Like many other actors, veteran Kannada film actor, producer, and director Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath, better known as Dwarakish, tried his hands in politics too.
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He contested the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections from his hometown Hunsur constituency in Mysuru in 2004 as the candidate of the Kannada Nadu Party. Businessman Vijay Sankeshwar, who had then quit the BJP, launched the party. Dwarakish lost against G.T. Deve Gowda of the JD(S). Since then, the actor has been a keen follower of State and national politics.
Dwarakish with the late Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief at his 75th birthday celebrations in Bengaluru in November 2008. | Photo Credit: File photo
About a week ago, during an informal chat with The Hindu, Dwarakish, renowned for his comedy roles, discussed the prospects of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, candidates contesting elections, and the role played by Kannada actors and producers in State politics.
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He asked about the significance of the “guarantees” in the polls and had said: “This time, it is very interesting to see which guarantee will win – the ‘Modi guarantee’ or the State Congress government’s guarantees.” He expressed his views against the political slugfest and discussed “failures” of most film actors in politics and “success” of only a few. He keenly followed Mandya district politics, where several film stars contested elections in the past.
Dwarakish filing his nomination papers to contest elections from Hunsur Assembly segment. He is accompanied by actor Vishnuvardhan (right). | Photo Credit: File photo
Remembering Jaffer Sharief
The actor considered his close friend and former Union Railway Minister the late Jaffer Sharief his “godfather” and recalled how he had helped him in undergoing the heart surgery several years ago.
The actor, always jovial despite the ups and downs in the over six-decades-long film career, loved having friends around. He invited many of them on the occasion of his birthday in August 2023. The Mysuru-born, who had acted with legendary actor Rajkumar in many films, had an endearing photograph of him with Rajkumar on the wall of his residence.
He loved gardening and planted several varieties of flowering and fruit-bearing plants and trees around his house. A devout of Raghavendra Swami, Dwarakish loved reading books too.