BENGALURU: The State government will perform the last rites of actor, director and producer S Shivaram, who passed away on Saturday, with full state honours on Sunday. After paying his last respects, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, “Shivaram breathed life into every character he played. Most of his movies were big hits and he had won the national award as the producer of Upasane. He had a close association with reputed directors like Puttanna Kanagal. His life was not confined to the film industry as he had a strong connection with spirituality too.”
He said, “Shivaram’s contribution to the Kannada film industry is immense. He was an assistant director, director, producer and actor in his six-decade-long professional life. He made a mark as an actor in films like Sharapanjara, Shubhamangala and Nagarahavu directed by Puttanna Kanagal. His death has come even before the Kannada film industry could recover from the demise of Puneeth Rajkumar.”
Shivaram met with a car accident last week but had not suffered major injuries. On Tuesday, he collapsed in his house while performing puja and was rushed to a private hospital where doctors revealed that he had suffered a brain haemorrhage.
The doctors had ruled out surgery because of his age and other health complications. His condition worsened on Saturday. Shivaram, born on January 28, 1938, began his career as an assistant director with filmmakers KR Seetharama Sastry, Puttanna Kanagal and Singeetam Srinivasa Rao in 1958. A theatre artist, he first appeared as the second lead in the film Beratha Jeeva (1965).
He had acted in over 400 films. He had shared screen space with legends like Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh. He later took to the small screen and acted in a number of serials. He had also performed in over 1000 plays. He produced Rajinikanth’s Dharma Durai in Tamil and a handful of films in Kannada.