RNK Prasad

Rattehalli Nagendra Rao Krishna Prasad (RNK Prasad) was the son of the doyen of Kannada cinema R. Nagendra Rao. Mr. Prasad, who studied cinematography in S.J. Polytechnic after graduating from Central College in Bangalore, made his debut in Premada Putri (1957), directed by his father.

He honed his skills under Muttuswamy of AVM Studio and later worked with renowned directors, including Puttanna Kanagal.

He worked as cinematographer for more than 80 films, including Naandi , Belli Moda , Vijayanagarada Veeraputra .
Naguva Hoo , his only directorial venture, got him the President's Gold Medal. He got the best cinematographer State award for his work in Belli Moda .

He received the lifetime achievement award from the Karnataka Government for 2008-09.
The book written by RNK Prasad is a subject for study in Universities on cinematography.
He passed away in Chennai on the 15th of Feb,2012 owing to cardiac problems.
He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
RNK Prasad has visualised two movies in Malayalam , Mayor Nair (1966) and Swapnabhoomi (1967), both directed by SR Puttanna.
Source: The Hindu, sify.com

Prepared by: Sreedevi Pillai