Sunil Raoh (born 4 September 1978) is a
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. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' direct ...
actor from India. He is also a seasoned singer and lyricist who has performed for few Kannada film songs. He has acted in numerous films as a child artist and also featured in a few television series.
Personal life and family
Sunil Rao comes from a family of well-known musicians. His mother
B. K. Sumitra, is a prominent
Sugama Sangeetha
Sugama Sangeetha, a variety of Bhavageethe, is an Indian musical genre in which poetry in the Kannada language is set to music. It gained recognition with the work of P. Kalinga Rao in the mid -20th century. Mysore Ananthaswamy and C. Aswat ...
(light music) singer. His sister
Sowmya Raoh
Sowmya Raoh is an Indian playback singer who has performed in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages.
Early life and career
Sowmya was born in a Kannada speaking family to veteran singer B. K. Sumitra and Sudhakar in Bangalore, Karnatak ...
is also an established playback singer who has performed for various films in different languages.
He was also interested in playback-singing and entered the film industry aspiring to be one. But he had to change his path towards acting since offers came pouring ever since he was a child. He studied in Bangalore's
National College
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.
Career
As a child artist
Rao started his career as a child artiste in the year 1987 for the films such as ''Kendada Male'' and ''
Elu Suttina Kote
''Elu Suttina Kote'' is an Indian Kannada-language film released in 1987. It is directed by B. C. Gowrishankar and produced by Sa Ra Govindhu.
It stars Rebel Star Ambareesh, Gouthami, Ramesh Aravind, Sundarakrishna Urs, Nagesh Kashyap, Shankar ...
''. He performed his roles much to the attention of producers and went on acting in a few more films.
Television artist
Rao, aspiring to be a playback singer, re-entered acting in his teens. He appeared in a few soap operas that included ''Janani'', ''Chaduranga'', ''Punarjanma'',
B. Suresh's ''Sadhane'' and
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 ...
's ''Manvantara'' and ''Bhageerathi''. In ''Janani'', he was cast as the grandson of
Bharathi Vishnuvardhan
Bharathi Vishnuvardhan (born 15 August 1950), also known mononymously as Bharathi, is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in Kannada cinema and television serials. She began her career in 1966, as a lead actress, with the Kannada mo ...
's character.
Films
Sunil Rao began his film career acting in some non-significant character roles in the films such as ''Chitra'' and ''Panchaalee''. However, he shot to fame in the 2003 released
Hinglish
Hinglish, a portmanteau of Hindi and English, is the macaronic hybrid use of English and languages of the Indian subcontinent, and especially Hindi. It involves code-switching or translanguaging between these languages whereby they are freel ...
film ''
Freaky Chakra
''Freaky Chakra'' is a 2003 Bollywood comedy-drama film directed by V. K. Prakash and Ziba Bhagwagar. The film stars Deepti Naval and Sachin Khedekar. The film was India's official entry for Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, an ...
''. He starred alongside
Deepti Naval
Deepti Naval (born 3 February 1952) is an Indian-born American actress, director, and writer, predominantly active in Hindi cinema.
Her major contribution has been in the area of art cinema, winning critical acclaim for her sensitive and 'clos ...
as a young boy infatuated by an older woman. He also starred as a teenage lover in the
Kavita Lankesh directorial ''Preethi Prema Pranaya'' opposite
Anu Prabhakar
Anu Prabhakar, also known by her married name Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Kannada films and a few Tamil films.
Early life
Anu was born in Bangalore to M. V. Prabhakar, an employee with Bharat H ...
, the same year. Then came his most successful Kannada film ''
Excuse Me'' (2003) where he played an anti-hero character alongside
Ajay Rao
Ajay Rao (also credited as Krishna Ajay Rao) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Kannada film industry. He rose to fame with 2003 blockbuster movie '' Excuse Me''.
Career
Ajay Rao debuted as a lead with the film '' Excuse Me'' (2003) an ...
and
Ramya.
In 2005, he starred in a series of unsuccessful films like ''Chappale'', ''Masala'' and ''Sakha Sakhi''. The latter was a remake of the Tamil hit ''
Thiruda Thirudi
''Thiruda Thirudi'' ( ''Male Thief and Female Thief'') is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant Subramaniam Siva. The film stars Dhanush, Chaya Singh, Karunas, Manikka Vinayagam, and Krishna. This fil ...
''. Most of his films during this time featured him alongside other male lead characters. ''Sakha Sakhi'' was an exception to this. In 2006, he starred in the critically acclaimed ''Belli Betta'' directed by Shivaraj Hoskere. He also appeared as one of the lead characters in the film ''Jackpot''.
Following these ventures, Rao became choosy and featured in very few films in the late 2000s. His only release in 2008 was his cameo appearance in the film ''Tajmahal''. ''
Minugu'' opposite
Pooja Gandhi
Pooja Gandhi (born Sanjana Gandhi in 1983) is an Indian actress, who mainly works in Kannada, Hindi and Tamil films. Pooja Gandhi after starring in the commercially successful 2006 film ''Mungaru Male'', became one of the most popular and high ...
was his solo release in the year 2010. Noted film maker
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 ...
announced a film called ''Sarigama'' in 2008 with Rao and
Prajwal Devaraj
Prajwal Devaraj (born 4 July 1987) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Kannada cinema. He made his debut with the Kannada film ''Sixer'' (2007) for which he won the Best Debut actor award at the Suvarna Film Awards. This was followed by th ...
in the lead. This film, expected to have a 2012 release got shelved due to unknown reasons.
Reports of him coming back to acting after a hiatus made news with his longtime associate director announcing his project called ''Bangalore Calling''. It reported that Sunil would play one of the three main lead roles.
Filmography
Web series
Awards
He has been awarded the 'Roopakala Belli Kanmani Award' as a 'Naada shreshta Kalavida' by the 'Roopakala Utsava-25' linked with the
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...
State in the year 2011
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raoh, Sunil
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Indian male film actors
Living people
1978 births
Indian male child actors
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors