Yelandur Narayan Ravindra (born 22 December 1959), known

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

ously by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Avinash, is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

films. He has been working in films for more than three decades. Known for his authentic portrayal of complex characters and versatility, Avinash is one of the most sought actors in the supporting category.

Early life

Avinash was born in the town of

Yelandur Yelandur is a taluk and town in Chamarajanagar district in southern Karnataka, India. It has historic and cultural importance in this region. Along with three other taluks, it was officially included into Chamarajanagar district when the distri ...

in Mysore district (now in

Chamarajanagar district Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is the southernmost district in the state of Karnataka, India. It was carved out of the original larger Mysore District in 1998. Chamarajanagar town is the headquarters of this district. It is the third leas ...

), in the Mysore State (now

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

), to Indira and B. K. Narayana Rao, a lawyer. After completing his education at Mysore's

Hardwick High School and College Hardwicke High School and College is an educational institute in Mysore. The school offers primary, higher primary, high school, and pre-university level education. History Formerly known as Wesleyan High School and Methodist Mission High Sch ...

, Avinash went on to attend

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and the premiership of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The university is recognised by t ...

, where he obtained his master's degree in English literature. Drawn to theatre and cinema from a young age, he had an active theater life at Mysore and later at

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. During the time, he taught English at the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, and later at the MES college in Bangalore.

Career

Theatre

His first job after his M.Phil. was that of an English lecturer in National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. He continued to teach at MES College Bangalore as one of the most popular lecturers of the college. However, soon his passion for theatre took him abroad to train in acting at Mermaid Theatre, London. On returning home, he worked in Kannada theatre as part of the renowned B Jayashree's troupe "Spandana" and with the Shankar Nag as part of his "Sanketh" for many years.

Films

Films were a natural choice for Avinash after his debut in G. V. Iyer's ''

Madhvacharya Madhvacharya (; ; 1199–1278 CE or 1238–1317 CE), also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the ''Dvaita'' (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy ...

'' (1986) based on the life and times of the twelfth-century enlightened master as the protagonist

, a film that won several National and State Awards. His debut in mainstream cinema however, was with

Shivarajkumar Dr.Shiva Rajkumar (born Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy; 12 July 1962) 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 Ka ...

's ''

Samyuktha ''Samyuktha'' is a 1988 Indian Kannada-language thriller film directed by K. N. Chandrashekar Sharma. The story is based on a novel of same name by Kakolu Saroja Rao. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Balaraj, Chi Guru Dutt and debutant actress V ...

'' (1988), which went in to become a hit with audiences, ushering him into the world of

South Indian Cinema Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major Dravidian languages of the region, namely Telugu cinema, Telugu, Tamil Cinema, Tamil, Ma ...

. He has worked with more than 200 directors such as K. Balachander,

Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...

T. N. Seetharam Thalagavara Narayanarao Seetharam (born 6 December 1948) is a prominent Kannada film and TV serial director, actor and screenwriter. He has become a cultural icon in Karnataka, India, through his work in several art mediums. Seetharam has wri ...

A. R. Murugadoss Murugadas Arunachalam (born 25 September 1974), known professionally as AR Murugadoss, () is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films ...

Puri Jagannadh Petla "Puri" Jagannadh (born 28 September 1966) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer, who works primarily in the Telugu film Industry. He made his directorial debut in 2000 with the Telugu film '' Badri'' starring Pawan Kaly ...

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambaram (born 15 September 1955), known professionally as P. Vasu, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Kannada films, apart from a few Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam language fi ...

Vetrimaaran V. Chitravel Vetrimaaran (born 4 September 1975) is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He is known for his unique filmography with major commercial success and highly critically acclaime ...

, Siva,

Suseenthiran Suseenthiran is an Indian film director and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He rose to fame with his directorial debut ''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' (2009). Career Suseenthiran, who originally hails from a small village called Amarapoondi in Palani ...

Duniya Suri Duniya Suri, credited onscreen as Suri, is an Indian movie director. He became known as Duniya Suri in the wake of the success of his debut movie '' Duniya'', for which he won the 2006–2007 Karnataka State Film Awards in the Best Screenpl ...

Prashanth Neel Prashanth Neelakantapuram (born 4 June 1980), commonly known as Prashanth Neel, is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Kannada and Telugu films. He debuted with the Kannada action-thriller ''Ugramm'' (2014) and later directed ...

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...

and

T. S. Nagabharana Talakadu Srinivasaiah Nagabharana (born 23 January 1953), commonly known as T. S. Nagabharana, is an Indian film director, in the Kannada film industry and a pioneer of parallel cinema. He is one of the few film directors to have straddled th ...

. His other notable performances were in

's ''

Dweepa ''Dweepa'' () is a 2002 Indian Kannada-language film by Girish Kasaravalli, based on the novel of the same name by Na D'Souza. It stars Soundarya, Avinash and M. V. Vasudeva Rao in the lead roles. The film deals with the raging issue of build ...

'' (2002), in which he played the lead opposite

Soundarya Sowmya Sathyanarayana (18 July 1972 – 17 April 2004), better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress known for her works primarily in Telugu cinema. She was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Telugu ...

's '' Chinnari Mutha'' (1993) and

's ''

Mathadana ''Mathadana'' ( / ) is a 2001 Indian Kannada language political drama film directed by T. N. Seetharam, based on S. L. Bhyrappa's novel of the same name, and starring Anant Nag, Tara, Devaraj, Avinash and Hemanth Vasisht in pivotal roles. ...

'' (2001), all three of which won

National Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian P ...

. He also lists ''

Singaaravva ''Singaaravva'' () is 2003 Indian Kannada language film directed by T. S. Nagabharana, based on the novel ''Singaravva Mattu Aramane'' by Chandrashekhara Kambara, and starring Prema and Avinash. At the 50th National Film Awards, the film ...

'' (2003) and ''

Chigurida Kanasu ''Chigurida Kanasu'' () is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language film directed by T. S. Nagabharana and starring Shiva Rajkumar, Anant Nag, Vidhya Venkatesh, Rekha Unnikrishnan and Avinash. It is based on the 1951 novel of the same name by legendary ...

'' (2003) among his most memorable films.

's hit horror series ''

Apthamitra ''Apthamitra'' () is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language Psychological horror film written and directed by P. Vasu and produced by Dwarakish. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Soundarya and Ramesh in the lead roles, while Prema, Avinash and Dwarak ...

'' (2004), ''

Chandramukhi ''Chandramukhi'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological comedy horror film written and directed by P. Vasu. It is a remake of Vasu's Kannada film '' Apthamitra'' (2004) which itself was based on the Malayalam film '' Manichitrathaz ...

'' (2005) and ''

Aptharakshaka ''Aaptharakshaka'' () is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language horror film directed by P. Vasu and written by V. R. Bhaskar. The film stars Vishnuvardhan (actor), Vishnuvardhan in his 200th Kannada cinema and posthumous work, posthumous film, along wi ...

'' (2010) were high points in his career. ''5Ters'', an experimental (computer graphics) children's film in Hindi gave him the opportunity of playing good and evil characters and he considers the film to be a high point of his career. Apart from his diverse repertoire, he has had the privilege of playing major roles alongside doyens such as Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan,

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

, stars such as

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

Nandamuri Balakrishna Nandamuri Balakrishna (born 10 June 1960), also known as Balayya or NBK, is an Indian actor, film producer, politician and philanthropist known for his works in Telugu cinema. Balakrishna is an elected member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative A ...

Venkatesh Venkatesh is a given name and family name from the Indian subcontinent derived from Venkateswara, a Hindu deity. Notable persons with the name include: * A. Venkatesh Naik (1936 - 2015), member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India * A. Venkatesh (direc ...

Shiva Rajkumar Dr.Shiva Rajkumar (born Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy; 12 July 1962) 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 Ka ...

, Vijay,

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

, Vikram,

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...

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, Yash,

Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), credited as Karthi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil Cinema. He is son of veteran actor Sivakumar who began his career as an assistant director in his elder brother Suriya's film '' Aayutha Ezhuthu ...

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

Prithviraj Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran (Help:IPA/Malayalam, /pr̩t̪ʰʋiɾaːd͡ʒ/; born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, producer, director, and playback singer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Bollywood, Hin ...

and several of the younger stars of

Personal life

Avinash married Malavika, who was his co-star in the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Mayamruga ''Mayamruga'' (Kannada: ಮಾಯಾಮೃಗ; lit: 'The Illusionary animal') is a Kannada language teleserial directed by T. N. Seetharam jointly with P. Sheshadri and Nagendra Sha. It was first aired on DD Chandana in 1998, then it got re-a ...

'', in 2001. They have a son, Gaalav.

Awards and recognition

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada language films. Superlative Winners Award winners The f ...

for ''

'' #South Indian cinematographers association award for Best Supporting actor for ''

'' #Film Fans Association award for Best Supporting Actor for ''

'', ''

'' #Jury's special mention for ''

'', ''

'' #SIFA award for Best Supporting Actor for ''

'' #

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Kannada The Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award is and award presented annually by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Kannada films. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in ...

for ''

'' #Udaya TV award for excellence in cinema #Suvarna TV award for Prithvi #Aryabhata Award for Best Actor for TV series Shikari #Rajyotsava Award of the Karnataka State Govt #

Kempegowda Award The Kempegowda Award or Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award is a civilian award presented annually by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The award nomination is based on the notable contributions of civilians, in t ...

of the BBMP

Partial filmography

Kannada films

Tamil films

Telugu films

Other language films

Other activities

Avinash is the founder member of ''Sneha Loka'', a club to promote sporting activity among the film fraternity.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yelandur, Avinash 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Indian male film actors Male actors in Kannada cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema Living people Filmfare Awards South winners 1959 births People from Chamarajanagar district Male actors in Telugu cinema Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2022