Srini is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter who works in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

. He made his debut as a director in the Kannada film industry with '' Topiwala'' (2013), a commercial entertainer starring

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

. He made his debut as a lead actor in '' Srinivasa Kalyana'' (2017). Srini first became an RJ with his show on 93.5 RED FM, Blade Raja. He did

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s. His first short film Rules, has the distinction of being screened at Australia's Bollywood and Beyond

Film Festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

, his next project won him the Platinum Remi Award at the Houston Film Festival. Titled ''

Simply Kailawesome ''Simply Kailawesome'' is a Kannada short film directed by M. G. Srinivas. The film was made on playwright T. P. Kailasam and revolves around conversations between Kailasam and female protagonists from four of his plays. While MG Srinivas playe ...

'', the film centers itself around the life and literary works of renowned

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 ...

writer T P Kailasam. It was also this very film that caught Upendra's attention, following which Topiwala happened. This led to his first feature '' Topiwala'', with

in the lead.

Early life and background

He was educated at Bangalore's Presidency School. After completing his graduation and acquiring his BSc degree fro
Seshadripuram College
. He began his career as a background dancer for various shows before transitioning to dance choreography. In 2007, he joined 93.5 93.5 RED FM as a professional radio jockey. His morning prime time show Blade Raja became one of the station's most popular programs during that period.

Personal life

He married Shruti IL, a Journalist on 30 June 2019 in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Film career

Alongside his radio jockey career, Srini started making short films. His first short movie was Rules, which grabbed attention for its slapstick comedy inter-twined with a satirical tone on speed breakers. This film was officially screened in the

Australian Film Festival The Australian Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney. The festival showcases the films of Australian talent working in a variety of mediums, including; feature films, short films, television and online we ...

, Bollywood_%26_Beyond. Following this stint, Srini, trained a
Abhinaya Taranga
to learn the nuances of acting. He made his second short film ''

'', which was based on TP Kailasam’s works. He essayed the lead role in the film. ''

''’s win of the Platinum

Remi The Remi (Gaulish: ''Rēmi'', 'the first, the princes') were a Belgic tribe dwelling in the Aisne, Vesle and Suippe river valleys during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their territory roughly corresponded the modern Marne and Ardennes a ...

Award at the Houston Film Festival, paved way for a formal introduction to Kannada superstar

. Srini then went on to direct '' Topiwala'' for

and the film opened to a positive response. He next directed a romantic comedy, '' Srinivasa Kalyana'', produced by Bharat Jain under Mars Films. This movie also saw Srini making his commercial movie debut as a lead actor. However, Srini was first seen as an actor in Sudeep directorial, '' Just Maath Maathalli''.In this 2010 Kannada movie, he was seen as Ramya's music freak brother. Srinivasa Kalyana opened to positive reviews across the state.

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

gave the movie 3/5 and praised the movie for its light-hearted comedy and youthful charm which showed a complex philosophical thought in a simple manner.

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

rated 3.5/5 and praised the sass touch to this candy-floss romance. His next venture was the crime thriller Birbal Trilogy. The first part is, ''Case 1: Finding Vajramuni'', followed by '' Case 2: Avrn bitt, Ivrn bitt, Ivryaru?'' and the last one is '' Case 3: Turremane''. '' Birbal Trilogy Case 1: Finding Vajramuni'', released in January 2019, and starred Srini himself and Rukmini Vasanth in the lead. Sujay Shastry, Suresh Heblikar, and Madhusudhan Rao are also, seen in prominent roles. Srini completed the film Old MonkThe film features MG Srinivas,

Aditi Prabhudeva Sudeepana Banakar Prabhudeva (born 13 January 1994), known professionally as Aditi Prabhudeva, is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Kannada films. Early and personal life Aditi was born as Sudeepana Banakar Prabhudeva on 13 Januar ...

in lead role. The film's title was inspired from the popular alcohol beverage brand, but it also means "Hale Sanyasi" in Kannada. Veteran actor Rajesh, made a special cameo appearance in the film. The film was released on February 25, 2022 simultaneously in the Kannada and Telugu languages. Critics praised the direction, comedy, writing, dialogue and performance of the film. Music Director duo Saurabh and Vaibhav collaborate a second time with Srini after Birbal, and are one of the producers of the movie. His next film was

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

which is an Indian Kannada-language action heist thriller film written and directed by Srini, and produced by Sandesh Nagraj under Sandesh Productions banners. The film stars

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 ...

Prashant Narayanan Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like '' Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II'', '' Shadows of Time'', '' Bombil and Beatrice'', '' Via Darjeeling'' and '' Murder 2''. He also worked in the telefilm ''Ek Tamanna''. His ...

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

Anupam Kher Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has acted in more than 540 films. A veteran of Indian cinema, Kher is recipient of two Na ...

, Satya Prakash and Archana Jois. The film was officially announced in 2022 under the Sandesh Nagraj Productions Sandalwood. The film was released theatrically on 19 October 2023, coinciding with

Dussehra Vijayadashami (), more commonly known as Dassahra in Hindi, and also known as Dashāhra or Dashain in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Nepali, is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Durga Puja and Navarahtri. It is observed o ...

. It is the second installment of a cinematic universe following ''Birbal Trilogy Case 1: Finding Vajramuni'' in which Srini reprises his role as Mahesh Das. The film received positive reviews from critics.

Awards

Filmography

Business ventures

In 2024, Srini founded AI Samhitha, a company specializing in voice cloning technology. Also in 2024, Srini collaborated with Iranian VFX company ASOO VFX as a co-founder to establish their branch in Bangalore, India.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Srini Kannada film directors Living people 1984 births