This year marks the centenary of author, playwright, academician, voice over artiste and actor H.K. Ranganath, better known as HKR.
To celebrate his work, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kalagangotri and Navachetana Trust presented Ranga Sanga , on Thursday, at Ravindra Kalakshetra, J.C. Road, an evening to remember him.
Also a UNESCO consultant on using traditional media for rural development, Ranganath was a prolific writer of plays for stage and radio, besides authoring monographs on Yakshagana, Katha Kirtan and Kannada theatre. The late academician’s PhD thesis on Karnataka Theatre published in 1960 by the Karnataka University is still recognised as a valuable source book. He served as a drama producer in the All India Radio (Akashvani), zonal head and regional Director of the Southern Centre of Song and Drama Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, chairman and professor of the Department of Performing Arts, Bangalore University, emeritus professor and director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, honorary Director at the Gandhi Centre of Science and Human Values, and as honorary producer emeritus, Akashvani and Doordarshan.
Fans of his voice Apart from his immense contribution to the academic world, radio listeners were huge fans of his voice and the several programmes he presented on Akashvani. Speaking to The Hindu , B.K.
Sumathi, senior announcer, All India Radio, says that some of the programmes recorded by Ranganath including a series programme called Kannadada A.