Venkat Bharadwaj
Venkat Bharadwaj | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Director, producer, screenwriter, actor |
| Years active | 2015–present |
| Parent | C. V. Shivashankar (father) |
Venkat Bharadwaj is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor who predominately works in Kannada-language films. He is best known for the film Kempiruve (2017) for which he won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay.[1]
Career
[edit]Venkat Bharadwaj worked a regional manager of Starcom when an incident that happened on Church Street, Bangalore motivated him to make the indie film titled A Day in the City. Scriptwriting with him and his friends began in August 2013. Filming began on 8 January 2014 and finished on 13 May 2014. Since the film was shot on the weekends, ninety-percent of the cast was IT professional apart from Kappanna and Malayalam actor Sridharan.[2] The film was shot for twelve hours a day and the actors were mailed their lines beforehand. The four songs were shot at Brigade Road and M G Road in Bangalore, Maddur, Mahadevapura, Mandya and Srirangapatna.[3] The film is about water scarcity in a big city and how important government officials and engineers try to solve the issue.[4][5] The film was screened at British Airways, China Air and Emirates amongst other airlines.[5] His next film was the historical drama Bablusha (2016), for which he selected 3 candidates from 480 people who auditioned for the three lead roles.[6] His next film Kempiruve delved into the lives of senior citizens and the challenges they face.[7] His 2019 documentary Leap of Faith is based on suicidal people who decided to not take their lives and also covered attempted suicides by children.[8] His film Omelette (2021) was based on an auto driver's aspirations in life. The film's story was conceived in September 2019 and the film's post-production work was wrapped by January 2020.[9] The film did not have a theatrical release and opted for a direct television release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The film Naguvina Hoogala Mele (2024) marked his foray into the romantic action genre.[11][12] His last release was the patriotic film Hyena (2025).[13]
Personal life
[edit]He is the elder son of Kannada film industry veteran C. V. Shivashankar.[14] His brother Karthik Urs worked as an actor in A Day in the City and Kempiruve (2017), the latter of which he also co-wrote the story and dialogues.[15]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | A Day in the City (Nagaradalli Ondu Dina) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Bablusha | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2017 | Kempiruve | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2019 | Unarvu | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Tamil film |
| Leap of Faith | Yes | Yes | No | No | English film | |
| Alidu Ulidavaru | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2020 | The Painter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | Omelette | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2022 | Sri Ranga | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2024 | Naguvina Hoogala Mele | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2025 | Hyena | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
References
[edit]- ^ "State Film Award 2017 , Film Fare Jury Member, Member of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce". Deccan Herald. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
- ^ Khajane, Muralidhara (24 February 2015). "Techies team makes a movie by shooting during weekends". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
- ^ Kumar, G. S. (24 June 2014). "Techies to hit the big screens for 'A Day in the City'". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
- ^ "Move over Hindi, indie has arrived". Bangalore Mirror.
- ^ a b "A new angle to cinema". The Hindu. 5 February 2016.
- ^ "Cinema Suddi: Bringing on Bablusha". The Hindu. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- ^ "Antecedents of an aged existence". Deccan Chronicle. 8 November 2017. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
- ^ R, Shilpa Sebastian (4 December 2019). "Filmmaker Venkat Bharadwaj comes with a documentary on suicide called 'Leap of Faith'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019.
- ^ Sebastian, Shilpa (9 January 2020). "Kannada director Venkat Bharadwaj's next film is a comedy called 'Omelette'". The Hindu.
- ^ "'Omelette' skips theatre release, opts for direct satellite outing". The New Indian Express. 17 June 2021.
- ^ Anandraj, Shilpa (6 February 2024). "Venkat Bharadwaj's Kannada film 'Naguvina Hoogala Mele' releases this week". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024.
- ^ "I've always strived to explore diverse genres: Director Venkat Bharadwaj". The New Indian Express. 6 February 2024.
- ^ "'Effort to raise social awareness through Hyena is commendable". The New Indian Express. 18 January 2025.
- ^ M, Shashiprasad S. (28 June 2023). "Veteran Kannada filmmaker CV Shivashankar passes away". The South First.
- ^ "People don't believe it is me, says a man who is senior manager at Capgemini and has written this Kannada film's story, dialogues". Bangalore Mirror. 14 November 2017. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.