Ambareesh

Early life

Ambareesh was born into a Vokkaliga family on May 29, 1952, in Doddarasinakere village of Mandya district in the erstwhile Mysore State (now Karnataka). He was named as Malavalli Huchche Gowda Amarnath, and was the sixth of seven children to Huche Gowda and Padmamma. His grandfather was the popular violin player, Chowdiah. Ambareesh completed his schooling in Mandya before moving to Saraswathipuram in Mysore for higher studies. He was a regular street watcher and an antisocial element with a bunch of friends at Mysore near the Maharani's college.

Acting career

While the eminent Kannada film director Puttanna Kanagal was in search of a new face to play a brief antagonist role for his upcoming film, one of Ambareesh's close friend, Sangram Singh, suggested his name for the screen test much against his wishes. At his screen test, he was asked to walk in a certain fashion, utter a dialogue and toss a cigarette in his mouth. Impressed, Kanagal cast him in his 1972 film Naagarahaavu. The film also saw the debut of Vishnuvardhan, another actor who would go on to become one of Kannada cinema's most popular actors.

Ambareesh has since appeared in about 208 films, including other films of Kanagal such as Paduvaaralli Pandavaru, Shubhamangala, Masanada Hoovu and Ranganayaki. As in 2010, Ambareesh had acted in most films as lead in Kannada films, surpassing Rajkumar's record of 206 films as lead actor and Vishnuvardhan's record of 230 films (including Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films) as a lead actor. The record has not been broken yet. He has also supported many actors at the beginning of their career.

Ambareesh played the angry young man of the 1980s, and several films were tailor-made accordingly. The earliest of them was the political satire Antha (1981), directed by Rajendra Singh Babu and remade into Hindi and Tamil. This controversial film was the first in India to depict politicians and government officials as corrupt and villainous. Chakravyuha and New Delhi were made on the same lines, the first remade into Hindi as Inquilaab, starring Amitabh Bachchan and the second a remake of the Malayalam hit of the same name. His other notable films include Ranganayaki, Tony, Rani Maharani, Olavina Udugore, Hrudaya Haadithu, Hongkongnalli Agent Amar, Mannina Doni and Odahuttidavaru. His performance in Masanada Hoovu, Elu Suttina Kote and the Malayalam film Gaanam were critically acclaimed. He also showed the great performance in mamateya madilu,elu sutinaa kote and mouna raga. He also acted with legend Rajkumar. He is well known as Mandyada Gandu, Kaliyuga Karna (for his generosity), and Rebel Star. He has been awarded the State award best actor for Antha and best supporting role for masanada hoovu, NTR Award by Andhra Pradesh Government,filmfare best actor award for Olavina Udugore and Film Fare Award (lifetime achievement award). He was the first Kannada actor to inaugurate the world famous Mysore Dasara festival organized by the government of Karnataka. He also won the Karnataka Government's Dr. Vishnuvardhan Award in the year 2011.

Political career

Ambareesh joined the Indian National Congress and has since continued to represent the same Mandya Lok Sabha constituency for two more terms. He was Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting in the 14th Lok Sabha, but resigned over his dissatisfaction with the Cauvery Dispute Tribunal award, though the resignation was not formally accepted. He was defeated in the May 2009 General Elections.He helped in elections for H.D.Kumaraswamy(in kanakapura parliament election in 90s),S.M. Krishna(99) and K.R pete Krishna.

During the course of his public life, he has held the following positions:

Friendship with Vishnuvardhan

Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh debuted together in Nagarahavu under Putanna Kanagal's direction. From then they have been larger-than-life friends. Though Ambareesh was a villain in many films after Naagarahavu and Vishnu was already a star with a craving for hot rain songs, their friendship remained the same and even when Ambareesh rose to fame as a hero. Though they were on parallel tracks, they never considered each other as competition and neither did they have any ego problems.

When Vishnu died in 2009, Ambarish was seen handling every bit of his close friend's funeral. From co-ordinating with the stars, to co-ordinating with the government, from shifting the body to managing crowds, he did every thing that the police and the government had to do. At one point he picked up the microphone in at the funeral and shouted at a few frenzied fans and took situation into control.

Ambareesh's wife and Vishnuvardhan's good friend, co-star Sumalatha Ambareesh, says that she has never seen this kind of friendship in any other industry between two men in their peaks who remained the closest of friends throughout. They acted in Snehitara sawaal, Maha Prachandaru and Avala Hejje in the 80s. Again they came together in Diggajaru in 2000 and this film is remembered by their fans as their best. It had the memorable hit "Kuchikku, Kuchikku", a song about friendship featuring the two.

Awards and recognitions

1. Karnataka State Award for Best Actor for Antha in 1982.
2. Karnataka State Award for "Best Supporting Actor"(1985–86) in the film Masanada Hoovu, directed by Puttanna Kanagal
3. Filmfare Award for Best Actor in the film "Olavina Udugore directed by Rajendra Babu.
4. Received NTR National Award for the year 2005.
5. Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South 2009.
6. Andhra Government honoured Nandhi Award 2009.
7. Puttanna Kanagal award in 90s but rejected{later went to actor T.N.Bala krishna}
8. TV9 Sandalwood Star Awards – 2012, Lifetime Achievement Award
9. Karnataka Government Dr. Vishnuvardhan Award in the year 2011
10. Honorary Doctorate from the Karnataka University, Dharwad in the year 2013
11. SIIMA Lifetime Achievement Award 2012

Death