One of the pioneers of Indian cinema, Girish Kasaravalli has gained international recognition for his works. A gold medalist from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, his diploma film ‘Avashesha‘ won the National Film Award for Best Student Film and Best Short Fiction that year.

Hailing from the hills of Karnataka, Girisha Kasaravalli has directed 15 feature films, some documentaries, 2 telefilms and TV serial ‘Grihabhanga‘ in the past half-century of cinematography. These films are not only popular but also won many awards. His films have won 27 international awards, 25 national awards and 46 state awards. Among them are the President’s Medal (15 times) that he personally received, and the State Award (13 times). Kasaravalli is one of the only four Indian directors to have received the President’s Golden Lotus award four times. Apart from this his films won various 23 awards like Filmfare Award, Indian Express Award, V. Shantaram Award, Crystal Globe Award of London… etc. His films have been screened at film festivals in more than 36 countries. 11 books in English and 4 books in Kannada have been published on his films. 

Three people have written research papers on him and received Ph.D awards. Essays on his films are available in 9 books at international level. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by 2 universities and ‘Lifetime Achievement’ awards by four institutions. The central government honoured all of them with the Padma Shri award. He created the work ‘Bimba Bimbana‘, a compilation of his films, with Gopalakrishna Pai.