Monish Nagaraj, known by his
screen name Rishi, is an Indian actor, who works mainly 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 ...
. An engineering graduate, he was an active theatre artist before venturing into the Kannada film industry. He rose to fame with the 2017 blockbuster film ''
Operation Alamelamma''.
Early life and education
Rishi was born in
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 ...
and brought up 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 ...
, Karnataka. His father K. C. Nagaraj was a bank official working in
Kaveri Grameena Bank and his mother Anala Nagaraj, is a home maker. His birth name is Monish Nagaraj. He did his schooling from St Joseph's Primary School, Mysore and Pre - University course from
Marimallappa 's College, Mysore. He went on to attend Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, pursuing a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering.
During his engineering days, Rishi developed a keen interest in acting and started performing with various amateur theatre groups in Mysore. He was in charge of the dramatics team at his college and also worked as a Radio Jockey outside.
Career
Through campus placement upon graduation, Rishi got a job in a company and entered a brief corporate stint. Following this, he quit his job to become an entrepreneur in the retail interiors and merchandising field.
He then got an opportunity to appear in
T. N. Seetharam's ''Mahaparva''. Rishi continued to perform with established theatre groups in Bangalore until he got an opportunity to appear in a television daily, ''Anuroopa'', which was telecast on
Star Suvarna
Star Suvarna, ''(formerly Asianet Suvarna)'' is an Indian Kannada language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecast programmes such as serials, rea ...
. His character portrayal in the serial won him Best Actor consecutively for two years at the Star Suvarna Parivar awards.
Debut and recognition
In 2016, director
Suni
The suni (''Nesotragus moschatus'') is a small antelope of the family Bovidae, and one of the smallest ungulates on earth. It occurs in dense underbrush from central Kenya to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It is also found on the island of Zanzi ...
of ''
Simple Agi Ondh Love Story
''Simple Agi Ondh Love Story'' (or ''Simpalaag Ond Love Story'') is a 2013 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Simple Suni, Suni, and stars Rakshit Shetty and Shwetha Srivatsav. The film was remade in Telugu in 20 ...
'' fame cast Rishi for his thriller comedy film
Operation Alamelamma. The film became one of the major blockbuster hits of 2017, also releasing in countries like USA and Europe. Rishi gained wide acclaim for his debut lead role of Purmy, a vegetable vendor. His next release was in 2019 named ''
Kavaludaari
''Kavaludaari'' () is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language neo-noir thriller film written and directed by Hemanth Rao, presented by Puneeth Rajkumar and produced by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar of PRK Productions. Kavaludaari will be the first feature fil ...
'' which was directed by
Hemanth Rao of
Godhi Banna Sadharna Maykattu fame and produced by
Puneeth Rajkumar
Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), affectionately known as Appu (by his fans, after his first lead role in the movie Appu (2002 film), ''Appu''), was an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter a ...
under his production house ''
PRK Productions
PRK Productions is an Indian film production company founded by Puneeth Rajkumar and managed by his wife, Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar.
History
PRK Productions was founded on 20 July 2017. The production house made its feature film debut with '' ...
.'' The film became a blockbuster hit and Rishi gained huge appreciation for his role as Inspector K.S.Shyam from both critics and as well as by audience.
Rishi has finished shooting for ''Sakalakala Vallabha'' which is being directed and co produced by Jacob Verghese along with Tamil actor and producer
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...
.
He is also acting in ''Sarvajanikarige Suvarnavakaasha'' and ''Ramana avatara''
Filmography
Films
Television
Awards
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rishi
Living people
Indian male film actors
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Male actors from Bengaluru
1988 births