By full name Mysore Shrivinas Sathyu, he is a film, television and theatre director. He entered the world of film as early as 1952, leaving college in Bangalore. He went to Mumbai where he worked as an animator. A few years later he got a director's assistant job with Chetan Anand. He worked as art director on his film Haqeeqat (1964). Simultaneously he did the same job in theatre, directing numerous plays, and directed his first films, making his most famous film Garam Hawa (Scorching Wings, 1973) in the mid-1970s. During his career he also made short and documentary films. Among his feature length there are Ek tha Chotu Ek tha Motu (1965), Kanneshwara Rama (The Legendary Outlaw, 1977), Sookha (1984) and Ghalige (1995). In the mid-1980s he started directing television serials and films. He has been continuously active in theatre, making his following big screen film Ijjodu in 2009, after a long break.