Upendra (actor)

Upendra Rao was born in Koteshwara, Udupi district in Karnataka (formerly Mysore State), to Manjunatha Rao and Anusuya. He is the second son; his older brother is Sudheendra Rao. Rao's family was poor. As a baby, he had an eye problem, the result of which can be seen when he rolls his eyeballs in many film sequences. He obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree from APS College of Commerce, Bangalore. During his time at the college, he participated in plays and often formed troupes with his friends. His association with actor and director Kashinath, a distant relative of his, began during his final year in college.[7]

He assisted director Kashinath in various departments apart from assisting in writing songs, dialogues, and screenplay for his movies. He co-directed a film with Kashinath.[8] He started as a director with a typical Kashinath style comedy called Tharle Nan Maga in 1992. The film introduced famed comedian Jaggesh. The movie went on to be a success and has since achieved a cult following.[9]

Upendra directed a horror suspense thriller next called Shhh! in 1993. The film featured Kashinath and a young producer and actor named Kumar Govind. The film was a major box office success, and Upendra came out as an independent director. Shhh! is considered as one of the best horror/thriller movies in Kannada Cinema.[9]

His next film was a gangster film called Om, which was released in 1995. The film starred Shivrajkumar and casted real gangsters in its cast. Om became a blockbuster[9] and went on to be one of the highest-grossing Kannada films of its time and made news at a national level. Upendra became an overnight star director.[9] With Om, Upendra again reunited actress Prema with Shivanna earlier they had acted in a film called Savyasachi. Om was also remade into several languages – the Hindi version was called Arjun Pandit and had Sunny Deol playing Shivrajkumar's role.

Upendra turned towards a project to direct an extended version of the 1981 film Antha and called it Operation Antha. The film had Ambareesh reprise his role from Antha as Kanwar Lal. The film was not very successful; it was also controversial for its taunts on some real-life political figures.[9]

In 1998, Upendra directed A, through which he made a successful transition to acting.[9] There were rumors that it was Upendra's own story, and the actress in the film portrayed his protege Prema. This added to the film's popularity and it broke many box office records upon release and went on to become one of the highest grossing Kannada films of its time.[10] The film had a 175-day run in Karnataka[9] was also dubbed to Telugu, and repeated its success in Andhra Pradesh too, where it had a 100-day run.[11] The film won accolades from Bollywood personalities like Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor.[9] Upendra was now a big name in Kannada cinema and was also popular in Andhra Pradesh.[9][12]

Upendra's next movie was Swasthik with lead Raghavendra Rajkumar, which was released in 1998. The film performed averagely at the box office but critically well received.[9][13]

In 1999, Upendra made a self-titled film, Upendra. Upendra acted in this film as the unnamed protagonist (or antagonist) Naanu (I or Myself). The film starred three heroines: Damini, Prema, and Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon. Naanu was an arrogant character and was very demeaning towards women, bordering on misogyny; which led to a lot of criticism on the film.[9] However, the film broke many box office records and went on to be a much bigger hit than A in both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.[9] The film had a 200-day run in Karnataka[14], and its Telugu version had a 100-day run in Andhra Pradesh.[11] Upendra was now not only a remarkably successful director, but also a big star with a large fan base in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.[9][12][15] Since then, Upendra gave up directing and concentrated more on his acting 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,[16] was dubbed in Telugu, and released in Andhra Pradesh. Super was a blockbuster,[9] breaking many box office records upon release and had a 175-day theatrical run, becoming one of the highest-grossing and critically acclaimed Kannada films of 2010.[17]

In 2011, Tamil actor Rajinikanth attended a private screening of Super in Bangalore. Rajinikanth watched the film along with Upendra and a couple of friends. "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 a Upendra film in the future," said Rajini.[18][19]

In 2015, Upendra directed and starred in a sequel to his 1999 film Upendra, titled Uppi 2.[20] As it was a sequel to Upendra and his comeback as a director after 5 years, expectations and the resulting hype was high before it released.[21][22][23] The film was simultaneously released in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and the USA in over 600 theaters.[24] Upon release, the film set records for the highest grossing opening day for a Kannada movie.[25][26] Although the film got mixed responses because of its confusing storyline and screenplay, it was commercially successful and profitable with a 50-day theatrical run.[27] It sold the second-highest number of tickets in online ticket sales on Bookmyshow among Kannada movies in 2015.[28] It was also successful outside of India and became the second-highest-grossing Kannada film of all time in USA.[29]

Upendra's films have been praised and criticized for their unusual plotlines and screenplay.[52] During a radio interview, Upendra expressed his disappointment at being labeled as a "different director" and explained that most of his directorial ventures deal with the things that he had undergone in his real life.[53] He said, in regards to his non-linear narrative, that "when one wants to capture the upheavals in one's mind, it becomes a jumble. Our mind is like that, always confused."[54]

The subject of the films coupled with Uppi's novel approach made headlines for mixed reasons. Upendra added that in his self-titled film he explored human nature which "ended with “Aham Brahmaasmi”, where I wanted to say rise above I."[55]

Upendra has endorsed the largest number of brands of any Kannada Actors.[56] Upendra has been the brand ambassador of the United Breweries, Lunars Footwear, SK Super TMT, Royal Challengers Bangalore (replaced by Puneeth Rajkumar in IPL 3), Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR), Bangalore Electricity Supply Company, Emani Navaratna Brand, Karnataka Milk Federation (Nandini), Udayavani News Daily.[56]

On 14 December 2003, Upendra married actress and former Miss Kolkata Priyanka Trivedi, who first starred opposite him in the Telugu movie Raa and then in H2O. Upendra and his family reside in Banashankari III Stage in Bangalore.

He started the political party Uttama Prajakeeya Party in 2018, under the concept of "Prajakeeya"—which represents the workers. The political party is focused on education, health and transparency in governance. Although he has strictly kept himself away from contesting in any elections, UPP had candidates across all the constituencies in Karnataka in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.[57][58]

Other honours

• 2015 Honorary Doctorate from Angkor University

• List of actor-politicians

• Upendra at the Official Website of Upendra
• Upendra on IMDb