Ganesh
Born	Ganesh Kishan (1978-07-02)2 July 1978 (age 47) Bengaluru,Karnataka, India
Other names	Golden Star, Gani
Occupations	Actor director producer television presenter
Years active	2002–present
Works	Full list
Spouse	Shilpa ​ (m. 2008)​
Children	2

Ganesh Kishan (born 2 July 1978),^[1] knownmononymously asGanesh, is an Indian actor, director, producer and television presenter known for his work inKannada cinema. Through his career in films and television shows, he has become one of the most popular celebrities and highest-paid actors in Kannada cinema.^[2] He is the recipient of several awards, including twoFilmfare Awards.

Ganesh shot to fame with the filmMungaru Male (2006), which set a record in Kannada cinema.^[3] In theatres, it was speculated to have collected over₹ 75crore^[4][5] by the end of its record-breaking 865-day theatrical run.^[6] It was the first movie to be screened continuously for one year in a multiplex in any language in India.^{[7][8][9][10][11]} The success ofMungaru Male brought Ganesh the nickname, "Golden Star".^[12]

Ganesh won two consecutiveBest Actor awards at Filmfare for the romantic comedy-dramaGaalipata (2008) and in the romantic dramaMaleyali Jotheyali (2009). His other major success wasCheluvina Chittara (2007) afterMungaru Male.^[13] He then acted inKrishna (2007),Romeo (2012),Shravani Subramanya (2013),Zoom (2016),Chamak (2017),99 (2019),Gaalipata 2 (2022),Triple Riding (2022).

Ganesh was born on 2 July 1978 inAdakamaranahalli, a village inNelamangala ofBengaluru Rural district inKarnataka.^[14] His father, Kishan, is originally fromNepal and belongs to theGurkha clan whilst his mother, Sulochana, is from Karnataka.^[15][16] He has a younger brother, Mahesh, who debuted as an actor in the Kannada filmNamak Haraam (2015) under the stage name Krishna Mahesh after his first filmBoundary (2013) remained unreleased despite being almost fully completed.^[17][18] He married Shilpa Barkur on 11 February 2008 and has 2 children: Charithriya Ganesh and Vihaan Ganesh.^[19]

Ganesh received primary education at Basaveshwara English School in Nelamangala and secondary education in Standard English School inDasarahalli, Bangalore. According to Ganesh, he was "mischievous and was always made to kneel down outside the classroom, but was also the darling of the teachers due to the active participation in cultural activities".^[20] While in college, he participated actively in inter-collegiate drama skits.

Ganesh's first project wasGuttu, a telefilm directed by India's youngest female film director, Priyabharati Joshi, which remains unreleased. Joshi offered the project to Ganesh just as he was about to graduate from Adarsh Film Institute, against the advice of industry insiders who criticized her choice of a newcomer.Guttu was eventually screened at film festivals and in a few theatres in the US, as the producers weren't able to find a suitable time slot to show it on TV. After graduating in diploma in film acting, he was offered roles in Television series and sitcoms. He was also performing at various road shows and orchestras. However, a major breakthrough in television came with the comedy talk-showComedy Time aired onUdaya TV. Through the success of the show, Ganesh gained immense popularity among the audience with his comic-timing getting prominent notice. He earned the sobriquet "Comedy Time" Ganesh post the show's success.^[21]

Ganesh's initial film appearances were largely asextra actor playinguncredited roles as the lead characters' friend. His first noticeable supporting role was of a villain character in the filmTapori (2002) which was directed byB. Suresha. Portraying the character was a "gory" experience for Ganesh, since "the hero was supposed to hit on face and hit so hard that (his) nose started bleeding".^[22] Following this, in 2003, he played side-kick roles in three films out of whichM. D. Sridhar'sGame For Love was noteworthy while the other two under-performed at the box-office. He continued such roles in the years 2004 and 2005 starring in films such asDayal Padmanabhan'sBaa Baaro Rasika (2004) playingSunil Raoh's friend,V. Ravichandran'sAham Premasmi (2005) andNagathihalli Chandrashekar'sAmrithadhare (2005) co-starringDhyan,Ramya which also had a guest role played byAmitabh Bachchan.^[23]

In 2006, directorM. D. Sridhar approached Ganesh to play the lead role in his filmChellata and he signed the project. Featuring alongsideRekha Vedavyas, Ganesh's performance was well received, and the film was a box office success despite getting mixed reviews. Soon after, directorPreetham Gubbi approached him and outlined the story of his next script titledMungaru Male, which had rain as a backdrop and to be directed byYogaraj Bhat. He was actively involved throughout the script development process and became curious to act in the movie. He also helped director Bhat to meet the producer, E. Krishnappa. Since Krishnappa knew Ganesh (both hails from Adakamaranahalli, Nelamangala), he agreed to finance the film. ActressPooja Gandhi was roped in to play the female lead and the film was mainly shot during the rainy season in places likeMadikeri,Sakaleshpura,Jog Falls andGadag. The film was released on 29 December 2006 and was critically acclaimed particularly drawing praises for Ganesh's performance as Preetham. The film went on to become one of thehighest grossers ever in the history of Kannada cinema and achieved cult status.^[24] The film became the first ever Kannada film to be screened in multiplexes for a year.^[25] The film established the careers of Ganesh, Bhat, Gubbi, Gandhi, the cinematographerS. Krishna, the music composerMano Murthy, the lyricistJayanth Kaikini and the playback singerSonu Nigam in Kannada cinema. Indicine.com's critic described Ganesh as the "life and soul of the movie".^[26] Ganesh was nominated at theFilmfare Awards for theBest Actor.

In 2007, Ganesh collaborated again with M. D. Sridhar and Pooja Gandhi inKrishna, which became sensational hit at the box office, completing 100-days in main centres ofKarnataka.^{[citation needed]} He further starred inHudugaata, the Indian adaptation of the American filmIt Happened One Night (1934) costarring Rekha Vedavyas. The film met with critical reviews and achieved moderate success at the box office. The third project of the year,Cheluvina Chittara, a remake of Tamil filmKaadhal, marked the first association of Ganesh with directorS. Narayan and costarredAmoolya. The film had a successful run at the box office and was one of the highest grossers of the year. Ganesh earned the title "Golden Star" after having starred in this film.^[27] He also won theUdaya Film Award for Best Actor.

In 2008, Ganesh appeared in four films. In his first release of the year,Gaalipata, a triple hero coming-of-age comedy, Ganesh partnered once again with Yogaraj Bhat and shot for the film in and aroundThirthahalli andAgumbe region alongsideDiganth andRajesh Krishnan. The film opened to positive reviews from critics.^[28][29] Emerging as a commercial success, it completed a 175-day run in theaters and received 11 nominations at the56th Filmfare Awards South, winning three awards includingBest Actor for Ganesh. His next success came throughAramane directed byNagashekar, making his debut and had actressRoma paired with him. This was followed by two unsuccessful projects,Bombaat directed byD. Rajendra Babu pairing oppositeRamya andSangama withVedhicka. He started the year 2009 with an average grosser comedy filmCircus. The film featured him as a carefree urban youth who along with his friends help in foiling the plans of a terrorist gang. This was soon followed by another blockbuster filmMaleyali Jotheyali which fetched him his second Filmfare Award. The film was produced under his home banner "Golden Movies" by his wife Shilpa and directed byPreetham Gubbi. Ganesh made his debut as a singer with this film. Critics unanimously praised his performance and the film successfully completed 100 days run.^[30] In 2010, he featured in box-office failure films includingUllasa Utsaha, a remake of Telugu filmUllasamga Utsahamga andEno Onthara, a remake of Tamil filmKushi.

Ganesh made his debut in direction with the filmKool in 2011. Starring in the dual roles alongsideSana Khan, the film was produced under his home banner. The film met with critical reviews from critics and underperformed at the box-office. A critic from Bangalore Mirror wrote "Ganesh attempts too many things in this film, making it a mess of everything.He sings, co-writes dialogues, gets his wife to produce the movie. Unwarranted and avoidable. Not Kool at all".^[31] Upon its failure, Ganesh termed it as a "learning experience".^[32] This was followed byMaduve Mane, yet another unsuccessful project that hadShradha Arya paired opposite him. Later in the year, Ganesh reunited with S. Narayan for the film,Shyloo, a remake of Tamil filmMynaa (2010) which got positive reviews from critics and the lead actors performances were appreciated.^[33] In 2012, Ganesh featured in three films and gave a voice over for the filmRambo starringSharan in the lead role.Munjane marked the third collaboration with S. Narayan.Romeo, directed byPC Shekhar and starringBhavana was a musical hit soon after its release. The third release of the year,Mr. 420, however, was abox-office bomb.^[34] His following releases in the year 2013 namelyAuto Raja,Sakkare andShravani Subramanya were all average grossers except the latter which was one of the successful films of the year and earned him a Filmfare Award nomination. He had a solo release in 2014 in the form of Preetham Gubbi's comedy dramaDil Rangeela. The film met with average reviews and was declared a sleeper hit of the year.^[35]

In the year 2015, Ganesh featured in his 25th film as actor through the filmBuguri^[36] The film met with average response from critics and audience. The other releaseKhushi Khushiyagi was a remake of Telugu filmGunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde (2013).

Ganesh's first among four releases in 2016 featured him in dual roles performing both comedy and action for the filmStyle King. Directed byPC Shekhar and co-starringRemya Nambeesan, the film received a lukewarm response at the box office with critics branding the film as 'Typical'.^[37] Next he appeared in the comedy dramaZoom and paired oppositeRadhika Pandit. The film, adapted fromLover Come Back (1961), featured actorKashinath in his last on-screen appearance. This met with mixed reviews from the critics and termed as a box-office failure project.^{[citation needed]} He reprised his role as Preetham in his next releaseMungaru Male 2, a sequel to the2007 film, this time directed byShashank and featuringNeha Shetty as Nandini. The film performed moderately well at the box office and met with critical reviews with a critic fromBangalore Mirror wrote that "Unfortunately, a sequel creates great expectations and 2006’s Mungaru Male was a tough act to follow. Shashank’s attempt is forced and he seems to have fallen for the routine traps under the weight of those expectations".^[38] His final release of the year was a comedySundaranga Jaana, directed byRamesh Aravind and was a remake of Telugu filmBhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015).

His filmsPataki,Mugulu Nage andChamak all released in 2017 and met with critical reviews and found moderate to weak response from the audience. He producedMugulu Nage along with his wife Shilpa and teamed up with directorYogaraj Bhat after 10 years.^[39][40] His dull phase continued in 2018 with the release ofOrange which was the first ever venture inKannada cinema to have been acquired by theAmazon Prime prior to its release.^[41] In 2019, he appeared in99 the remake of Tamil film'96. The title 99 was chosen because of directorPreetham Gubbi's friendship with Ganesh which began in 1999, when they were in college together.^[42] The film met with positive response lauding the performances of both Ganesh andBhavana. His next releases,Gimmick andGeetha, however received negative reviews. The latter film was based on the backdrop ofGokak Agitation.^[43] His lone release in 2021 was an average grosser,Sakath, an action drama film directed bySuni. The film received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics upon release. While the cast performances, writing, music and cinematography received praise, criticism was directed at its length.

Ganesh's first 2022 role was his starring role as Gani inGaalipata 2, directed by Yogaraj Bhat and featuringAnant Nag,Diganth,Pawan Kumar,Vaibhavi Shandilya,Samyuktha Menon andSharmiela Mandre alongside him. The film, officially not the sequel to the2008 film of the same name,^[44] made profits out of its theatrical and OTT releases. His next was a comedy dramaTriple Riding which released after a delay of 3 years and met with mixed critical reviews. In 2023, he teamed up with Preetham Gubbi for the fourth time for the filmBaanadariyalli. The film marked the first Kannada project to have shot inKenya'sMaasai Mara National Reserve.^[45][46]

Ganesh's next appearance was inSrinivas Raju's directorialKrishnam Pranaya Sakhi, which released in 2024.^[47] The teaser for Ganesh's next movie, titled Yours Sincerely RAAM, was released on 6 September 2024.^[48]

Ganesh was signed as the brand ambassador of Reliance Mobile (2009–2011), Coca-Cola (2010–2011), and Rim-Jim product from Coca-Cola (2022).

• Refers to the year in which ceremony was held.

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