D. Shankar Singh

Shankar Singh was an employee with the Brooke Bond Tea company. His interest towards films brought him closer to yet another budding director B. Vittalacharya. In 1942, they both initially formed two touring talkies named after Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and called them "Mahatma Touring Talkies" and "Jawahar Touring Talkies" respectively. He actively took part in the freedom struggles during the British rule in India and was a staunch follower of Gandhi. Following the successful run of the touring talkies units, the duo formed a new production house and named it "Mahatma Pictures" in 1946.

In 1947, the production house released their first venture Krishnaleela, starring Kemparaj Urs in the lead role, the film also featured Varadaraj, younger brother of actor Rajkumar and Sharadamma, both making their debuts. The film was directed by C. V. Raju and had a musical score by P. Kalinga Rao, who was noted from this film and also marked the debut of the lyricist Kunigal Prabhakar Shastry and acclaimed writer Hunsur Krishnamurthy.[3] The film was received well with Varadaraj's comedy role of Makaranda being appreciated. Their second production project was in 1948, with the Kemparaj Urs-directed devotional drama Bhakta Ramadas. In 1949, Singh and Vittalacharya produced Nagakannika, directed by G. Vishwanathan and featuring Jayashri in the lead role. The film was talked about for its glamorous role portrayed by Jayashri.

In the next decade, Singh became a full-fledged screenwriter and director with his debut film Jaganmohini, becoming one of the first most commercially successful films in Kannada cinema history. Starring Harini and Prathima Devi, the film screened across Karnataka for more than 100 days. In 1952, he partnered with Vittalacharya in both direction and production for the film Sri Srinivasa Kalyana, featuring Vimalananda Das and Prathima Devi in stellar roles. It also marked the film-acting debut of Rajkumar, who was given a brief character to play; one of the seven Saptarishis.[4] In 1953, Singh produced and directed Dallali, featuring Subbanna in the lead role and in the same year he introduced his son Rajendra Singh Babu in the film Chanchala Kumari.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Singh produced and directed many successful films and became one of the most commercially viable artists in Kannada cinema. All his films were shot at the Navajyothi Studio in Mysore.

Shankar Singh is often referred to as one of the legendary filmmakers of the early Kannada cinema era.[5] He is believed to be a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi and actively participated in the freedom campaigns across Karnataka. His passion towards the arts field drove him to collaborate with a hotelier, B. Vittalacharya and produce some of the best known Kannada films starting from the mid-1940s. Although during that era, all Kannada films were being made and shot in Madras (the present Chennai), Singh is believed to have not moved to Madras for any of his projects. All his films were being shot at Navajyothi Studios in Mysore.[2] Mahatma pictures is also noted for breaking conventions and being experimental towards film making. It was also a pioneer in introducing graphical effects in Kannada cinema by adapting many trick shots in many mythological and folklore films.

Recognizing Singh's determination of making Kannada films in Karnataka, the Government began to subsidize Kannada films. In 1962, Singh insisted the then Chief Minister S. Nijalingappa to extend the patronage for films made in Karnataka. Considering his point, the Government levied a surcharge of a rupee per ticket to fund the development of Kannada industry. Singh is credited to be first to explore the shooting locales in and around Karnataka.

Apart from the leading actor of Kannada cinema, Dr. Rajkumar, Mahatma Pictures has the distinction of introducing many successful artists to the film industry such as P. Kalinga Rao, Rajan–Nagendra, T. N. Balakrishna, Hunsur Krishnamurthy and Arjun Sarja among others.[2]

Shankar Singh is married to the actress Prathima Devi, who played lead roles in many of his directorial and production projects. Their son Rajendra Singh Babu and daughter Vijayalakshmi Singh are both Kannada film directors and producers. Actor Auditya is his grandson and actress Rishika Singh is his granddaughter.

• D. Shankar Singh at IMDb