Veteran Kannada actor ‘Mysore’ Srikantayya Umesh passed away on Sunday after a prolonged battle with cancer, as per media reports. He was 80.
The actor was battling cancer for a long time and was recently admitted to a hospital.
Umesh’s film career spanned five decades. He acted in over 350 films.
Born on April 24, 1945 in Mysore, Umesh kicked off his career at the age of four with Master K Hirannaiah's theatre group. He later joined Gubbi Veeranna's theatre troupe.
The veteran actor got his big break in the film industry back in 1960 with the lead role in the film Makkala Rajya.
Following his debut, he underwent a dry spell in his film career, leading to him returning to theatres.
The Kannada veteran returned to the film industry with the 1977 film Katha Sangama. Since then, he has acted in films like Nagara Hole, Guru Shishyaru, Anupama, Kaamana Billu and Sankata.
Umesh has starred in films featuring popular Kannada actors — like Rajkumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Ambareesh, Srinath, Shankar Nag, Ananth Nag, Arvind Ramesh, B Saroja Devi and Bharathi. He also appeared in films starring Tamil actors Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth.
The actor received the Karnataka State Film Award in 1975 for best supporting actor in Katha Sangama and Karnataka Nataka Akademy Award in 2013 for his theatrical performances over the years.
JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy offered their condolences over the passing of the veteran actor. “Umesh would make audiences float in a sea of laughter through his fresh humour,” he said in an X post.
“Having delivered captivating performances in numerous films including 'Guru Shishyaru', 'Haalu Jenu', 'Apurva Sangama', his departure is a huge loss to the Kannada art world,” Kumaraswamy added.