| Ganesh | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 2, 1977 Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Other names | Golden Star Ganesh, Comedy Time Ganesh |
| Occupation | Actor, producer, director |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Spouse | Shilpa Ganesh (2008–present) |
Ganesh (Kannada: ಗಣೇಶ್, born 2 July 1977) is a Kannada language film actor from India. He shot to popularity with the 2006 blockbuster film Mungaru Male, which became one of the biggest hits in Kannada cinema.
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Guttu was Ganesh's (also called Gaanja Ganesh) first on-camera project. Though it was made as a telefilm in Karnataka, it ran into difficulties getting a timeslot to air, and the frustrated producers played it as a feature in festivals and select theaters in the USA, incurring heavy losses. Ganesh played the hero, Deepak, a hapless software systems analyst, who gets caught up in the ambitious adventure of an NRI woman (played by Chaya Singh) who visits India to try and re-trace her family tree. His flair for comedy and knack for timing showed through in this first role, which caused the director Priyabharati to promote him heavily to directors of many TV series. In his early days, Ganesh bagged a few TV roles by referencing his collaboration with an NRI director.
He acted in several TV serials, including Yadva Tadva, Vataara (directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar) and Pa Pa Pandu (directed by Sihi Kahi Chandru).
As a TV artist he popularised the television program Comedy Time. The program was telecast on Udaya TV from Monday to Friday at 5:00–5:30pm in the beginning and later at 5:30–6:00pm. The program concept was unique: Viewers would write a letter to the anchor describing their family and mentioning their telephone number. Then the anchor would call their number, disguising himself as someone else and fool them. After reading each letter a comedy scene from a chosen Kannada film was telecast in the interim. His unique style of greeting the viewers at the start and end of the program was popular, especially with children.
Following the success of this TV show, fans started to call him "Comedy Time" Ganesh.
He is a nepali belonging to the gorkha community.
His first film was Guttu, a telefilm directed by India's youngest female film director, Priyabharati Joshi, an NRI who came to India with the intention of entering the Indian film industry. Priyabharati offered Ganesh Guttu just as he was about to graduate from Adarsh Film Institute, against the advice of industry insiders who criticized her choice of a newcomer with unconventional looks and no industry ties. Guttu was Ganesh's first time facing the camera, before moving on to his TV career and later, feature films.
Ganesh's first feature wide-release film, Chellata, was a moderate success and ran up to 125 days in some theatres. Chitra Rekha, who had already acted in quite a few films, acted opposite Ganesh in this film.
Then came the 2006 film Mungaru Male, which was a roaring success. The film was directed by Yograj Bhat. Yograj had narrated the script to Puneeth Rajkumar, who rejected it. Ganesh had been involved in the script development process and was curious to act in the movie. He got director Bhat to meet his acquaintance E. Krishnappa. Since Krishnappa knew Ganesh (both hail from Adakamaranahalli, Nelamangala), he agreed to finance the film. Since Yograj Bhat could not get dates from any Kannada actress, he signed a relatively unknown actress, Pooja Gandhi. The film's lyrics were penned by Jayant Kaikini and music was composed by part-time music director Mano Murthy. Jayant Kaikini, son of renowned writer late Gourish Kaikini, was a well-known columnist and writer. The film was mainly shot during the rainy season in places like Madikeri, Sakaleshpura, Jog Falls and Gadag.
Mungaru Male opened to a good response among audiences and went on a record-breaking spree. The film garnered over 75 crores at the box office.[1] It released with 150 prints all over Karnataka, and it was one of the Kannada films that ran to packed houses on weekdays in PVR Cinemas multiplex for 400 days (Puneeth Raj's Milana ran for 300 days in PVR, Bangalore).
The remake rights of the movie were acquired by Suryaprakash Rao of SP Entertainers India Private Limited for Rs. 1.5 crores for Tamil and Telugu combined. The film received lukewarm to average reviews. Rediff.com awarded a three-star rating and praised its cinematography, technical values and acting, but opined that the story was flawed. Nowrunning.com felt that the film lacked a credible story line and gave too much importance to music and song picturisation. Kannada portal Thatskannada.com praised the film for its content, narration and usage of rain as a metaphor for love.
His third film as hero, Hudugaata, was released on 8 June 2007. His subsequent films have included Cheluvina Chithara (2007), Gaalipata (2008), Krishna (2007), Aramane (2008), Bombaat (2008), Sangama (2008), Circus (2009), Ullasa Utsaha, and MaLeyali Jotheyali (2009); Yeno Onthara (2010).
| Year | Film | Co-star | Director | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Chellata | Rekha Vedavyas | M. D. Shidhar | |
| Mungaru Male | Pooja Gandhi | Yograj Bhat | ||
| 2007 | Hudugaata | Rekha Vedavyas | Sanjay. K | |
| Cheluvina Chittara | Amoolya | S. Narayan | ||
| Krishna | Pooja Gandhi, Sharmila Mandre | M. D. Sridhar | ||
| 2008 | Gaalipata | Daisy Bopanna | Yograj Bhat | Ganesh won the Best Kannada Actor award at the 56th Filmfare Awards South. |
| Aramane | Roma | Nagashekar | ||
| Bombaat | Ramya | D. Rajendra Babu | ||
| Sangama | Vedhika | Ravi Verma | ||
| 2009 | Circus | Archana Gupta | Dayal Padmanabhan | |
| Ullasa Utsaha | Yami Gautam | Devaraj Palan | ||
| 2010 | Maleyali Jotheyali | Anjana Sukhani, Yuvika Chaudhary | Preetham Gubbi | Won awards for Best Kannada Actor and Best Kannada Film at 57th Filmfare Awards South |
| Eno Onthara | Priyamani | Mussanje Mahesh | ||
| Cool...Sakkath Hot Maga | Sana Khan | Ganesh | ||
| 2011 | Maduve Mane | Shradha Arya | Sunil Kumar Singh | |
| Mareyuva Munna | Bharath | Announced | ||
| Shyloo | Bhama | S. Narayanan | Remake of Tamil film 'Mynaa' |