A recipient of multiple Filmfare and Karnataka State Film Awards, veteran Kannada filmmaker Sunil Kumar Desai`s career spans well over three decades. He started out in the industry as an assistant to directors like Suresh Heblikar and Kashinath, and subsequently made his independent directorial debut with the suspense thriller Tarka (1989) starring Shankar Nag. Inspired by Agatha Christie`s renowned play The Unexpected Guest, the film turned out to be a critical and commercial success, and won Desai his first Filmfare Award for Best Director (Kannada). He also won the State Film Award for Best Screenplay for his work in Tarka.

Since then, the writer-director has helmed some of the most acclaimed thrillers in Sandalwood, notable among which are Nishkarsha (1994), Prathyartha (1999) and Marma (2002). Other significant directorial credits include the Shiva Rajkumar starrer Nammoora Mandara Hoove (1996), the Kiccha Sudeep starrer Sparsha (2000) and the bilingual thriller Udgharsha (2019).