birthday.
Many of Balappa's nine children and some of his grandchildren have also carried forward Balappa's theatre legacy.
The Karnataka government honoured him with Rajyotsava award in 1973 and he has Honorary doctorates awarded by Hampi University, Karnatak University and Mysuru University.
The theatre icon will be buried in his village beside the grave of his first wife Savitramma on Saturday at 11am, said kin.
His son Subhash Enagi, a theatre personality, recalled that his father never kept money for himself or his family but donated it to the poor and to educational institutions. “My father took an initiative and constructed a school in Asundi village in 1975 and served as a founder president for the institution
called ‘Malaprabha Education Society’.
Though he did not directly enter the freedom struggle, he supported it through his plays. He motivated and spread the importance of freedom among the youth and was arrested several times by the British,” said Subhash Enagi.