Remembrance of Srikrishna Alanahalli on his 68th Birth Day

Srikrishna Alanahalli 

Srikrishna Alanahalli (3 April 1947 – 4 January 1989) was an Indian novelist and poet. Majority of his works are in Kannada language. He became popular for his novels like Kaadu (1972), Parasangada Gendethimma (1978) and Bhujangayyana Dasavataragalu (1982), some of which were made into films too.

Early life

Alanahalli was born on April 3, 1947 in Alanahalli, Kingdom of Mysore (now Karnataka). He completed his post graduation in Master of Arts in Philosophy in 1969 and worked as a lecturer in Mysore University and Central Institute of Indian Languages from 1969 to 1979. Then he became a full-time writer and immersed himself in different fields like literature, cinema, agriculture, journalisim. He actively took part in contemporary politics as well.

Literary career

Alanahalli, in his novels portrayed innocence, lust, revenge and jealousy and communicated physical desires and mental turmoil effectively. His Parasangada Gendethimma was made into a Tamil film, Rosapoo Ravikaikari and won accolades. In Kannada, it was made into a film of the same name with Lokesh playing the lead role of Gendethimma. He won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor.

All his novels, short stories and poems were ahead of his time. Sample his novels Parasangada Gendethimma, Bhujangayyana Dasavataragalu and Kaadu, which both shocked and awed readers and filmgoers. Kaadu launched Girish Karnad as a director and introduced Amrish Puri to the film world, marked Lokesh as an actor par excellence and won child artiste GS Nataraj, who played 'Kitty' national and international acclaim. The film also won the National award in 1974.

Alanahalli edited a bi-monthly Sameekshna and ran a publishing house of the same name. He has only 12 books to his credit, including three collections of poems, but they have had a strong impact. He translated Dogri Pahari love poems into Kannada. His collection of poems Kaadugidada Hadupadu is remarkable in terms of style and content.

Major awards

Sahitya Academy Prashasti for his poetry collection Mannina Haadu in 1966.

Karnataka govt prize for Kaadu in 1970.

Karnataka Sahitya Academy Honorary prize, posthumously in 1989

References

 "A writer ahead of his time". Bangalore Mirror. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2014.

 "Call of the primordial". The Hindu. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2014.

"Parasangada Gendethimma (1978) cast and crew". kannadamoviesinfo.com accessdate= 9 May 2014.