'He was so creative': Bollywood actress Aruna Irani remembers K Viswanath

Veteran actor Aruna Irani has shared her fond memories of working with the legendary Telegu director-actor K Viswanath, who died late yesterday due to old age.

Viswanath was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Hyderabad. The five-time national award winner director was famous for his movies such as ‘Sankarabharanam’, ‘Sagara Sangamam’, ‘Swathi Muthyam’ and ‘Swarna Kamalam’, among others.

In an exclusive ANI podcast, Irani said, “I loved working with Raj Kapoor, Gulzar Saab. There’s one more director, who has become an actor now, K Viswanath... I can’t sleep in the night after working with him. He was so creative... (The Bollywood actor) Rekha and I used to pray that his shifts get over early. He will show some expressions the next day and we won’t be able to do that. Both of us used to fret about that.”

Viswanath began his career as an audiographer for Vauhini Studios in Madras (now Chennai). After a short stint as a sound engineer, he started directing under filmmaker Adurthi Subba Rao. Eventually, he went on to work as an assistant director on the Telugu film ‘Pathala Bhairavi’ (1951).

Viswanath made his directorial debut with the 1965 film ‘Aatma Gowravam’, which went on to win the state Nandi award. The director got his nationwide fame with the 1980 Telugu film ‘Sankarabharanam’. The film spoke about the gap between Carnatic music and Western music based on the perspective of people from two different generations. ‘Sagara Sangamam’, starring Kamal Haasan and Jayaprada, was another of his biggest hits.

Viswanath made his Bollywood debut with the 1979 film ‘Sargam’, which was a remake of his own movie ‘Siri Siri Muvva’. Some of his other popular Hindi films include ‘Kaamchor’, ‘Shubh Kaamna’, ‘Jaag Utha Insan’, ‘Sanjog’, ‘Eeshwar’ and ‘Dhanwaan’.