BENGALURU: The man who chose to break norms and give Kananda Cinema a new idiom is no more. Veteran actor-director-producer Kashinath (67) whose career spanned over four decades, passed away at a private hospital at 7am on Thursday. ashinath was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma last year. He is survived by his wife and two children -- a daughter and a son. His funeral was held in the evening at the Chamarajpet crematorium.
At a time when the industry was flooded with commercial entertainers, Kashinath, an aspiring youngster, came up with unconventional themes and tasted success as a director with his racy narrative and catchy dialogues. He made movies with subjects considered taboo like Anubhava and Ananthana Avanthara. Though conservatives frowned, these films struck gold stunning everyone, perhaps including himself.
As a director, his most successful film was Aparichita, a slick thriller, considered to be a trendsetter. He probably also started the trend of acting, directing and producing films. Such was his influence in the 1980s that this period was referred to as ‘Kashinath Yuga’ and he became the people’s hero.
In his long and eventful career, the multi-faceted actor played godfather to many budding actors like Upendra. Said Upendra on the death of his mentor, “My existence today is because of Kashinath. He was my Guru.”‘