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 [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 | ||
| 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.
Kashinatha Hathwara was an Indian actor and filmmaker who primarily worked in Kannada films. He also worked in Bollywood and on Malayalam movies. With a career spanning over three decades, Kashinath acted in or directed over 40 films, usually comedies. He is credited for introducing new talents such as actor Upendra, musician V. Manohar, and director Sunil Kumar Desai, alongside many other technicians who went on to become successful in the Kannada film industry.
Jaggesh, born on 17 March 1963, is an Indian politician, actor, director and producer, who works in the Kannada film industry. He is a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2022 and the spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka.
Shiva Rajkumar is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, he has worked in over 125 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.
Sudeep Sanjeev, also known as Sudeepa or Kichcha Sudeep, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He is one of the highest paid actors of Kannada Cinema and is one of the first Kannada actors to be listed in the Forbes list of top 100 celebrities of India since 2013. He has received several awards including four Filmfare Awards South, one Karnataka State Film Award and one Nandi Award.
Hemanth Kumar, better known by his stage name Darshan Thoogudeepa or simply Darshan, is an Indian actor, film producer and distributor who works predominantly in Kannada films. One of the leading contemporary actors of Kannada cinema, Darshan established the production house Thoogudeepa Productions in 2006. Its first production was Jothe Jotheyali, with Darshan in a special appearance. His performances in Anatharu (2007) and Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (2012) won him praise from critics; his performance in the latter as the 19th-century warrior Sangolli Rayanna won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor.
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.
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 chiefly works in Kannada films, in addition to a few Telugu and Tamil films.
Krishna known by his stage name Srinagara Kitty, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Kannada television series and films. He started off as a child artist working in a host of television serialized dramas before making his film debut in 2003 in small supporting roles.
Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh, better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and 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).
Sruthi Hariharan is an Indian actress and producer who primarily appears in Kannada language films. Sruthi is a recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards South and one Karnataka State Film Awards.
Uppi 2 is an 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.
Mukunda Murari is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language devotional satirical comedy drama film directed by Nanda Kishore. The film stars Upendra in an atheist role and Sudeepa playing the role of Lord Krishna, teaming up for the first time. The film, a remake of Hindi film OMG - Oh My God! (2012), which in turn was based on a Gujarati stage play Kanji Virrudh Kanji, is produced by M.N. Kumar along with B. Jayashree Devi. The rest of the cast includes Nikita Thukral, Ishita Vyas, Kaavya Shah, P. Ravishankar, Avinash among others. The film has cinematography by Sudhakar S. Raj. The soundtrack and film score are composed by Arjun Janya.
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.