Sudeep Sanjeev

Biography

Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Sudeepa or Kichcha Sudeep, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter, and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. 

He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Kannada Cinema and is one of the first Kannada actors to be listed in the Forbes list of top 100 celebrities of India since 2013. 

He has received several awards including four Filmfare Awards South and one Karnataka state award.

Sudeepa is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the Kannada films Sparsha (2000), Huchcha (2001), Nandhi (2002), Kiccha (2003), Swathi Muthu (2003), My Autograph (2006), No 73, Shanthi Nivasa (2007), Mussanjemaatu (2008), Veera Madakari (2009), Just Maath Maathalli (2010), Vishnuvardhana (2011), Kempe Gowda (2011), the Telugu-Tamil bilingual Eega (2012), Maanikya (2014), Ranna (2015), Kotigobba 2 (2016), Hebbuli (2017), The Villain (2018), Pailwaan (2019), Telugu-Hindi bilingual Rakta Charitra and the Hindi film Dabangg 3 (2019).

He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Kannada for three consecutive years for his films Huchcha, Nandhi, and Swathi Muthu. Since 2013, he has been hosting the television reality show Bigg Boss Kannada. His performance in the 2001 film, Huchcha, earned him the nickname Kichcha Sudeepa by his fans.

Sudeep began his film career in Thayavva (1997). He then played a supporting role in Prathyartha, directed by Sunil Kumar Desai, and a lead role in the same director's Sparsha. In 2001, a role in Huchcha gave him his first big following. In 2008 he made his Bollywood debut in Phoonk. He has also starred in Ram Gopal Varma's movies Rann, Phoonk 2, and Rakta Charitra.

Starting Veera Parampare (2010), he changed his stage name from Sudeep to Sudeepa per S. Narayan's advice, and after the film's success, he decided to keep the name. His subsequent films, Kempe Gowda and Vishnuvardhana (2011), also were successes.

In 2019, Sudeepa was seen in the Hindi film Dabangg 3 where he played the archenemy of Salman Khan's Chulbul Pandey. He also plays Avuku Raju in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.

Sudeepa completed his 26 years in the film industry.

Sudeepa's next Vikrant Rona, directed by Anup Bhandari, featured Nirup Bhandari and Neetha Ashok. He is also set to play an extended cameo as Bhargav Bakshi in the upcoming Pan India movie Kabzaa starring Upendra.

Sudeepa's directorial debut was My autograph in 2006 which went on to complete 175 days and was a commercial success. Since then he has directed many Kannada films like No 73, Shanthi Nivasa, Veera Madakari, Just Maath Mathalli, Kempe Gowda, and Maanikya. He also wrote the script for Just Maath Mathalli.

He owns a film production company named Kiccha Creations, which is credited with My Autograph (2006), No 73, Shantinivasa (2007), Jigarthanda (2016), Maanikya (2013), Ambi Ning Vayassayto (2019).

Sudeepa made his TV debut in the serial Premada Kadambari, named after a line in the song Bandhana on Udaya TV. He was roped in to play the main host of the reality show Pyate Hudgeer-Halli Lifu, which aired on Suvarna and was an immediate success. 

Endemol Shine Group's flagship show Big Brother was adapted to Kannada as Bigg Boss Kannada and Sudeepa was chosen to play the host for the first season which was aired on ETV Kannada. He continued to host the second season on Asianet Suvarna. 

Colors Kannada (formerly ETV Kannada) regained the rights to the show in 2015 with Sudeepa signing a five-season deal to host the show which was estimated to be around ₹20 crore (equivalent to ₹30 crore or US$3.8 million in 2023) which was a landmark deal in Kannada television industry.

Sudeepa is the captain of the Karnataka Bulldozers cricket team that competes in the Celebrity Cricket League.

Sudeepa met Priya Radhakrishna in Bengaluru, in 2000 and they married in 2001. Priya worked in an airline company and then in a bank, prior to their marriage. Their only child, Saanvi, was born in 2004. 

In 2013, Sudeepa launched Stage 360°, an events management company, that his wife took an active part in. The couple split in September 2015; they later reconciled.