Srinath

Narayana Swamy was born on 28 December 1943 to Ramaswamy Shastri and Lalita in Mysore, in the Kingdom of Mysore of India.[3] He was introduced to Kannada film industry by renowned director S K A Chari. Initially, he acted in amateur dramas and practiced cinematography in Occupational Institute in Bangalore. He entered films through a small role in the Kannada movie Lagna Pathrike.[4] After that, he got a chance to play the main role in a film directed by S K A Chari by name Madhura Milana and it was during this time, his name was changed to Srinath. Since then, he is known as Srinath.[4] After 1975 Shubamangala, Srinath acted nearly 65 films in few years. It was Shubamangala which gave him break, and the movie is considered to be pertinent to any generation, be it 1970's or 2010's.

Srinath, starting from his second film Anireekshita directed by Nagesh Baba, was recognised as an actor with potential and became a popular hero.[4] He has acted in over 350 films. His major films include Besuge (ಬೆಸುಗೆ), Maanasa Sarovara (ಮಾನಸ ಸರೋವರ), Shubhamangala (ಶುಭ ಮಂಗಳ). In 1980, he got the Best Actor Filmfare Award for the film Besuge. Srinath also won State Award as Best Actor for the film Sri Raghavendra Vaibhava.[4] Srinath was also preparing to direct a Kannada movie.[1] Srinath and Manjula acted in 35 films together and were credit as one of the best pairs of the industry.

Srinath was nominated by Bharatiya Janata Party as member of legislative council from the artiste fraternity for a period of six years.[5]

At present, Srinath is the Vice President for Udaya TV Kannada Channel. He also hosts a Game Show by name Adarsha Dampatigalu (Kannada: ಆದರ್ಶ ದಂಪತಿಗಳು), meaning The ideal couple. However, he still continues to act in films and TV serials. He is also acting in a Kannada serial called Bangara He is also acting in the television serial Jagala Gantiyaru (Kannada: ಜಗಳ ಗಂಟಿಯರು) directed by the film director Phani Ramachandra.[1]

In the year of 1980-81 he was honored by the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor for his effective portrayal of the role of Raghavendra in the movie Sri Raghavendra Vaibhava. In year 2003, Srinath was honoured with the Kalaratna (Gem of Art) award by Adarsha Suguma Sangeeta Academy Trust, in Bangalore.[6] The award was honoured by S.M. Shankar, the brother of S.M. Krishna, the then Chief Minister of Karnataka. In the same year, Srinath was honoured with the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava Award given by the Government of Karnataka.[7] Then in 2013 Karnataka State Film Awards, he's honored by the prestigious Dr. Rajkumar Award for his lifetime achievement to Kannada Cinema [8].

Srinath is the younger brother of renowned Kannada theatre artist as well as film actor and writer C. R. Simha. Srinath is married to Geetha Srinath. The couple have two children, a son and a daughter. His son Rohit has acted in several Kannada movies as a child artist. His daughter Amulya currently lives in the U.S. with her husband and three daughters. At present, the family is in Bangalore.

Srinath has set up a charitable trust called Deeya Art Foundation, to provide a helping-hand to the poor and needy who are affected by diseases like cancer, HIV and heart-related ailments.[9] Among the objectives of the foundation are:

• Organising entertainment programs exclusively for cancer-affected patients
• Free health check-up camps
• Fund-raising camps for the physically handicapped
• Service activities at old-age homes
• Blood donation camps
• Free supply of medicines and nutritional food

• Srinath on IMDb
• Srinath's Profile on Chitraranga.com