T. S. Ranga

T S Ranga is an Indian director who made award-winning films in Karnataka and Hindi film industries. He is the son of T.R. Shamanna, a famous politician, educationist, and social worker in Karnataka. Though he is from a family with a political background, he decided to choose cinema and theatre as his career. His first independent directorial film was Geejagana Goodu in 1978. In 1979, he did his second film, Savitri, based on a Kannada novel written by Ram. This film got the Kannada State Film award in 1980. Later, he did a Hindi film Giddh, which brought fame to him. It is one of the best Indian films portraying poverty and social evils. The movie Giddh also won the Special Jury Award at the National Awards, 1984. Another film, Ranga won many Karnataka State films awards, and he also got the National Awards for Best Screenplay for the film Grahana.

He is also an actor; he has acted in few films directed by G.V. Iyer and Karnath. His documentary on the Gandhian H. Narasimhaiah is one of the best classics in the documentary. He is one of the best screenplay writers and served on the script committee of the National Film Development Corporation. Though he did only three films in Kannada, his movies had a huge impact, which made him play an important role in the New Wave Kannada film and theatre movement of the 70s.

He died at the age of 69 in Bangalore. He was an introvert and one of the sensitive filmmakers in the industry. Ranga planned to do a movie titled Paalu, but due to financial reasons, he couldn’t complete the film. His friend Sundar decided to direct the film in memory of Ranga. It will be his gift to Ranga, who is his guru and friend. We hope you like this article. Do comment with your valuable opinion.