Suman Nagarkar is a

Kannada film 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. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directe ...

actress, known for her work in BABRU, BRAHMI, Stalker, Nishkarsha, Nammura Mandara Hoove, Ammavara Ganda,

Hoomale ''Hoomale'' () is a 1998 Indian Kannada language film directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar and written by Ramesh Aravind. The film, besides Ramesh, stars Suman Nagarkar, H. G. Dattatreya, Sorat Ashwath and B. V. Radha in prominent roles. P ...

Beladingala Baale ''Beladingala Baale'' ( kn, ಬೆಳದಿಂಗಳ ಬಾಲೆ) is a 1995 Kannada romantic movie directed by Sunil Kumar Desai, starring Anant Nag and Suman Nagarkar. It is based on a Telugu novel titled '' Vennello Adapilla'' by Yandamoor ...

, Ishtakamya, Jeerjimbe, Preetsu Tappenilla, Mungaaru Minchu, Doni Saagali and many others. Suman is also an avid hiker and a marathon runner. Suman is a trained singer and has performed for AIR. Her Hindustani vocal training was from Pt. Sheshadri Gawai under Gwalior gharana.

Early life

Suman Nagarkar grew up in South Bangalore, studied at Mahila Seva Samaja, National High School and later at National College.

Film career

Suman Nagarkar was introduced to the

Kannada film industry 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. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directe ...

by T.S. Narasimhan - a playwright and a script writer, while he was working on the script for ''Kalyana Mantapa.'' Suman acted in the role of

Raghavendra Rajkumar Raghavendra Rajkumar (born 15 August 1965) is an Indian actor, singer and producer of Kannada cinema. He is the son of actor Dr. Rajkumar and film producer Parvathamma Rajkumar. He made his debut as a lead in the film ''Chiranjeevi Sudhaka ...

's sister. She went on to act in other movies like Taayiya Runa, Prema Setuve, Manava 2022 and

Doni Sagali ''Doni Saagali'' () is a 1998 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu. The storyline is based on the novel ''Vimukthe'' by Dr. C. N. Muktha. The film stars Soundarya and Shashikumar. The film was released in 1998 an ...

. Suman played a negative role in

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

Ammavra Ganda ''Ammavra Ganda'' () is a 1997 Indian Kannada-language] romantic comedy film directed by Phani Ramachandra and produced by M. K. Srinivasamurthy. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Bhagyashree of ''Maine Pyar Kiya'' fame in her debut Kannada film a ...

which also brought Bollywood actor

Bhagyashree Bhagyashree Dasani (née Patwardhan; born 23 February 1969) is an Indian actress and social worker. She is known for her roles in Hindi language film and television. Bhagyashree had her breakthrough starring as Suman in the film ''Maine Pyar ...

to Kannada Film Industry. Suman gained popularity from movies like ''

Nammoora Mandara Hoove ''Nammoora Mandara Hoove'' () is a 1996 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Sunil Kumar Desai starring Shiva Rajkumar, Ramesh Aravind and Prema in lead roles. It's considered one of the all-time blockbuster romantic movies in Kannada F ...

'' and ''Beladingala Baale''. She acted in the main role in the movie ''

'', where her face would not be shown to the audience. Suman also garnered a lot of attention for her performance in

Ramesh Aravind Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...

Mungarina Minchu ''Mungarina Minchu'' ( kn, ಮುಂಗಾರಿನ ಮಿಂಚು) is a 1997 Indian Kannada language film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu starring Ramesh Arvind and Shilpa. The film is inspired from the 1942 Italian film '' Quattro passi fr ...

. After appearing in several movies she played the role of a young widow as a lead actor in

directed by

Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter and a lyricist who predominantly works in Kannada Cinema. He made his film debut as a screenplay writer in ''Kadina Benki'' (1986) which won the National Film Award for Best ...

. Her last movie before moving to USA was with

Ravichandran (Kannada actor) Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

Preethsu Thappenilla ''Preethsu Thappenilla'' is a 2000 Indian Kannada language romantic comedy film directed by V. S. Reddy and produced by GVG Raju. The film stars V. Ravichandran, Rachana Banerjee and Nagesh in the leading roles. The film was a remake of Telu ...

. Suman won Lux Udaya Best Actress Award for her performance in

. While in USA Suman taught Hindustani Vocal Music to young and adult students to help people get music orientation. She also attended

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

Cosumnes River College Cosumnes River College is a public community college in Sacramento, California. It opened in 1970, taking its name from the Cosumnes River which flows just a few miles to the south. As of Spring 2017, enrollment was at 13,091 students at its m ...

and Folsom Lake College to learn various aspects of Film Making. After a long gap of 15 years, she returned to acting in ''

Ishtakamya ''Ishtakamya'' is a 2016 Kannada romantic comedy film directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar is based on the 1980s novel of the same name written by Dodderi Venkatagiri Rao. The film features Vijay Suriya of ''Agni Sakshi'' fame, Mayuri Ky ...

'', directed by

Nagathihalli Chandrashekar Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter and a lyricist who predominantly works in Kannada Cinema. He made his film debut as a screenplay writer in ''Kadina Benki'' (1986) which won the National Film Award for Best ...

, Jeerjimbe directed by

Karthik Saragur Karthik Saragur (Kannada: ಕಾರ್ತಿಕ್ ಸರಗೂರ್) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and lyricist who works primarily in Kannada cinema. Early life Karthik hails from Saragur, a small town in Mysore district of Karna ...

and ''Re...'', directed by

Sunil Kumar Desai Sunil Kumar Desai is an Indian film director, writer and producer, known for his work in Kannada cinema. In most of his films, Desai blends art and commercial cinema. He has written and directed suspense/thrillers and love stories. He has won t ...

. Suman also acted in

Kavitha Lankesh Kavitha Lankesh is an Indian film director, screenwriter and a lyricist known for her work in Kannada cinema industry. She began as a documentary film-maker before directing her first feature film, '' Deveeri'' (1999), which went on to win int ...

Summer Holidays Summer holiday may refer to: * Summer vacation, a holiday in the summertime between school years Film * ''Summer Holiday'' (1948 film), an American musical starring Mickey Rooney * ''Summer Holiday'' (1963 film), a British musical starring Cliff ...

. Suman started a production house to produce content oriented films and produced the first Hollywood Kannada film called Babru. This is the first Kannada film to be fully made in USA by Kannadigas living in the USA. This was coproduced by Suman Nagarkar Productions and USA based Yuga Creations. Her next production is

Brahmi Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' o ...

. She also acted in several films like

Stalker Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

, AB+, Mrityunjaya, Rangapravesha among many. Prior to films, Suman acted in several television shows like Astangatha, Kannadiyolagina Kanasugalu directed by

Prakash Belawadi Prakash Belawadi is an Indian theatre artist, film director, television and media personality, who's also a teacher, activist and a journalist. He hails from Bangalore. He has participated in many seminars, conferences and festivals in India an ...

, Sankalana, Belli Tere,

Vaidehi Vaidehi may refer to: *Of, from or related to the ancient Indian kingdom of Videha **Vaidehi, another name for the goddess Sita **Queen Vaidehi, mother of king Ajatashatru * ''Vaidehi'' (2006 TV series), also known as ''Vaidehi – Ek Aur Agni Pa ...

directed by

S. Mahendar S. Mahendar is an Indian film director working in Kannada cinema. He is also a politician with the BJP contesting from Kollegal constituency in Karnataka. He debuted into cinema with ''Pranayada Pakshigalu'' (1992) and went to direct for over ...

, Pattedaar Prabhakar directed by

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 writ ...

Shakthi In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and re ...

, Sanghatane and many more. Suman was also a popular model and was featured for Chennai's Kumaran silks, Rooja Pak, Akash Pumps and other products. Suman was the anchor for Ms. World 1992 for the Kannada relay of the event. Suman is also an avid hiker and a marathon runner, perhaps the only actor in Kannada Film Industry to have run over 50 Half Marathons and 25 Marathons. Suman is also a trained Hindustani singer being trained by Pt. Sheshadri Gawai of Gwalior Gharana. Suman used to sing for AIR Bangalore in Yuva Vani.

Filmography

* ''Kalyana Mantapa'' * '' Nishkarsha'' * ''

'' * ''

'' (1995) * ''

'' * ''

Doni Saagali ''Doni Saagali'' () is a 1998 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu. The storyline is based on the novel ''Vimukthe'' by Dr. C. N. Muktha. The film stars Soundarya and Shashikumar. The film was released in 1998 an ...

'' * ''

'' (2000) * ''

'' (2015) * '' ...Re'' (2016) * '' Jeerjimbe'' (2017) * ''Grey'' (Short Film) (2017) * '' Babru'' (2019) * ''Brahmi'' (Upcoming film) * ''Rangapravesha'' (Upcoming film)

References

External links

* Actresses in Kannada cinema Indian film actresses Actresses from Karnataka Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses {{Karnataka-stub