Veteran actor, director and writer C V Shivashankar passes away at 90

BENGALURU: Veteran Sandalwood actor, director and writer C V Shivashankar (90) passed away after a cardiac arrest on Tuesday afternoon.

He gained popularity through the Kannada song ‘Sirivantanadaru Kannada Nadalli Mereve’. Recently, a video of him with his son went viral. He also worked as a lyricist, dialogue writer, producer and associate director.

Shivashankar had lunch on Tuesday around 2 pm, performed puja at home. After that, he suffered a massive heart attack. He was immediately taken to a hospital, but did not survive. Shivshankar had no health problems, but died of heart attack, family members said.

C V Shivashankar, who entered theatre as a child artist, has done many plays as a child artist itself. Later, he entered the film industry and acted in many films including ‘Ratna Manjari’, ‘Ratnagiri Rahasya’,’ School Master’. He has also worked as an assistant director and became an independent director with the film ‘Mane Katti Nodu’.

He has directed movies including ‘Padaveedhara’, ‘Namma Oor’, ‘Mahadiya Mane’, ‘Hoysala’, ‘Maha Tapaswi’, ‘Kannada Kuvara’, ‘Veera Mahadeva’ and several others.

Sivashankar received many awards including Karnataka State Award in 1991 in recognition of his achievements, the Rajyotsava Award in 1994, and the Singanallur Puttaswamaiah Rajkumar Award.