Song – Hosa Balu Ninnainda from Auto Raja
Singers – S Janaki
Music Composer – Rajan – Nagendra
Starring – Late Shankar Nag, Gayathri
Auto Raja cemented Shankar Nag’s popularity with the masses. So much so that even now auto rickshaw stands throughout Karnataka celebrate his birth anniversary (November 9) as Auto Day. The film was eventually remade into Tamil with Vijayakanth in the lead role. But it did not get the response the Kannada original did.
Hosa Balu Ninnainda is one of the film’s most memorable song sequences. It features the lilting vocals of S Janaki and perfectly captures the emotions of a couple in throes of a romantic affair.
Its jaunty rhythm speaks of carefree, untainted youth. The director, Vijay, enforces this image by having his lead actors – Shankar and Gayathri frolic in an isolated location with no one to play spoil sport.