BENGALURU: Veteran actor Kashinath, whose career spanned three decades, passed away at the Sri Shankara Hospital on Thursday morning at 7 am. He was admitted there two days ago after he suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday that led to his death.
Diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma last year, the actor is survived by his wife and two children, a daughter and a son. He was aged 67 years.
Kashinath, besides being an actor, was also a successful director and producer of Kannada films.
Born in a middle-class family in Kundapur, the filmmaker served the industry for more than 30 years and is credited with creating a new wave in Kannada cinema. He introduced directors and actors like Upendra, V Manohar, Sunil Kumar Desai and Sadhu Kokila to the industry and many young filmmakers found success while working under his wing.
He also produced a few films during his career.
Known popularly for his double entendre dialogues in his films, Kashinath became famous for ushering in a different style in filmmaking and for focusing on subjects that had social relevance. He marked his directorial debut with Aparoopada Athitigalu and is known for films like Aparachita, Anubhava, Ajagajantha, Hendathi Endhari Haygirabeku, Chapalachennigaraaya, Manmatharaja among others.
He remade Aparichita in Hindi as Be-Shaque starring Mithun Chakraborty. He had also made a mark in the Telugu film industry. His film Avale Nanna Hendthi (1988) was remade in Hindi as Jawani Zindabad (1997) starring Aamir Khan and Farah. His film, Ajagajanthara released in 1991 was remade in Hindi as Judai in 1997 starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi and Urmila Matondar. His last movie was Chowka released in 2017.