Puttanna Kanagal (born Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma, 1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), was an Indian filmmaker and is considered as one of Kannada's cinema's greatest filmmakers. He was born in Kanagal, a village in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore into a poor family. Starting his career as a publicity boy, Kanagal was drawn into independent filmmaking after a stint in theatre and working with film director and producer B. R. Panthulu as his assistant. Kanagal's assiatants include Tamil directors SP. Muthuraman and P. Bharathiraja, and T. S. Nagabharana.