Upendra (actor)

This article is about the Kannada film actor and director. For the film, see Upendra (film).

Upendra
Born	(1968-09-18) September 18, 1968 Kundapura, Karnataka
Other names	Uppi
Occupation(s)	Film actor Director Producer Screen writer Lyricist Singer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Priyanka Upendra
Children	Ayush, Aishwarya

Upendra (Kannada:ಉಪೇಂದ್ರ; born 18 September 1968) (popularly also called Uppi) is an Indian actor, director, producer, screen writer, lyricist and singer. He stars primarily in Kannada films and is well-known in Sandalwood and Tollywood. He started his career under the director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director. His first directorial venture was Tharle Nan Maga.

In the late 1990s he directed Om, which portrayed actual Bangalore gangsters, followed by A, which was his debut film as an actor. Upendra, his next film, starred Raveena Tandon, a Bollywood actress. After a decade of acting in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films, he returned to the role of director with the multilingual movie Super, which was well-received critically and commercially.

Upendra is known for his work in blockbusters like A (1998), Upendra (1999), Preethse (2000), Raa (2001), Kutumba (2003), Raktha Kanneeru (2003), Gokarna (2003), Gowramma (2005), Auto Shankar (2005), Aishwarya (2006), Anatharu (2007), Budhivanta (2008), Super (2010), Katari Veera Surasundarangi (2012), and Kalpana (2012). Upendra has thus established himself as one of the most successful directors and actors of Kannada cinema. He is currently one of the highest paid directors and actors in the Kannada Film Industry.

Career as a director

• It was Upendra's life's ambition to become a director, for which he first sought to assist director Kashinath. He started off as a director with a typical Kashinath style comedy called Tharle Nan Maga in 1992. The film introduced a talented comedian called Jaggesh, it was also a hit.

• Upendra directed a horror suspense thriller next called Shhh! in 1993. The film featured his mentor Kashinath and a young producer and actor named Kumar Govind. The movie was a major commercial success, and Upendra finally could come out as an independent director.

• His next film was iconic in Kannada cinema - a gangster film called Om which hit the screens in 1995. The film starred Shivrajkumar and also had real gangsters in its cast, and packed a powerful message of peace. The movie was a major trendsetting blockbuster, and it went on to become the highest grossing Kannada film of its time. With Om, Upendra also introduced a talented actress from Coorg, Prema. Om was also remade into several languages - the Hindi version was called Arjun Pandit and had Sunny Deol essaying Shivrajkumar's role. Om is still an extremely popular film, still runs packed houses when released occasionally.

• Upendra then turned towards an ambitious project of directing an extended version of an old favorite Antha and he called it Operation Antha. The film had Ambareesh reprising his iconic role from the earlier 1981 version Antha, as Kanwar Lal. The film contained revolutionary ideology and a strong feeling against corruption, where the protagonist is obsessed by the corrupt world and finds a way to change the system through extremist way. The film was not very successful, it fell prey to a loose screenplay. However, the film was controversial for its taunts on some real life political figures.

• In 1998 Upendra bounced back with a spectacular A, in which he not only directed, but also made a successful transition to acting. A was again a revolutionary film about exploring deeper meanings of love. The film had outrageous posters, even more outrageous dialogues, and a controversial storyline. The plot was of a director falling in love with his lead actress while filming, and then becoming dejected as she leaves him when she becomes successful. The film also dealt with dark truths of film world like the casting couch. Rumors were thick that it was based on his own life, and the actress in the film was his protege Prema. This only added to the popularity of the film, and it became a blockbuster. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing Kannada films of its time. The film was also dubbed to Telugu, and repeated its success in Andhra Pradesh too. The film won accolades from Bollywood personalities like Amitabh Bacchan and Anil Kapoor. Upendra was now not only popular in Karnataka, but also gained popularity in Andhra Pradesh. Upendra was now a big name in Kannada cinema.

• Upendra's next movie was Swasthik with lead Raghavendra Rajkumar which hit the screens in 1998. Taking a plot with terrorism as its core, it narrates the story of an Indian raised by Pakistani parents living in India, who are later revealed to be terrorists. It was not received as well as his other movies, but it is remembered for its smart narration and extremely complicated screenplay.

• In 1999 Upendra came back with a self-titled film, Upendra, a psychological thriller, a masterpiece that explored the nuances of ego. Upendra acted in this film as the unnamed protagonist (or antagonist) Naanu. The film starred three heroines, Damini, Prema, and Bollywood girl Raveena Tandon. Naanu, was an arrogant character, bordered on misogyny, and was very insulting to women. There was a lot of criticism heaped on the film, but it was extremely popular with the audience, because of its narration and its catchy dialogues and attained cult status. The film shattered all box office records of Kannada cinema, and went on to become a much bigger blockbuster than A. The film's Telugu dubbed version also became a huge hit in Andhra Pradesh. Upendra had now become not only a successful star director, but also a new reigning Superstar of Kannada cinema. Upendra was now a hot property in the entire South India. Since then, Upendra gave up direction and concentrated more on his on screen career.

• Upendra came back as a director after 10 years in 2010 with the movie Super. The movie was released in a record number of theatres all over Karnataka and was also dubbed into Telugu and released in Andhara Pradesh. The Utopian film, set in a futuristic India, tells the story of a NRI who, through political manipulations, helps India become a superpower in 2030. Upendra's return to direction after a hiatus of 10 years turned out to be a crowd-puller in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The film broke many box office records upon release and went on to become one of the highest grossing Kannada films of recent times and was also critically acclaimed.

• In 2011, Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth attended a private screening of Super in Bangalore. Rajinikanth watched the film along with Upendra and a couple of friends. Once outside the auditorium, the actor spoke to a huge crowd of media-men who were gathered outside. "Upendra is a great actor and director. There is hardly anyone in Indian Cinema, who would think like him. Only he can think like that. I like watching Upendra's films and this was no exception. If I get an opportunity and an impressive script, I'd like to act in an Upendra film in the future," said Rajini.

• Upendra has announced that he is currently working on the script for his next directorial titled Upendra 2, a sequel to his 1999 blockbuster Upendra. Upendra 2 will be directed and produced by Upendra under his home banner, Upendra Productions. The movie will be a comeback film of formidable trio of musician Gurukiran, cinematographer HC Venu and Upendra. The posters of Upendra 2 which were recently released over the internet, have aroused a lot of curiosity among millions of fans and viewers.

Career as an actor

• After acting in small roles in his mentor Kashinath's films such as Anathana Avanthara and Ajagajanthara, Upendra started his acting career with a bunch of walk on roles notably in his directorial films such as Tharle Nan Maga, Shhh! and Operation Antha.

• In 1998, Upendra made the transition to a full fledged hero with his directorial film A. The audience went crazy about the actor's ability for dialogue delivery, and named him the Real Star. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing Kannada films of its time. The film was also dubbed to Telugu, and repeated its success in Andhra Pradesh too. Upendra was now not only popular in Karnataka, but also gained popularity in Andhra Pradesh. The film won accolades from Bollywood personalities like Amitabh Bacchan and Anil Kapoor. Upendra was now a big name in Kannada cinema.

• In 1999, Upendra starred in a self-titled Psychological thriller, Upendra. The film was again written and directed by Upendra himself. The film shattered all box office records of Kannada cinema and went on to become a much bigger blockbuster than A. The film's Telugu dubbed version also became a huge hit in Andhra Pradesh. Upendra had now become not only a successful star director, but also a new reigning Superstar of Kannada cinema. Upendra was now a hot property in the entire South India.

• In 2000, Upendra starred opposite Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre in the film Preethse which was a remake of the Bollywood film Darr. The film was a Psychological thriller, in which Upendra plays a mad lover who stops at nothing to achieve his love and goes on committing series of murders. Preethse became yet another blockbuster in Upendra's career. After having starred in a series of back to back blockbusters for three years such as A, Upendra, and Preethse, Upendra was now Kannada cinema's most popular Superstar and the highest paid Kannada actor of that time.

• In 2001, Although Upendra did not have any releases in Kannada, his Telugu films such as Kanyadaanam and Raa became box office hits in Andhra Pradesh. Raa was a typical Upendra style film in which he plays a womanizing playboy. Upendra starred opposite Priyanka Trivedi for the first time in this film.

• In 2002, Upendra went on to write and star in a highly controversial film, H2O. Upendra again starred opposite Priyanka Trivedi in this film for the second time. The film also starred famous Tamil star dancer Prabhudeva. H2O was about the sensitive Kaveri river water dispute, which Upendra chose to show symbolically through a love triangle between a Kannadiga (Upendra), a Tamilian (Prabhudeva) and their object of affection, Kaveri (Priyanka Trivedi). The film created a lot of sensation before it released since it touched upon the Kaveri issue. However, the film failed to meet expectations upon release and turned out to be an average grosser. Upendra's next film titled Super Star, was based on the true incidents of the Nepalese royal massacre. This film too failed to meet expectations and turned out be a below average grosser upon release. His next film Naanu Naane failed at the box office. Nagarahavu was also a below average grosser. Upendra then wrote and starred in a big budget Science fiction Robot film titled Hollywood, in which he starred opposite Australian actress Felicity Mason. This film too failed to meet expectations and became another average grosser. Upendra was now beginning to lose his initial stardom after giving a series of box office disappointments.

• In 2003, Upendra strongly bounced back with back to back Super Hits such as Kutumba, Raktha Kanneeru and Gokarna. Raktha Kanneeru was a major blockbuster through which Upendra regained his Superstar status. The film's dilogues caught the fancy of the movie-goers. The same year, Upendra married his H2O co-star Priyanka Trivedi.

• In 2004, Upendra's most awaited gangster film Omkara could not meet expectations and became an average grosser at the box office. However, his next film in 2005, Gowramma was a great commercial success. The same year, Upendra starred opposite Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in the film Auto Shankar which was also a box office hit.

• In 2006, Upendra starred in a Candyfloss Romantic Comdey film Aishwarya directed by Indrajit Lankesh. It was the debut film of bollywood actress Deepika Padukone. The film was made on a high style quotient and was a box office success. Upendra's other films of the year such as Uppi Dada MBBS, Tandege Takka Maga were box office failures.

• In 2007, the only film of Upendra which clicked to some extent at the box office was Anatharu, for which he won critical acclaim for his performance. His other films of 2007 such as Parodi, Masti, Toss, Lava Kusha and Sathyam were all box office failures.

• Upendra bounced back in 2008, his only release of the year Buddhivantha was a major blockbuster and the top box office grosser of the year. Uppi played a womanizing con-man in the film, and his seven get-ups were highly appreciated as were his witty dialogues. However, his films in 2009 such as Dubai Babu and Rajani did not perform well at the box office.

• After many ups and downs in his acting career, Upendra finally came back as a director after 10 years in 2010 with the movie Super in which Upendra starred opposite Tamil actress Nayantara and Tulip Joshi. The movie was released in a record number of theatres all over Karnataka and was also dubbed into Telugu and released in Andhara Pradesh. Upendra's return to direction after a hiatus of 10 years turned out to be a crowd-puller in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The film broke many box office records upon release and went on to become one of the highest grossing Kannada films of recent times and was also critically acclaimed.

• In 2011 Upendra starred opposite his wife Priyanka Trivedi and bollywood actress Celina Jaitley in the film Shrimathi, which was a remake of the 2004 Bollywood film Aitraaz. However, the film failed to do well at the box office.

• In 2012, Upendra gave 2 box office hits - Katari Veera Surasundarangi (Kannada's first 3D film) and Kalpana, 1 Average grosser - Godfather, and 1 flop - Arakshaka. His next film Topiwala is in post production and is scheduled for December 2012 release.

Endorsements

Upendra endorsed United Breweries, Lunars Footwear and the Emani Navaratna Brand. He has been the Brand Ambassador of United Breweries Group since 1999 and has been instrumental in driving the mass appeal of the brand with his iconic punch line Yella OK. Cool drink yaake? as part of the ad campaign that still rules the minds of people of Karnataka even after a decade.

In March 2012, UB Export celebrated more than a decade long association with Upendra in a ceremony at the Taj Vivanta in Bangalore. Commenting on the occasion Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President Marketing, United Breweries Ltd, said "The iconic Yaake? by Upendra in his trademark style has echoed for years and has been successful in capturing the imagination of the people and more importantly it has also enabled us to win several awards and laurels! It’s indeed a happy occasion for us." Commenting on his long standing association with the brand, Upendra added "UB Export was successful in bringing out the quirky side of me in one of my most popular punch lines ever, Yella ok. Cool drink Yaake? It’s been almost 10 years since the ad broke out but the fad of Yaake? still seems to linger. Fans even now refer to it whenever I meet them on occasions."

Personal life

Born in a middle-class family at Koteshwara near Kundapura, Upendra belongs to the Tulu speaking Koteshwara Magane Kota Brahmin community. On December 14, 2003, Uppi married former Miss Kolkata Priyanka Trivedi who met him first on the sets of the Telugu movie Raa and then on the sets of H2O. Upendra and his family reside in Banashankari III Stage in Bangalore. His innovativeness is evident even in the name of his residence, SuMane (which is an abbreviation of Surendra Upendra Mane, meaning House of Surendra - his elder brother and Upendra).

Filmography

As director

Year	Film	Lead Actor(s)	Run in theaters	Awards	Notes
1992	Tharle Nan Maga	Jaggesh	150 days		Appears as narrator, writer, lyricist, Debut film as director
1993	Shhh!	Kumar Govind	250 days		Cameo appearance, writer, lyricist
1995	Om	Shivaraj Kumar	16 years, continues to run in theaters	Filmfare Award for Best Director, Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director	Voice-over, writer
1995	Operation Antha	Ambareesh	150 days		Cameo appearance, writer, lyricist
1998	A	Himself	250 days	Udaya Film Award for Best Male Actor	Writer, lyricist
1999	Swasthik	Raghavendra Rajkumar	100 days		Writer, lyricist
1999	Upendra	Himself	200 days	Filmfare Award for Best Director (Kannada) (1999), Filmfare Award for Best Film (Kannada)	Writer, lyricist
2010	Super	Himself	175 days	Karnataka State Film Award for Best Film, Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director, Udaya Film Award for Best Screenplay, Suvarna Film Awards 2011 - Favorite Film Award, Suvarna Film Awards 2011 - Favorite Director Award.	Writer, lyricist

As actor

Year	Film	Role	Language	Run in theaters	Notes
1989	Anathana Avanthara		Kannada		Cameo appearance (Lord Kamadeva in a song)
1991	Ajagajanthara		Kannada		Cameo appearance
1993	Shhh!		Kannada		Cameo appearance
1995	Operation Antha		Kannada		Cameo Appearance
1998	A	Surya	Kannada & Telugu	25 weeks	Highest Grossing Kannada film of 1998
1998	Kanyadanam		Telugu	125 days	Debut movie in Telugu, a box office success.
1999	Upendra	Naanu	Kannada & Telugu	25 weeks	Highest Grossing film of 1999 The film starred Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon.
2000	Preethse	Chandru	Kannada	25 weeks	Highest Grossing film of 2000 The film starred the Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre.
2000	Oke Maata	Sooryam	Telugu
2001	Raa	Sridhar	Telugu	75 days
2002	H2O	Udayashankar	Kannada, Tamil, Telugu	75 days
2002	Neethone Vuntanu	Ravi	Telugu
2002	Super Star	Praveen, Deependra	Kannada & Telugu	50 days
2002	Nagarahavu	Ajay	Kannada	50 days
2002	Naanu Naane	Raja	Kannada
2002	Hollywood	Upendra, Surendra, Robot US47	Kannada & Telugu	75 days
2003	Kutumba	Vijay	Kannada	125 days
2003	Rakta Kanneeru	Mohan	Kannada & Telugu	120 days	Highest Grossing film of 2003
2003	Gokarna	Sidda	Kannada	25 weeks
2004	Omkara	Sathya	Kannada	50 days
2005	Gowramma	Venkat Swamy	Kannada	125 days
2005	News	Guru	Kannada
2005	Auto Shankar	Shankar	Kannada	100 days	The film starred Shilpa Shetty opposite Upendra.
2006	Uppi Dada MBBS	Rao Bahaddur Upendra	Kannada
2006	Tandege Takka Maga		Kannada
2006	Aishwarya	Abhishek Hegde	Kannada	75 days	Debut film of the Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone
2007	Parodi	Vijay	Kannada		Special Appearance
2007	Masti	Siddappaji	Kannada & Telugu		Special Appearance
2007	Toss	Neelakanta	Telugu
2007	Anatharu	Rudra	Kannada	63 days
2007	Lava Kusha	Chakri	Kannada
2008	Sathyam	Manickvel	Tamil
2008	Buddhivantha	Joseph Fernandez, Panchamrutha, Zakir Hussain, Vijay Mithal, Samarasimha Reddy, Sri Sri Sri Bhagavan Ranjaneesh Swamy, Shyam Prasad	Kannada & Telugu	100 days	Highest Grossing film of 2008, released as Buddhimanthudu in Telugu.
2008	Mast Maja Maadi	Himself	Kannada		Special Appearance
2009	Dubai Babu	Babu	Kannada
2009	Rajani	Rajani	Kannada
2010	Super	Subhash Chandra Gandhi	Kannada & Telugu	25 weeks
2011	Shrimathi	Raj Kumar	Kannada
2012	Aarakshaka	Arun, Vishnu	Kannada
2012	Katari Veera Surasundarangi	Upendra, Mohan	Kannada	56 days	One of the Highest grossing Kannada films of 2012, First full length 3D film in Kannada cinema.
2012	Godfather	Shiva, Ajay, Vijay	Kannada	50 days	Music for the film was composed by A. R. Rahman
2012	Kalpana	Raghava	Kannada	56 days	Declared as a 'Super Hit'
2012	Topiwala		Kannada		Filming

Other awards

• Suvarna Film Awards 2008 - Special Award for Performance - Anatharu
• South Indian International Movie Awards - Special Appreciation Award

External links

• Upendra at IMDb