Yogaraj Bhat


Yogaraj Bhat is an Indian Kannada film director, lyricist, producer and screenwriter. He is most predominantly known for the 2006 film Mungaru Male. The film recorded the highest box-office collections in the history of Kannada cinema and currently holds the record for the longest running film at a multiplex. He is considered as a cult filmmaker in the industry who brought a new wave of freshness to cinemas through his films, dialogues and songs. Bhat is given the credit of introducing some of the very talented technicians and artists to the film industry.

Early life

Yogaraj Bhat was born in Mandharthi, in the Udupi district in Karnataka.He grew up in Tilavalli, Haveri. He was the youngest of Ramachandra and Jayalakshmi Bhat's seven children. He lost his father to a boat mishap. His belongs to Tulu family of Udupi.

Career

Director

When only Tamil and Telugu Film Industries were considered the southern film industry in terms of commercial films, a silent revolution took place in the Kannada Film Industry in the name of Mungaru Male. A sheer Rs.1.5 crore budgeted movie collected an estimated 50-75 crore, creating the biggest grosser in the Southern Film Industry.
After his apprenticeship in the Television Industry for half a decade, where he learned the art of writing and directing, Yogaraj Bhat started his film career as an assistant to renowned cinematographer Shri S.Ramachandra, then moving on to assist world renowned Filmmaker Shri Girish Kasaravalli, and later the legendary filmmaker Shri V. Ravichandran.
His first film Mani is a critically acclaimed film, winning critics appreciation and Four State Film Awards. The expectation from a newbie Filmmaker was immense. His next film, Ranga SSLC was just an average in the box office.
Mungaru Male, his third film, created history in Southern Film Industry.
Mungaru Male ran for 464 days – first in any language to run for a whole year continually in a multiplex, beating the records of the biggest Hindi Film Industry records. It naturally brought him many rewards, awards and appreciations, including Nine State Film Awards and Four Filmfare Awards. The movie has been remade in all South Indian languages & Bengali. The rights for the movie to be made in Hindi has been bought by Shri. Boney Kapoor.
Overnight, he reached a reverential stage in Kannada Film Industry and managing his head on his shoulder was pretty tough a task for a man in his early 30s. He did succeed in that and grew bigger by the day.
From then on, he has directed eight films and has more often than not proven that Mungaru Male was not a fluke.
His next Gaalipata – Was a runaway hit again and as records confirm, it ran for 45 weeks. The movie won Three Filmfare Awards for Best Actor, Best Music Director and Best Lyricist.
The movies that he has directed after Gaalipata are all box office hits.
Manasare – Is both critically and commercially acclaimed movie and is in the process of being made in Hindi. The movie won Best State Film Award.
Pancharangi – His Home production movie created a new space for unconventional films within the commercial parameters. This too became a super hit movie.
Paramatma – Saw the coming together of two biggest stalwarts of Kannada Film Industry – Super Star Puneeth Rajkumar and Yogaraj Bhat. It is considered as a classic.
Drama – The movie, came as a big relief to the Kannada Audience. It was a huge hit in the box office and was critically acclaimed as well. The movie won Two Filmfare awards for Best Lyricist, Best Music Director.
Vaastu Prakara – His next release was yet another family drama, a movie produced under his home banner Yogaraj Movies. The film deals with beliefs people have in astrology and superstition and how it is being blindly followed overlooking reality and science. This movie won Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Dana Kayonu – The film had created a lot of curiosity among the audience due its candid title. An unconventional film, with Dunia Vijay along with National award winning actress Priya Mani in the lead role. It received immense response from the audience and also from the critics. It was widely appreciated for its un-forgetful story, characters and setting.
Mugulu Nage After Mungaru Male and Gaalipata, this film was a comeback to the duo Yogaraj Bhat and Actor Ganesh after 8 years. This news has created a lot of buzz in the industry and audience. This movie was also liked by the audience once again.
Panchatantra – A new idea again from Yogaraj Bhat which included thrilling Car Race, which had new actors Vihaan and Sonal with Rangaayana Raghu as the pillar of the movie.
Gaalipata 2 is Yogaraj Bhat's next project starring Golden Star Ganesh, Diganth and the director/actor Pawan Kumar yet again a highly expected movie is on its way to start the shooting..

Lyricist

In the midst of the entire buzz, Yogaraj Bhat turned into a film lyricist... unexpectedly, as he describes it.
For the last six years, his songs have been the chart toppers according to the Air Check List. His songs have helped create huge hits in the Kannada Film Industry and there is a belief, if there is a Yogaraj Bhat song, the success is halfway through. Like his movies, his songs have helped many actors and music composers to build a career in the film Industry.
Mungaru Male, Gaalipata, Junglee, Jackie, Manasaare, Pancharangi, Paramatma, Victory, Hudugaru, Drama, Kaddipudi, Bachchan, Adhyaksha, Gajakesari, Rajahuli...to name a few. All these movies have benefitted from his lyrics and few of them have succeeded only because of his songs.
He is considered the most versatile writer who has penned lyrics for slow emotional songs such as 'Mungaru Maleye', 'Doora Swalpa Doora', 'Nadheem Dheem Thana', 'Hookanasa Jokali', 'Chendutiya Pakkadali', 'Eradu Jadeyannu', 'Naa Naguva Modalene', 'Hesaru Poorthi Helade'. He has also penned fast songs like 'Hale Paathre', 'Kathlalli Karadi', 'Khali Quarter Bottle', 'Shiva Antha Hoguthidde', 'Pancharangi'.
He has won a Filmfare Award, State Award, as well as many Private Awards for penning the super hit song, 'Bombe Aadsonu' from the film Drama.

Filmography

YearFilm------
YearFilmDirectorProducerScreenwriterLyricistNotes
2001Chakra
2003Mani
2004Ranga S.S.L.C
2006Mungaru Male
2008Gaalipata
2008Inthi Ninna Preethiya
2009Manasaare
2010Pancharangi
2011Paramathma
2011Lifeu Ishtene
2012DramaFilmfare Award for Best Lyricist – 'Bombe Adsonu'The Bangalore Times Film Awards for 'The Best Lyricist' category for the song 'Bombe Adsonu'.
2014Vaastu Prakaara
2016Dana Kayonu
2017Mugulu Nage
2019Panchatantra
2020Gaalipata 2

As actor

Yograj Movies

Bhat started his own banner Yogaraj Movies in 2006. He has been backing up young upcoming new talents by giving them opportunities to direct their movies under his banner. His movies have created a new space for unconventional films, within commercial parameters. Suri, Pawan Kumar, Pavan Wadeyar, Preetam Gubbi, Ravikiran Vikas, Gadda Viji, and Veerendra started their career under Bhat and now have become successful directors.
Bhat's movies have helped launch the careers of many actors. Ganesh, Yash, Duniya Vijay, Diganth, Neenasam Satish, Pawan Kumar, Pawan Wadeyar, Pooja Gandhi, Aindrita Rai, Nidhi Subbaiah, and Deepa Sannidhi became leading stars after working under him.

Awards

Bhat was the writer and episode director for the Kannada television serial Saadhane. It was selected for the Best Serial Award for 2000–2001.
He has judged the comedy reality show Comedy Kiladigalu.