Happy Birthday, Ambareesh! A Look At The Late South Actor's Film Career And Journey

May 29 marks the 72nd birth anniversary of Malavalli Huche Gowda Amarnath, who was popularly known by his stage name Ambareesh. He was one of the most renowned actors in the Kannada film industry. The late actor was loved for his angry young man depictions and carved a massive fan base with films like Nagarahavu (1972) and Ranganayaki (1981), to name a few. Apart from Kannada, he has appeared in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. On his special day, let’s take a look at his career journey.

Later, actor Ambareesh made his acting debut in 1972 with the Kannada film Naagarahaavu, directed by Puttanna Kanagal. The film was based on T. R. Subba Rao’s three novels, Nagarahavu, Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu and Sarpa Mathsara and starred Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, K. S. Ashwath and Shubha as the main leads.

The film, released on December 29, 1972, to widespread critical acclaim, was a success at the box office and paved the way for the stardom of Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh and Aarathi, who later became leading actors in Kannada cinema.

After this, the actor never looked back. He has worked in popular movies like Onde Roopa Eradu Guna, Chinna Ninna Muddaduve, Thai Meethu Sathiyam, Antha and Bulbul, among others. As per reports, Ambareesh has worked in about 208 films, of which he played police in more than 70.

Ambareesh last essayed the role of Bhishma Pitamaha in the most expensive Kannada-budget Kannada film, Kurukshetra. The mythological war film was written by J. K. Bharavi and directed by Naganna. The story is based on the epic poem Gadhayuddha by Ranna, which itself is based on the Indian epic Mahabharata.

The film revolves around Duryodhana, the Kaurava ruler. Munirathna produced the picture. The film stars Darshan, Ambareesh (in his final appearance), V. Ravichandran, P. Ravishankar, Arjun Sarja, Meghana Raj, Sneha, Sonu Sood, Danish Akhtar Saifi, Nikhil Kumar, Haripriya and Shashikumar portraying figures from the Mahabharata.

The score and soundtrack were composed by V. Harikrishna, while the cinematography was done by Jayanan Vincent. On August 9, 2019, the film was released in over 1000 theatres, making it the most widely distributed Kannada film to date. It is said to be the highest-grossing Kannada film of 2019.