Ganesh is an Indian actor and TV presenter best known for his work in the Kannada film industry. Popularly referred to as "The Golden Star", he is one of the most sought-after actors in the industry and holds several prestigious awards.
Early LifeGanesh was born on 2 July 1980 in Bengaluru. His father`s name is Kishan and his mother`s name is Sulochana. His mother is a Vokkaliga. He studied at Basaveshwara English School and then Standard School, both of which are in Bangalore. Although he was admittedly a mischievous child, the young Ganesh frequently participated in skits and dramas throughout school and college. He completed his diploma degree in electronics and began joining theatre groups, acting in numerous Kannada plays.
The actor has two brothers- Umesh and Mahesh, the latter debuting with the Kannada film Namak Haraam, in 2016.
Personal LifeGanesh got married to Shilpa Barkur on 11 February 2008. They have a daughter named Charithriya and a son named Vihaan.
Movie CareerGanesh first acted in the movie Guttu, which was made as a telefilm in Karnataka. However, Guttu was eventually screened at film festivals and in a few theatres in the USA, as the producers weren`t able to find a suitable time slot to show it on TV. Ganesh`s performance was commendable and in 2002 he was cast as a villain in the feature film Tapori. He then began playing supporting roles in movies like Game For Love (2003), Baa Baaro Rasika (2004) and Amrithadhare (2005), and the male lead in Chellata (2006).
Although he was slowly climbing up the ladder in the Kannada film industry, the success of his 2006 film Mungaru Male shot him straight to the top. The musical romance earned a whopping INR 75 crore at the international box office. Directed by Yogaraj Bhat, Mungaru Male was awarded the Best Kannada Film award for the year 2006-2007 by the Government of Karnataka and won three Filmfare Awards. Ganesh then went on to act in numerous critically and commercially successful films. He won two Filmfare Awards for Best Actor- Kannada, for
Gaalipata (2008) and
Maleyali Jotheyali (2009).
In his first release of 2016, the actor reprised his role in the Shashank-directed
Mungaru Male 2, which also stars
V. Ravichandran and
Neha Shetty. The film fared pretty well at the box-office. Later, in the same year, Ganesh collaborated with director
Ramesh Aravind for the Kannada comedy film
Sundaranga Jaana. The film, which also featured
Shanvi Srivastava,
Rangayana Raghu and Devaraj failed at the box office. His 2017 release includes
Pataki, a comedy film directed by
Manju Swaraj and Mugulu Nage directed by Yogaraj Bhat. His 2019 releases include 99 and Geetha. Ganesh is one of the highest-paid actors in the Kannada Film Industry.
TV CareerGanesh has also been a part of several TV shows like Yadva Tadva and Vataara. He then began hosting the program Comedy Time, which went on to be extremely popular. He became so synonymous with the hit show that his fans began calling him Comedy Time Ganesh.