Upendra is an Indian actor and director known primarily for his work in Kannada cinema. He began his career writing dialogues and lyrics for soundtrack in Kannada films. [1] He then started out as a director making his debut in 1992 with Tharle Nan Maga . In a career spanning over 25 years, he has directed 10 films and acted in over 60 films.
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Roles | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Anantana Avantara | Kamadeva | Cameo |
| Love Maadi Nodu | Doctor | Cameo | |
| 1991 | Ajagajantara | Groom | Cameo |
| 1993 | Shhh! | Fake Police officer | Also director Cameo |
| 1995 | Om | Deena | Also director Voiceover for Kote Prabhakar |
| Operation Antha | Bystander | Also director Cameo | |
| 1998 | A | Surya | Also director |
| 1999 | Upendra | Naanu | Also director |
| 2000 | Preethse | Chandru | |
| 2002 | H2O | Udayashankar | Kannada-Tamil bilingual |
| Super Star | Ricky / Deependra [lower-alpha 1] | ||
| Nagarahavu | Ajay | ||
| Naanu Naane | Raja | ||
| Hollywood | Upendra / Surendra / Robot US47 [lower-alpha 2] | ||
| 2003 | Kutumba | Vijay | |
| Rakta Kanneeru | Mohan | ||
| Gokarna | Sidda | ||
| 2004 | Omkara | Sathya | |
| 2005 | Gowramma | Venkat Swamy | |
| News | Guru | ||
| Auto Shankar | Shankar | ||
| 2006 | Uppi Dada M.B.B.S. | Rao Bahaddur Upendra | |
| Thandege Thakka Maga | Sathya | ||
| Aishwarya | Abhishek Hegde | ||
| 2007 | Parodi | Vijay | Also lyricist |
| Masti | Siddappaji | ||
| Anatharu | Rudra | ||
| Lava Kusha | Chakri | ||
| 2008 | Budhivanta | Panchamrutha [lower-alpha 3] | Seven roles |
| Mast Maja Maadi | Himself | Cameo | |
| 2009 | Dubai Babu | Babu | |
| Rajani | Rajani | ||
| 2010 | Super | Subhash Chandra Gandhi | Also director |
| 2011 | Shrimathi | Raj Kumar | |
| Maryade Ramanna | Cycle (voice) | Voice role [2] | |
| 2012 | Aarakshaka | Arun / Vishnu [lower-alpha 1] | |
| Katari Veera Surasundarangi | Upendra / Mohan / Temporary Yama [lower-alpha 2] | ||
| Godfather | Shiva / Ajay / Vijay [lower-alpha 2] | ||
| Kalpana | Raghava | ||
| 2013 | Topiwala | Basak | |
| 2014 | Brahma | Brahma | |
| Super Ranga | Sriranga | ||
| 2015 | Shivam | Basavanna / Alexander [lower-alpha 1] | |
| Uppi 2 | Naanu / Neenu [lower-alpha 1] | Also director | |
| 2016 | Kalpana 2 | Raghava / Jade Shivu [lower-alpha 1] | |
| Mukunda Murari | Mukunda | ||
| 2017 | Upendra Matte Baa | Upendra / Surendra [lower-alpha 1] | |
| 2019 | I Love You | Santosh | |
| 2022 | Home Minister | Renuka Prasad | [3] |
| 2023 | Kabzaa | Arkeshwara | |
| 2024 | UI † | TBA | Also director Post-production and The 1st Kannada Superstar To Be Scanned In 3D Using 400+ Cameras. [4] |
| Buddhivantha 2 † | TBA | Completed [5] | |
| Thrishulam † | TBA | Filming [6] [7] | |
| Year | Film | Roles | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Omkaram | Narrator in the first scene | Telugu | Also director |
| 1998 | Kanyadanam | Venkat | ||
| 2000 | Oke Maata | Sooryam | ||
| 2001 | Raa | Sridhar | ||
| 2002 | Neethone Vuntanu | Ravi | ||
| H2O | Udayashankar | Tamil | Kannada-Tamil bilingual | |
| 2007 | Toss | Neelakanta | Telugu | |
| 2008 | Satyam | Manickavel | Tamil | Tamil-Telugu bilingual film |
| Salute | Prathap Rudra | Telugu | ||
| 2015 | S/O Satyamurthy | Devaraj | ||
| 2022 | Ghani | Vikramaditya | ||
| 2025 | Coolie | Kaleesha | Tamil |
| Year | Film | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | |||
| 1992 | Sriramachandra | Dialogues | ||
| Tharle Nan Maga |  | | Also choreographer | |
| 1993 | Shhh! | | | |
| 1995 | Om | | | |
| Operation Antha | | | ||
| 1997 | Omkaram | | | Telugu film |
| 1998 | Swasthik | | | |
| A | | | ||
| 1999 | Upendra | | | |
| 2001 | Raa | Screenplay | Telugu film | |
| 2002 | H2O | | Kannada-Tamil bilingual | |
| Super Star | | |||
| Hollywood | | |||
| 2003 | Rakta Kanneeru | | ||
| 2010 | Super | | | |
| 2012 | Katari Veera Surasundarangi | | ||
| 2013 | Topiwala | | ||
| 2015 | Uppi 2 | | | |
| 2024 | UI | | | |
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ragini IPS | [8] | |
| 2022 | Ponniyin Selvan | Kannada dubbed version trailer | [9] |
| Year | Film | Song | Composer | Co-Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Upendra | "Uppiganta Ruchi Bere Illa" | Gurukiran | |
| 2002 | H2O | "Bida Byada", "Dil Ilde Love" | Sadhu Kokila | |
| 2002 | Nagarahavu | "Yaaking Aadthiye" | Hamsalekha | Anuradha Sriram |
| 2003 | Rakta Kanneeru | "Baa Baaro Rasika" | Sadhu Kokila | Sowmya Raoh |
| 2004 | Omkara | "Othla Othla" | Gurukiran | Shamitha Malnad |
| 2006 | Uppi Dada M.B.B.S. | "Makkar Maado Maliniye" | R. P. Patnaik | |
| 2006 | Aishwarya | "Yella Okay Madhuve Yaake" | Rajesh Ramanath | |
| 2007 | Parodi | "Rowdy Mele" | Rajesh Ramanath | |
| 2008 | Budhivanta | "Chitranna" | Vijay Antony | Sangeetha Rajeshwaran |
| 2010 | Super | "Sikkapatte Ishtapatte" | V. Harikrishna | |
| 2011 | Jogayya | "Thagalakonde" | V. Harikrishna | Priya Himesh |
| 2011 | Jarasandha | "Pade Pade Phone-inalli" | V Harikrishna | Priya Himesh |
| 2012 | Katari Veera Surasundarangi | "Muthinantha Muthondhu" | Harikrishna | |
| 2013 | Brindavana | "Oye Kalla" | Harikrishna | Indu Nagaraj |
| 2014 | Jai Lalitha | "Thorisabedammi" | Sridhar V. Sambhram | |
| 2014 | Super Ranga | "Ondsali Avala" | Harikrishna | |
| 2015 | Krishna-Leela | "Phoneammangu Simmappangu" | Sridhar V. | |
| 2015 | Uppi 2 | "Excuse Me Please" | Gurukiran | |
| 2016 | Kalpana 2 | "H2O Kudidivni" | Arjun Janya | Aishwarya Rangarajan |
| 2016 | Mukunda Murari | "I Am God, God is Great" | Arjun Janya | |
| 2019 | I Love You | "Life Ene T20" | Dr. Kiran Thaotambyle | Chethan Naik, Vasushree Halemane |
Upendra is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, playback singer, lyricist and politician who worked primarily in Kannada films. He has also worked in a few Telugu films. Upendra was known for his thematic representation of Indian politics and society in his films. In 2017, He joined the political party Karnataka Pragnyavanta Janata Paksha, before quitting the party in 2018 due to internal differences and formed another party named Uttama Prajaakeeya Party (UPP), which was based on the principles of Prajakiya. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Angkor University in 2015.
Shiva Rajkumar is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning nearly over Four decades, being the Ever geen Superstar of Kannada film industry he has worked in over 135 films in Kannada and has received several awards, including four Karnataka State Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South and six South Indian International Movie Awards.
Veeraswamy Ravichandran, known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an Indian actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor working predominantly in Kannada cinema. The son of film producer N. Veeraswamy, he continues to produce and distribute films under his father's production house, Sri Eswari Productions. He is popularly referred to as "Crazy Star" by the media and his followers.
Gurukiran Shetty, known mononymously as Gurukiran, is an Indian music director of the Kannada film industry in India. He started his career as a music director of the Kannada movie A, directed and acted by Upendra. His music for his next movie Upendra further consolidated his position in Kannada movie industry. He is a native of Mangalore and hails from Bunt Family. His mother tongue is Tulu. He has also acted in several movies in supporting character roles and also sung several songs and also composed in Tamil, Telugu and Tulu movies.
Raktha Kanneeru is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Sadhu Kokila, starring Upendra and Ramya Krishna. The film was produced by Munirathna and was later dubbed in Telugu. The screenplay and dialogues of the film were written by Upendra and the music was composed by Sadhu Kokila.
Priyanka Upendra is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Kannada films and in a few Tamil- and Bengali-language films.
Om, stylized as ॐ, is a 1995 Indian Kannada-language action crime film written and directed by Upendra. The film was produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar under the production company Sri Vajreshwari Combines. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar and Prema with Srishanthi, G. V. Shivanand, Sadhu Kokila in supporting roles with real-life gangsters - Bekkina Kannu Rajendra, Tanveer, Korangu Krishna and Jedaralli Krishnappa - portraying the role of gangsters in a small but important portion of the movie.
Shruthi Chandrasena, known professionally as Hariprriya, is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Kannada films. Hariprriya gained wide acclaim for her role in Ugramm and is also known for her work in Ranna, Ricky, Neerdose, Bharjari, Samhaara, Jai Simha, Bell Bottom, Soojidara and D/O Parvathamma.
Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh, better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his works in Kannada, Tamil and Hindi cinemas. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Rockline Entertainments which has directed over five films as of 2012. In 2015 he co-produced Bajrangi Bhaijaan which earned the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 63rd National Film Awards.
Mylari Ramiah Chandru is an Indian film writer, director and producer who works primarily in Kannada cinema. He is most Known for the 2008 film Taj Mahal.
M.G. Srinivas is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter who works in Kannada cinema. He made his debut as a director in the Kannada film industry with Topiwala (2013), a commercial entertainer starring Upendra. He made his debut as a lead actor in Srinivasa Kalyana (2017).
Uppi 2 is a 2015 Indian Kannada-language allegorical thriller film written and directed by Upendra, and produced by Priyanka Upendra. It is a sequel to the 1999 cult film Upendra. The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Upendra, Kristina Akheeva, Parul Yadav, Sayaji Shinde, Shobaraj, Satyajit, Bank Janardhan, Vaijanath Biradar and Mimicry Dayanand. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Gurukiran.
Kalenahalli Adaviswamy Dhananjaya, also known as Daali, is an Indian actor, lyricist and film producer known for his work in Kannada cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards and four SIIMA Awards for his performances in various films.
V. Nagendra Prasad is a lyricist, composer and director who predominantly works for Kannada cinema. He has written more than 3000 songs, largely for Kannada cinema.
Sreeleela is an American actress of Indian origin who predominantly works in Telugu and Kannada cinema. She began her career as a child artist in 2017, before playing a leading role in the 2019 Kannada film Kiss, and then starred in the Telugu films Pelli SandaD (2021) and Dhamaka (2022). The lattermost won her the SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Telugu. In 2023 and 2024, she had four critical and commercial failures in Skanda, Aadikeshava, Extra Ordinary Man, and Guntur Kaaram.
Home Minister is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action comedy film written and directed by Sujay K. Shrihari and produced by Poorna Naidu. The cinematography done by Ramesh Babu. The film stars Upendra, Vedhika, Tanya Hope, Suman Ranganathan and Aadhya.
Kabzaa (transl. Possession/Conquest) is a 2023 Indian Kannada-language period action film written and directed by R. Chandru. The film features an ensemble cast of Upendra, Shiva Rajkumar, Kiccha Sudeepa, Shriya Saran, Sudha, Murali Sharma, Nawab Sah, Suneel Puranik, John Kokken, Dev Gill, Kabir Duhan Singh, Danish Akhtar Saifi, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Lakki Lakshman and Posani Krishna Murali. In the film, Arkeshwara, an air force officer, enters the underworld due to unavoidable circumststances and revolves around his life between 1942 and 1986.
Niranjan Sudhindra is an Indian actor who works in Kannada films. He made his debut as a child actor in Bellary Naga (2009).
UI is an upcoming Indian Kannada-language surrealist action thriller film written and directed by Upendra, who also stars in the lead role, alongside Reeshma Nanaiah, Murali Sharma, Sunny Leone, Nidhi Subbaiah, Sadhu Kokila, Murali Krishna and Indrajit Lankesh feature in supporting roles. The film is produced by Lahari Films and Venus Enterrtainers.