In another big blow from the world of entertainment, young Kannada filmmaker Naveen passed away due to COVID-19 complications recently. He was 36. Naveen's health had taken a turn for the worse after he contracted the virus, with the news of his sudden demise leaving many shocked in the Kannada film industry. His mortal remains were isolated with proper protocols followed for the cremation at his hometown Madhya in Karnataka. Naveen made his filmmaking debut in 2011 with the film titled One Day, which had Appu Venkatesh and Revanna in the lead roles. 

Naveen is the latest among the victims from the entertainment industry to fall prey to COVID-19 after several notable names passed away after contracting the virus, which has claimed more than 200,000 lives across India and 32,00,000 worldwide. Besides Naveen, several prominent personalities from Karnataka who succumbed to COVID-19 include veteran actor Hulivan Gangadharaiah, poster designer and director Mastan, and actor-producer Dr DS Manjunath. Last week, reputed Kannada film producer Ramu, who had produced some of the biggest mainstream blockbusters with top stars, had also passed away due to the novel coronavirus. The second COVID-19 wave has seen more than 3 lakh deaths so far, with Karnataka now one of the worst-hit states in the country and its capital Bengaluru alone recording 20,000 cases over the past few days. 

Meanwhile, a number of big names from the South Indian entertainment industry have made a good recovery after testing positive for COVID-19. Some of the popular names to have recovered include 'Mega Star' Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Pooja Hegde, director Lokesh Kanagaraj, Tamannaah, and many others.