Karnataka - Mysore   

R.N. Jayagopal passes away

R.N. Jayagopal

MYSORE: R.N. Jayagopal (73), a venerated lyricist, who penned hundreds of melodious and memorable songs, and wrote the script of some films, breathed his last in Chennai on Monday morning. His death has created a vacuum in the Kannada Film Industry, for he had carved a niche for himself through his ‘unforgettable’ songs, some of them landmarks in Kannada cinema. RNJ, as the film fraternity called him, will be missed.

RNJ had been ailing for some time. He was hospitalised in Bangalore for awhile during the recent shooting of “Ramayana” serial for a private channel. He suffered a heart on Monday morning and was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He is survived by his wife Lalitha and only son Ravi Prasad, a software engineer.

RNJ and Chi. Udaya Shankar belonged to the second generation of script, dialogue and lyric writers after Ku. Ra. Seetharama Shastry, Kanagal Prabhakar Shastry and G.V. Iyer. RNJ is one of the four sons of R. Nagendra Rao, another doyen of Kannada films. His brother R.N. Krishna Prasad is a noted cinematographer and another brother, R.N. Sudarshan, is an actor. All the three brothers acted together in “Nayakan” directed by ace director Mani Ratnam.

RNJ was born in 1935 and did his primary and college education in Bangalore. He learnt Carnatic music from B.S. Raj Iyengar and he was good at playing the violin. He had written over 1,500 songs for Kannada films in a career spanning 40 years.

RNJ entered the film industry by writing the lyrics of “Tribhuvana Janani Jaganmohini” for the film “Premada Putri” (1957) produced by his father. From then on he wrote script, dialogue and lyrics for hundreds of films. He had directed eight films, including “Dhumaketu”, “Kesarina Kamala” and “Avala Antaranga”. He won the State award as best dialogue writer for “Namma Makkalu” and “Pallavi and Anupallavi”, which was Mani Ratnam’s first film.

Governor Rameshwar Thakur mourned the death of RNJ. In a message, Mr. Thakur said that Mr. Jayagopal brought dignity to the film literature and creativity. His death is a loss to Kannada literature, he said.

Actor and Member of Parliament M.H. Ambareesh and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed their condolences.

Chairman of the Legislative Council B.K. Chandrashekar said RNJ would never be forgotten.

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