V. Somashekhar

In 1955, in Madras (now Chennai), at the age of 18, Somashekhar entered cinema hoping to become an actor and started as a clapperboard operator. He then appeared in uncredited film roles before working as a dubbing artist. Following this, he worked as an assistant director to popular film directors at the time, R. Nagendra Rao, N. G. Rajan, Y. R. Swamy, Ramamurthy and Babu Rao. Actor Dr. Rajkumar was impressed by Somashekhar's work in Choori Chikkanna (1969), and urged to him direct films independently. Somashekhar started out with Rajkumar's 1974 film Bangaarada Panjara. The film was a commercial success. Collaborating with Rajkumar, he followed this up with other hit films such as Premada Kanike (1976), Shankar Guru (1978), Thayige Thakka Maga (1978), Havina Hede (1981) and Parashuram (1989). With Vishnuvardhan, Somashekhar worked in Kalinga (1980) and Chanakya (1984). Other popular films directed by Somashekhar include Point Parimala (1980), Ranaranga (1988) and S. P. Bhargavi (1981). ==Final years and death==

Following his film career as a director after retiring in 1992, Somashekhar associated himself with the Kannada Film Directors Association, serving as its president and as a working committee member of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. He took to agriculture in the following years and also suffered from renal disorder during this time. He died on 22 August 2003, at a hospital in St. John's Medical College, Bangalore. ==Filmography==