Background
He was born in 1915 at Chowdasandra, Nelamangala. At age 5 he lost his father and grew up listening to his mother"s Bhajans and music
He was born in 1915 at Chowdasandra, Nelamangala. At age 5 he lost his father and grew up listening to his mother"s Bhajans and music
He was best known as a singer and as one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema. He weaved for a living. He moved to Bangalore for work,learn classicalmusic,accidentally he met his guru Sambandha Murthy Bhagavathar (Hari katha vidwan in three south Indian languages & also classical musician)in relatives marriage function & become his disciple for learning classical music first becoming a pupil of his relative Murthy, then as a pupil of harmonium player Arunachalappa.
Honappa staged a play in Salem and at the same time M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, a filmmaker, was casting his latest film Ambikapathi.
Honnappa"s play was a success and he was honoured with the title "Bhagavathar". From then on, Honnappa"s name became Honnappa Bhagavathar.
Honnappa Bhagavathar acted in many Tamil films. Based now in Bangalore, Honnappa Bhagavathar replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the 1946 movie Sri Murugan, acting alongside Magister. Both Honnappa and Jeevaratnam sang in the movie, with music scored by South. M. Subbaiah Naidu.
Honnappa founded a production company named Lalithakaala Films.
lieutenant produced films in Kannada and Tamil. In 1955, his film Mahakavi Kaalidasa was the first in the Kannada language. He made his Kannada acting debut in the movie Subadra.
Honnappa is known for bringing actresses like B. Saroja Devi into the industry.
In the film Valmiki, Honnappa replaced M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Valmiki, the sinner-turned-sage. Honnappa became a star after M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar"s temporary exit, playing the lead role in many Tamil movies and later in Kannada.
He played the bandit-turned-sage. In 1960, Bhagavathar started the music school "Nadabrahma Sangeetha Vidyalaya".
Mahakavikalidasa and Jagajyothi Basaveshwara received National in 1955 and 1959 respectively. In 1956, the Madras Sina Pyans Associations awarded him "Best Actor". In 1976, he was conferred the title "Gana Kalabhushana". In 1978, Scholars of Mysore state conferred the title "Gaanakalaa Gandharva" on him. In 1986, he was awarded the "Rajyothsava Award". In 1990, he was awarded the "Sangeet Natak Academy Award" by the President of India. In 1991, the Center for Music Drama Academy awarded him for his contribution to music Also awarded for his stage music in this year.
He became a member of the Kannada Film Advisory Board and worked as a member of Karnataka Sangeeta Nruthya Academy.
