Prakash Belawadi
Prakash Belawadi is an Indian theater, film, TV and media character, instructor, lobbyist and columnist from Bangalore. He has taken part in numerous classes, gatherings and celebrations in India and abroad. He has been an inspirational orator at occasions and TEDx gatherings. He is likewise a coach with the establishing group of BISFF (Bengaluru International Short Film Festival) beginning around 2010.
Early life
Belawadi was naturally introduced to a group of theater artistes in Bangalore, in the past Mysore State (presently Karnataka). His dad, Belavadi Nanjundaiah Narayan (1929-2003) famously known as Makeup Nani, was a character in Kannada theater, who likewise showed up in films, and functioned as a make-up craftsman close by. His mom, Bhargavi Narayan, was an eminent film and theater artiste. His kin Sujata, Sudha and Pradeep, and nieces and nephews are likewise differently associated with theater, music, TV and film. He finished his rudimentary training at Mahila Seva Samaja, higher school training in National High School, following which he finished his pre-college course at National College, Bangalore. He got a degree in mechanical designing from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in 1983,
Awards
- Prakash Belawadi’s debut film Stumble, which he wrote and directed, won the National Award for Best Film in the English language, 2003.
- He was conferred ‘Pratibha Bhushan’ in 2003 by the Government of Karnataka for his contribution to culture.
- He was recipient of Karnataka Nataka Academy Award (2011–12) for his contribution to English and Kannada language theatre, and
- He was awarded the ‘Pride of Karnataka’ by Bangalore Round Table (2015),.
- He was the ‘Varshada Kannadiga’ (2015) in the field of entertainment, conferred by News 18 Kannada.
- He was given Helpmann Award, Australia (2019) for Best Actor, Male in the play ‘Counting and Cracking’, Belvoir St. Theatre, Sydney”.
International
Belawadi as mentioned earlier has participated in many seminars, conferences and festivals in India and abroad, including the Beyond Bollywood conference at the Gothenburg International Film Festival, 2010 the Performing Arts Market conference in Seoul, 2011 the 50th Theatertreffen – annual theatre festival meet at Berlin, 2013 and the seminar and exhibition, ‘Nature – A Good Idea’ at Trollhättan, Sweden in 2014. He has been faculty for film courses in Sweden and Istanbul, Turkey.
As director
- His debut film feature has now been included in the national telecaster Doordarshan’s Best of Indian Cinema series.
- The serial ‘Garva’, which he wrote and directed in 2001 is still considered a classic among Kannada serials.
But Belawadi believes he belongs to the stage.
Activism
Belawadi is one of the founding members of Citizens for Bengaluru, an active platform for people to engage with the city government to make it accountable to citizens. Belawadi curates ‘Rotary Avani’, an annual ecology festival in Bengaluru between 22 April, International Mother Earth Day and 5 June, World Environment Day, to create awareness about the environment, in The Five Elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Sky, so that people, together with government, industry, business and citizens can participate in initiatives to improve urban ecological health.
