Darshan (actor)

Darshan Thoogudeep  

Darshan in Saarathi  
Native name ದರ್ಶನ್ ತೂಗುದೀಪ್  
Born Darshan
16 February 1977 (age 38)
Mysuru, Karnataka, India  
Residence Bengaluru, Karnataka, India  
Other names Challenging Star, Box Office Sultan, Karunaada Kalatathna,Mass Star  
Occupation Actor, producer, distributor  
Years active 2001–present  
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)  
Spouse(s) Vijaya Lakshmi (m. 2000)  
Children Vineesh Thoogudeep  
Parent(s) Thoogudeepa Srinivas
Meena Thoogudeepa  
Relatives Muniswamy (Paternal grandfather)
Parvathamma (Paternal grandmother)
Dinakar Thoogudeep (brother)
Divya (sister),  
Awards Filmfare Awards South
Karnataka State Film Awards
Darshan Thoogudeep (born 16 February, 1977), mononymously addressed as Darshan, is an Indian film actor, film producer anddistributor who works predominantly in the Kannada film industry. He is popularly credited as Challenging Star and Box Office Sultanby his fans.[1] He is the son of veteran Kannada actor Thoogudeepa Srinivas(1943-1995). Darshan initially worked in trivial roles in few films and television shows, later made his debut in a lead role in 2001 film, Majestic, and has since then starred in many commercial and critical hit films such as Kariya (2003), Namma Preethiya Ramu (2003), Kalasipalya (2005), Gaja (2008), Saarathi(2011), Chingari (2012) Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (2012), Bulbul (2013) and Ambareesha (2014).[2]
After working behind the camera as a assistant cameraman and in small roles, he received his break in Majestic which marked the beginning of his successful career. After earning stability and fame in his acting career he forayed into film production and distribution. He established his own production house "Thoogudeepa productions" in 2006, which has been a successful commercial venture. It's first production was Jothe Jotheyali with Darshan in a special appearance.[3] Because of his consistent performance at box office, he is considered one of the most dependable, commercially successful and bankable stars in the industry. An avid animal lover, he is well known for his strong passion for pets, wild animals and owns a private stud in his farmhouse in the far east of Mysore city.[3][4][5][6][7]
Contents
  [hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Early career
2.2 2001 - 2010
2.3 2010 - present
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
4.1 Production and Distribution
5 Awards
6 References
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Darshan was born to actor Thoogudeepa Srinivas and Meena on 16 February 1977[8] in the city of Mysore in Karnataka. Thoogudeepa is the name of a Kannada Film in which Srinivas, father of Darshan, acted and shot to fame. His father often played the roles of menacing villains in Kannada Cinema and enjoyed goodwill in film fraternity. Despite so, Darshan never had it easy since his father was reluctant towards the entry of Darshan into film industry. Srinivas suffered from chronic diabetes and kidney ailment and died due to heart attack on October 16, 1995, aged 52.
Darshan has a sister by name Divya and his younger brother Dinakar Thoogudeep is a film director who scripts films under their home production, Thoogudeepa Productions. As a child, Darshan studied his primary and secondary education at Mysore.[9] Before entering into films, Darshan appeared in few tele-serials and tele-shows.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Darshan entry into the cine world was marked by the continued struggle after his father's death. He took training for acting at Ninasam in Shimoga. Later after a brief stint as a lightboy in various films, he entered the mainstream moviemaking as an assistant cameraman to veteran cinematographer B. C. Gowrishankar. Then he was recognized by director S. Narayan who offered him a role in his Tele-serial.[10] Later he stepped into the world of bigscreens when S. Narayan offered him a supporting role in his 1997 movieMahabharatha. Darshan consecutively was featured in films like Devara Maga (2000) as the son of Ambareesh, Ellara Mane Dosenoo (2000), Bhoothayyana Makkalu (2000) and Mr. Harishchandra (2001) mostly in insignificant supporting and uncredited roles. This period saw him play small roles in Television series as well.[11]
2001 - 2010[edit]
Darshan's first break came with the film Majestic directed by P. N. Satya and released in 2001 in which he played the role of Daasa, an innocent youth turned underwold don, for the first time.[3] He then appeared in films such as Kitti, Ninagoskara and Neenandre Ishta, "Daasa" produced by Ramesh Yadav. He starred in Prem's directorial debut, the 2003 action film Kariya. The film was declared as a blockbuster and was one of the major grossers of 2003. His next ventures saw him portraying diverse roles of a budding musician in Laali Haadu, a journalist in Lankesh Patrike and a blind poor man in Namma Preethiya Ramu.
In 2004 he starred in Kalasipalya directed by Om Prakash Rao and in P. N. Satya's Daasa, both of which were Blockbuster hits. In 2005, he acted in three more commercially successful films Annavru, Shashtri produced by his close friend Anaji Nagaraj and Ayya.
He starred again in Anaji Nagaraj's Swamy (2005). His subsequent hits include Suntaragaali (2006), Dattha (2006), Bhoopathi (2007), Snehana Preethina (2007) and Anatharu(2008), where he starred with Upendra.
In 2008, Gaja gave him a bigger break and became a blockbuster hit. This movie helped him to establish a niche for himself as a well built, rustic yet posh young man among the masses. This movie brought him a mass following pan Karnataka and Darshan became the highly paid, most sought after hero in Kannada cinema. After Gaja, his further movies include Indra (2008), Arjun (2008), Navagraha (2008), Yodha (2009), Abhay (2009).
In 2010, he acted as cop disguised as a rogue in Porki which was a remake of 2009 Telugu blockbuster Pokiri. His next movie was Shourya (2010). Boss (2011) and Prince(2011).
2010 - present[edit]
His next releases were Boss (2011) and Prince (2011). Next to them came the action drama "Saarathi". It has since been the biggest blockbuster in his career. His 2012 release was Chingari. Next, he played a protagonist role in the historical movie Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna and got his maiden Karnataka State Film Awards and Filmfare Award for best actor.[12] In 2013 he had two major releases, Bulbul (film) and Brindavana, both of which were much anticipated and declared as blockbusters.
His much expected 2014 movie Ambareesha received mixed responses though it was a commercially successful. In 2015 most expected movie "Mr.Airavatha" Directed by A P Arjun and Produced by Sandesh nagaraj and Darshan leading a cop role, he loss is weight 8 kgs,he build a body and make six pack for this movie.[13] His future projects includeAiravatha (2015), Mumtaz (2015), Viraat (2015), Jaggu Dada (2016), Chakravarthi (2016), Sarvantrayami (2017) and Aaspota (2018).[14]
Personal life[edit]
Darshan married his relative Vijayalakshmi, who was then a student in Chemical engineering, in 2000 at Dharmasthala Temple. They have one child named Vineesh thoogudeep. Darshan runs his own mini zoo privately in far east of Mysore near Tirumakudal Narsipur. He is the only south indian actor to do so. Darshan’s other passions are cars & bikes.[15][16][17][18][19]
Darshan was embroiled in a controversy in september, 2011 when his wife complained to Police againist him accusing of domestic violence. Darshan was subsequently arrested and spent 14 days in judicial custody at Parappana Agrahara.[20][21] However the marital discord later reached in a happy compromise and was settled out of court due to the entry of industry veterans like Ambareesh, Jaggesh and others.[22][23] He later issued a public apology to his fans for the controversy.[24] Though this whole episode was expected to dent his image, his immediate release Saarathi (2011) became a blockbuster hit.[25][26]
Filmography[edit]
Main article: Darshan filmography
Below are the selected filmography of Darshan:
2001: Majestic as Daasa
2002: Dhruva as Dhruva
2003: Kariya as Kariya
2003: Laali Haadu as Puttaswamy ("Anand")
2003: Lankesh Patrike as Indra
2003: Namma Preethiya Ramu as Ramu
2004: Kalasipalya as Kencha
2005: Daasa as Mohan Daas
2005: Shashtri as Rama Shashtri
2005: Ayya as Ayya
2005: Swamy as Swamy
2006: Suntaragaali as Jaggi
2006: Dattha as Dattha
2007: Bhoopathi as Bhoopathi
2007: Snehana Preethina as Surya
2007: Anatharu as Satya
2008: Gaja as Gajendra
2009: Yodha as Captain Ram
2009: Abhay as Abhay
2010: Shourya as Suryavamshi
2011: Boss as Ram/Raj
2011: Prince as Vishnu
2011: Saarathi as Raja/Krishna
2012: Chingari as Dhanush
2012: Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna as Sangolli Rayanna
2013: Bulbul as Vijay
2013: Brindavana as Krishna
2014: Ambareesha as Ambareesha
Production and Distribution[edit]
In 2006, After much success in his career he ventured into film production also. He established his own production house "Thoogudeepa productions" and its first film was "Jothe Jotheyali" starring Prem, Ramya and had Darshan Thoogudeep in a special appearance. The film was a commercial hit running 150 days in theatres.[27] In 2013, his family established a distribution company called Thoogudeepa Distributors. Bulbul (film) (2013), produced under the home banner became the first movie to be distributed. It's other notable projects include distribution of Brindavana (2013), Prakash Rai's Oggarane (2014), Sharan starrer Jai Lalitha (2014) and V. Ravichandran starrer Paramashiva (2014).
As a Producer

Sl No. Year Title Director  
1 2006 Jothe Jotheyali Dinakar Thoogudeepa [28]  
2 2008 Navagraha (film) Dinakar Thoogudeepa  
3 2013 Bulbul (film) M. D. Shridhar  
4 2015 Maduveya Mamatheya Kareyole Kaviraj
As a Distributor

Sl No. Year Title Director  
1 2013 Bulbul M. D. Shridhar  
2 2013 Brindavana K. Madesh  
3 2014 Ugramm Prashanth Neel  
4 2014 Oggarane Prakash Rai  
5 2014 Jayalalita Pon Kumaran  
6 2014 Paramashiva Mahesh Babu  
7 2014 Jai Bajarangibali Ravivarma Gubbi  
8 2015 Raate A.P Arjun
Awards[edit]

Year Award Nominated work Category Result Ref.  
2010 Zee Kannada Innovative Film Awards - Onida Style Icon Won [29]  
2012 TV9 awards Saarathi Best Actor Won [30]  
2012 Suvarna Film Awards Saarathi Favorite Hero Won [31]  
2012 SIIMA Awards Saarathi Best Actor Nominated [32]  
2012 Bangalore Press Club Man of the Year - - Won [33]  
2012 Bangalore Times Film Awards Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Best Actor Won [34]  
2013 SIIMA Awards Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Best Actor Nominated [35]  
2013 Suvarna Film Awards Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Best Actor Won [36]  
2013 Filmfare Best Actor Award Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Best Actor Won [37]  
2013 Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Best Actor Won