Upendra (actor)

Upendra Rao (born 18 September 1967) known mononymously as Upendra, is an Indian film actor, director, producer, screenwriter, lyricist and playback singer who works primarily in Kannada cinema. He started his career under actor and film director Kashinath, as a writer and an assistant director. His first directorial venture was Tharle Nan Maga (1992).

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 movies like A (1998), Kanyadanam (1998), Upendra (1999), Preethse (2000), Raa (2001), H₂O (2002), Kutumba (2003), Raktha Kanneeru (2003), Gokarna (2003), Gowramma (2005), Auto Shankar (2005), Aishwarya (2006), Anatharu (2007), Budhivanta (2008), Super (2010), Katari Veera Surasundarangi (2012), Kalpana (2012), S/O Satyamurthy (2015), and Uppi 2 (2015) Upendra has thus established himself as one of the most successful actors and directors of Kannada cinema. He is currently one of the highest paid directors and actors in the Kannada cinema.

Upendra

Upendra is an Indian name denoting Lord Vishnu. It may refer to:

Upendra (film)

Upendra is a 1999 psychological thriller Kannada film written and directed by Upendra. It starred Upendra, Raveena Tandon, Prema and Damini in the lead roles. The film explores three human emotions through the relationship between the main character and the three heroines. The songs of the film were written by Upendra and music was composed by Gurukiran.

The film won Filmfare Award for Best Film (Kannada) and Filmfare Award for Best Director (Kannada). A Japanese who saw the film in Bangalore was impressed by it as he found it similar to the story of Buddha and got it released in Japan. It was screened at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan in 2001. A sequel tilted Uppi 2 was released in 2015.

Plot

Betala begins to narrate one of his puzzling tales to Vikramāditya which is the story of Naanu (translates to I/Me/Myself), an ego-driven selfish rogue and the three women in his life. Naanu since childhood hates hypocrisy and always speaks the truth. In the process, he exposes the truth behind everything. A young woman Rathi comes to know her father's hatred towards her in this process and falls in love with Naanu. However she finds out that Naanu wants to marry a billionaire Keerthi whose deceased father decides that her husband would inherit her entire wealth. He prints wedding cards and distributes it to all, including the employees working in Keerthi's establishments. This angers Keerthi who orders her guardian's son (who wants to marry her for the same reason) to attack Naanu. They bring a woman Swathi, who lives in his house and toture her. Naanu comes to her rescue and it is revealed that Swathi is Naanu's wife.