Veteran Telugu and Hindi film director K. Vishwanath breathed his last yesterday (2nd February) at his residence in Hyderabad at the age of 92. He had been suffering from age-related illnesses.
The Padma Shri awardee and five times National Award winner had made Telugu films like Sankarabharanam, Swathi Muthyam, Sagara Sangamam and Swarga Kamalam. It was after the immense success of Sankarabharanam that K. Vishwanath shot to fame. The film spoke about the growing gap between Carnatic music and Western music, based on the perspectives of two different generations. The landmark film went on to win four National Awards and it was remade in Hindi as Sur Sangam which too was directed by K. Vishwanath himself. He also directed Sargam in Hindi. Its song, Dafliwaale dafli bajaa, continues to enthrall music lovers even today. Among his other Hindi films are Eeshwar, Sanjog, Jaag Utha Insan, Sangeet and Kaamchor. In all, the genius film director made more than 50 films, many of which were also written by him.
Vishwanath started his career as an audiographer for Vauhini Studios in Madras. After a short stint as a sound engineer, he began his filmmaking career under film director Adurthi Subba Rao. He then worked as an assistant director on 1951 Telugu film Pathala Bhairavi, directed by K.V. Reddy. K. Vishwanath made his directorial debut with the 1965 Telugu film Aatma Gowravam.