Vemagal Jagannath Rao is an Indian film director in Kannada cinema who started his career with the 1986 drama Aparupada Kathe, starring Ramakrishna and Vijayakashi. He was also the screenplay writer, story writer and dialogue writer of the film. He then went on to direct the 1988 film Kampana, which featured Pavithra, Sharath Babu and Tiger Prabhakar. His 2017 venture includes Anveshi starring Tilak Shekhar, Ramesh Bhat and Naushad in the lead roles. He was also associated with the film as a lyricist.