Gubbi Veeranna

Gubbi Veeranna was born in the village Gulaganjihalli, Near Gubbi in the Tumkur district of Karnataka in the year 1891. He started a drama company called Gubbi Shree Channa Basaveshwara Nataka Company and started producing plays in which he also acted sometimes. He had three wives, Sundaramma, Bhadramma and B. Jayamma. Veeranna had many children including G.V Shivanand who was an accomplished dramatist and director. He also had 37 grandchildren including B. Jayashree and Vyjayanthi Kashi, G.S. Sundarashree and G.S. Nataraj. who have been associated with the Kannada theater and film industry. ==Theatre company==

Initially located in Gubbi, the company started to travel to different places and stage plays in those locations. The company had a troupe of more than 150 artists and backstage workers. Some popular plays staged by the company included Sadaarame and Yechamma Nayaka. These plays consisted of innovations like trick scenes, floods, clouds and rain. In those days, dramas used were staged for free with people only paying according to their liking at the end of the drama. However, Gubbi Veeranna's dramas were an exception with people willing to buy tickets to watch them. Gubbi Veeranna's company first came to Bangalore in the year 1916. Later Gubbi Veeranna constructed his own theatre in Bangalore on the Subedar Chatram Road in 1924 and the Shivananda Theatre (now called as Movieland) in 1930. Rajkumar actually attributed his command over the Kannada language and his singing skills to the training he underwent under the watchful eyes of Gubbi Veeranna. ==Film production==

One of the early pioneers of Kannada cinema, Gubbi Veeranna started a limited company called Karnataka Films Productions to produce films. His first production was a movie 'Song of Life' in 1930, followed by 'His Love Affair' in 1931. He then produced 'Harimaya' in 1932 followed by the evergreen comedy Sadarame in 1935, in which he acted in the lead role. The film had C.I.D. Sakunthala, Ashwathama and B. Jayamma in the cast and was directed by Raja Chandrasekar. He then produced Subhadra which had Honnappa Bhagavathar in the lead. In 1942, he produced Jeevana Nataka with Kemraj Urs in the lead. He again acted in the lead role in the film Hemareddy Mallamma, in 1945. He produced Sathya Shodhanai in 1953, which was a Tamil Film and had again starred Honnappa Bhagavathar. Karnataka Gubbi Productions was later called as The Karnataka Films Ltd., it is attributed to have started the film career of Rajkumar when it agreed to offer him the lead role in his first film Bedara Kannappa. He has also produced silent movies like His Love Affair which was directed by a foreigner, Raphel Algoet. In this film, the lead role of the actor was played by Gubbi Veeranna himself and the actress was none other than his wife, Jayamma. In 1956, he produced Sadaarme, which had T.N. Balakrishna in lead and also had Kalyan Kumar. It was the remake of 1936 movie with the same name. In 1959, he produced Sahodhari, a Tamil Film which had K. Balaji in the Lead. ==Filmography==

The Karnataka government has instituted the Gubbi Veeranna award for excellence in theatre in his memory. ==Notes==