BENGALURU: Renowned Kannada professor, poet, playwright, lyricist, novelist, translator, and critic HS Venkateshamurthy passed away in Bengaluru on Friday morning. Murthy, aged 80, was admitted to a private hospital in Kengeri due to age-related health complications and breathed his last at around 7 am in Bengaluru. He is survived by four sons. Several of his works, including stories, songs, and screenplay-dialogues, won state and national awards. Melodious songs from the national award-winning children’s film ‘Chinnari Mutha’, the song ‘Baanalli Odo Megha…’ from the movie ‘America, America’, and ‘Thoogumachadalli Kootu…’ from the blockbuster movie ‘Kirik Party’ were penned by Venkateshamurthy.Academically known as Dr Hodigere Shanbhog Venkateshamurthy, he was fondly referred to as ‘HSV’ by his initials in the literary, music, and cinema worlds. Born in a remote hamlet of Hodigere in Channagiri taluk of Davanagere district in 1944, HSV obtained a master’s degree in Kannada at the Central College Bengaluru and a PhD in Kannada literature. Working as a professor of Kannada at the St Joseph’s College of Commerce in Bengaluru, HSV was influenced by traditional art forms, including Yakshagana and Bayalaata, along with the works of Kannada literary giants such as Kuvempu, Bendre, Maasthi, Karanth, Goruru Iyengar, and others. In fact, HSV fondly remembered Prof KS Nissar Ahmed, a prolific writer and poet of the Navya movement of Kannada literature, as his ‘poetic guru’.Starting his literary journey with his first anthology of poems ‘Parivrutha’, HSV dedicated the work to his Kannada teacher Narasimha Shastri, who initiated him into Kannada literature. His creativity, shaped by the memories of rustic rural life, forts, nature, forests, rivers, and bustling markets, helped him blend the two phases (early and later) of popular Navya Literature of Kannada. Some of his poetic works include ‘Onada Marada Giligalu’, ‘Sougandhika’, ‘Elegalu Nooraru’, ‘Agni Sthamba’, and ‘Eshtondu Mukha’. His translation work ‘Rutuvilasa’, based on the classical writer of Sanskrit Kavirathna Kalidasa’s ‘Rutusamhara’, won accolades in literary circles. He penned hundreds of anthologies, short stories, and novels, and plays, and HSV forayed into Kannada theatre and cinema.While some of his stories were successfully depicted on the silver screen, HSV’s story, screenplay, and songs in the movie ‘Chinnari Mutha’ won a national film award. Subsequently, HSV wrote songs for yet another award-winning movie ‘Kotreshi Kanasu’, Ramesh Aravind starrer ‘America, America’, Puneeth Rajkumar starrer ‘Mythri’, Rakshit Shetty starrer ‘Kirik Party’, and the recent blockbuster ‘Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, Side-B’. His poems, set to tune by renowned musicians including C Ashwath, Raju Ananthaswamy, and others, have become popular songs in the Kannada light music world.The title track of Kannada’s famous tele serial ‘Mukta’, and songs such as ‘Lokada Kannige Radheyu kooda…’, ‘Yeke Baradiruve Nanna Murali Mohana’, ‘Huchhu Kodi Manasu…’, ‘Amma Naanu Devarane Benne Kaddilla….’, and ‘Aidu Beralu Koodi Mushtiyu…’ (National diversity) were some of his all-time popular songs sung by many. His literary journey across fields brought him several recognitions, awards, and accolades, including the Kendra Sahitya Academy, Karnataka Sahitya Academy, the 66th Filmfare South award for the best song, and the Rajyotsava award. He chaired the 85th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana as President at Kalaburagi in 2019.