Viswanath funeral: Rajamouli, Keeravani pay last tribute

HYDERABAD: The film industry has been left shattered by the demise of veteran director Kasinadhuni Viswanath. Several Telugu stars including SS Rajamouli, music director MM Keeravani, actor Chiranjeevi and others paid their last respect at his funeral.

He was 92. K Viswanath was undergoing treatment for age-related health issues at a private hospital in Hyderabad. His rituals and last rite rituals are being held in Hyderabad.

SS Rajamouli and MM Keeravani attended the last rites and bid adieu to the late director.

Superstar Chiranjeevi was seen offering prayers and paid his last respect to the late Dadasaheb Phalke awardee.

Viswanath started his professional life as an audiographer. His filmmaking career began under director Adurthi Subba Rao after a brief stint as a sound engineer, and he later went on to work as an assistant director for the Telugu film Pathala Bhairavi in 1951.

With the 1965 movie Aatma Gowravam, Viswanath made his directorial debut and went on to win the state Nandi award.

Following it, the director released 'Chelleli Kapuram', 'O Seeta Katha', 'Jeevana Jyoti', and 'Sarada'.

In addition to performing in major films, Viswanath also directed some of them, including 'Swarabhishekam', 'Pandurangadu', 'Narasimha Naidu', 'Lakshmi Narasimha' and 'Seemasimham', 'Kuruthipunal', 'Kakkai Siraginilae' and 'Bagavathi'. Additionally, he appeared in over twenty films from the Tamil and Telugu film industries.

Viswanath made his Bollywood debut with 1979 film Sargam, which is a remake of his 1976 Siri Siri Muvva.

Some of his other popular Hindi films include Kaamchor, Shubh Kaamna, Jaag Utha Insan, Sanjog, Eeshwar and Dhanwaan. He also did many collaborations with Rakesh Roshan in Bollywood.

He was honoured with Padma Shri honour in 1992 and the Dada Saheb Phalke in 2017. Over the course of a career spanning over four decades, he had won the Filmfare awards eight times.