High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Prema Karanth (August 15, 1936 - October 29, 2007) was a well known theatre personality and the first-ever woman film-maker of Kannada cinema. She was the wife of B. V. Karanth and was known for the children`s plays that she staged. She became the first ever woman director in Kannada cinema when she directed the film Phaniyamma, which was based on a novel by M. K. Indira.