He started his career in pioneer of modern Kannada theatre Gubbi Veeranna's drama company as an actor along with Dr.Rajkumar.Then he moved to cinema from theatre and acted in any mainstream commercial cinemas.He along with Rajkumar,Balakrishna and Narasimharaju produced Ranadheera Kanteerava with Rajkumar in lead which is the turning point in his career and also it is one of the most notable cinema of Kannada film history.He also acted in many commercial movies along with Rajkumar.Then he produced Vamsha Vriksha which brought three geniuses together.It was directed by great theatre personalities B.V. Karanth and Girish Karnad which went on to win National award for best direction in 1971.Another Kannada Superstar Vishnuvardhan made his acting debut through this movie.
Then he made musical Hamsageethe,a land mark in his career with then upcoming actor Ananth Nag in the lead.Its music is scored by Dr.Balamuralikrishna which won him critical acclaim and awards.The movie is based on a novel by Ta.Ra.Subbaro which was already made as a Hindi movie Basant Bahar in early 50s.
Adi Shankaracharya,a Sanskrit movie directed by him fetched him awards and international recognition.He became the first film maker in the world to make a movie in the most ancient langauge Sanskrit.
He made movies in Kannada,Tamil,Hindi and Sanskrit.He also made a movie on Swami Vivekananda in Hindi starring popular actors like Mithun Chakraborthy and Hema Malini.He made another Sanskrit movie Bhagvad Gita based on the Indian epic Mahabharath.
He passed away in 2003 in Mumbai.
