He has been conferred the title Nataka Ratna meaning "A Precious Jewel" in the theatre world.

In 1955, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for acting, given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama, and the highest Indian recognition given to practising artists.

[3] The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1972, for his contributions to arts.

An incident to corroborate this is when his second wife Sundaramma, who was also an artist with the company, died on the stage while enacting a play.

[1] Veeranna also is credited for having groomed Rajkumar, Narasimharaju, Balakrishna, G.V.Iyer, B. V. Karanth, Master Hirannaiah and many more artists.

As an example, Veeranna provided a financial contribution towards B. V. Karanth's graduation and master's degree at Banaras Hindu University.

These plays consisted of innovations like trick scenes, floods, clouds and rain.

[7] Most of the actors and actresses that entered the Kannada cinema world in those days were from this drama company.

[9] Rajkumar actually attributed his command over the Kannada language and his singing skills to the training he underwent under the watchful eyes of Gubbi Veeranna.

[10] He has also produced silent movies like His Love Affair which was directed by a foreigner, Raphel Algoet.

In this film, the lead role of the actor was played by Gubbi Veeranna himself and the actress was none other than his wife, Jayamma.

The Karnataka government has instituted the Gubbi Veeranna award for excellence in theatre in his memory.