Telugu Film Director's Association Felicitates K Viswanath for Winning Dada Saheb Phalke Award

Telugu Film Director’s Association felicitates K Viswanath for Winning Dada Saheb Phalke Award at JRC Convention Cener in FILM Nagar.

SV Krishna Reddy, MM Srilekha, Akkineni Ramesh Prasad, SS Rajamouli, Vamsi Paidipally, Krishnam Raju, Shyamala Devi, T. Subbarami Reddy, Sunitha Upadrashta, Shivaji Raja at the event.

Kasinadhuni Viswanath is an Indian audiographer turned director, screenwriter, and character actor known for his works in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, six state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South, and a Bollywood Filmfare Award. In a film career spanning sixty years, Viswanath has directed fifty three feature films in a variety of genres, including films based on performing arts, visual arts, and aesthetics.

Viswanath has received international recognition for his works, and is known for blending parallel cinema with mainstream commercial cinema. Viswanath was honored with the "Prize of the Public" at the "Besancon Film Festival of France" in the year 1981. His directorial works which are produced by Poornodaya Movie Creations were dubbed into Russian language and theatrically released in Moscow. In 1992, he received the Andhra Pradesh state Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and the civilian honor Padma Shri for his contribution to the field of arts. He was awarded the 2017 Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema, at the 64th National Film Awards.

Kasinadhuni Viswanath was born on 19 Feb 1930 in a Telugu speaking family to Kasinathuni Subrahmanyam and Kasinathuni Saraswatamma. His ancestral roots come from Pedapulivarru, Andhra Pradesh, a small village on the banks of River Krishna. Viswanath studied Intermediate from Guntur Hindu College, and holds a B.Sc degree from Andhra Christian College of Acharya Nagarjuna University. He began his career as a sound recordist at Vauhini Studios in Madras where his father was an associate. Viswanath transitioned into film direction at Annapurna Pictures under Adurthi Subba Rao and K. Ramnoth. He wished to work as an assistant to director K. Balachander and Bapu.

During his early career, Viswanath was associated with Adurthi Subba Rao on National Award winning films such as Mooga Manasulu (1964), and Doctor Chakravarthy (1964). Viswanath scripted Sudigundalu (1968), and directed works such as Aatma Gowravam (1965), O Seeta Katha (1974), and Jeevana Jyothi (1975) which garnered the state Nandi Awards, and were screened at the Asian and African film Festival at Tashkent.

Viswanath's classical blockbusters Sankarabharanam (1979) and Sagara Sangamam (1983) were included among CNN-IBN's list of hundred greatest Indian films of all time. His directorial works Sankarabharanam and Saptapadi, have garnered the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Feature Film on National Integration, respectively. Sankarabharanam, was premiered at the 8th International Film Festival of India, the Tashkent Film Festival, and the Moscow International Film Festival held in May 1980. Viswanath also won the Prize of the Public at the Besancon Film Festival of France in the year 1981.

Viswanath's Swati Mutyam was India's official entry to the 59th Academy Awards. Swati Mutyam", Sagara Sangamam and Sirivennela were premiered at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. Swayam Krushi was premiered to special mention at the Moscow International Film Festival. Sankarabharanam, Sagara Sangamam, Shrutilayalu, Swarnakamalam and Swati Kiranam were screened in the Indian Panorama section at International Film Festival of India, Ann Arbor Film Festival and AISFM Film Festival.