He is one of the first pan-Indian star actors who made a presence felt across industries, including Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil.
Published Sep 02, 2023 | 10:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 02, 2023 | 11:28 AM
Kiccha Sudeep. (KicchaSudeepa/ Instagram)
Kannada superstar Kiccha Sudeep, who turns 50 on Saturday, 2 September, is a truly multi-faceted personality. He can act, direct, and sing; he is a screenwriter, and a talented chef, too.
That’s not all! He is one of the highest-paid TV hosts in India and has been the star force behind the immense success of the Kannada version of the popular reality show Bigg Boss.
The list continues with him being a great cricket enthusiast, regularly playing the game while representing the Kannada film industry in a celebrity cricket league.
Kiccha Sudeep is also a producer. He recently launched his nephew Sanchith Sanjeev under the banner Supriyanvi Picture Studio (owned by his wife Priya Sudeep) in association with other production houses.
Meanwhile, he is one of the first pan-India star actors from Sandalwood to have their presence felt across other industries — including Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil.
That’s only a brief introduction to the immensely talented actor, who is fondly referred to as “Abhinaya Chakravarthy” (Emperor of Acting).
Kiccha Sudeep completed 27 years in the film industry this year. (KicchaSudeepa/ Instagram)
Due to the pandemic, many celebrities, including Kiccha Sudeep, called off the birthday celebrations organised by their die-hard fans in the last two years.
However, this time, the actor celebrated his special day amidst his fans from across Karnataka at Nandi Links Grounds in Bengaluru.
The birthday celebrations saw special tributes like video songs and Common Display Picture (CDP) organised by his fans’ associations. Also, a star (Virgo constellation) was named and registered after Sudeep by one of his fans.
The highlight was the surprise by Priya Sudeep, who joined millions of fans at the venue for the birthday bash.
The year 2023 marks 27 grand years of Sudeepism since his debut in Sandalwood with Thayavva (1997). He played the lead for the first time in Sunil Kumar Desai’s directorial Sparsha (2000).
The calendar year started with Kabzaa , directed by R Chandru, making all the noise. In the flick, Sudeep made a special appearance as a ruthless cop named Bhargava Bakshi.
Dr Shiva Rajkumar also made a cameo in the big-budget, multi-starrer pan India venture with Real Star Upendra playing the lead. However, the movie failed to make any mark in the end.
A photo of Kiccha Sudeep. (KicchaSudeepa/ Instagram)
Post-Kabzaa, Kiccha Sudeep got busy with politics as the Assembly elections in Karnataka were scheduled in May.
The actor announced that he will be campaigning on behalf of Basavaraj Bommai, the then chief minister of Karnataka of the BJP, whom he fondly refers to as “Bommai mama” for his association with him for years.
He even stated that he would campaign for BJP candidates as well during the elections.
This decision led to a political party writing to the Election Commission to put a break on the advertisements featuring the actor till the election process in the state was over.
As the elections got over in Karnataka, Sudeep was soon in the news for a different reason.
A chain of events was set off after Kannada film producer MN Kumar, who bankrolled several films featuring Kiccha Sudeep in the lead, publicly accused the actor of evading him for eight years after taking remuneration from him.
The producer levelled a series of allegations that led to the actor-director filing a defamation case against producers MN Kumar and MN Suresh.
Kiccha Sudeep clarified that he was in no mood for any negotiation or mediation but would deal with the matter in court and seek justice.
He even expressed displeasure at the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) for entertaining such allegations without looking into the facts of the matter.
A Bengaluru court, which previously heard the case filed by Sudeep, passed orders restraining the two Kannada producers from making any defamatory statements against the actor and his family in any manner.
The court will next hear the matter on 9 October.
Kiccha Sudeep directed six Kannada films, including My Autograph (2006). His last outing as a filmmaker was Maanikya (2014), a remake of the Telugu film Mirchi (2013).
He is now returning to direction after a gap of 10 long years.
His directorial venture is being produced by Karthik Gowda and Yogi G Raj under the KRG Studios banner.
The team even released a poster on Kiccha’s 50th birthday with the title KK with the tagline: “God forgives but I don’t” — King Kichcha.
Also, R Chandru, who directed Kabzaa with Kiccha Sudeep portraying a special appearance as Bhargava Bakshi, a ruthless cop, has announced that his next pan-India (global movie) will be with Kiccha Sudeep.
Interestingly, the script doctoring of this global venture is being supervised by none other than the writer of Magadheera (2009), Baahubali (2015 & 2017), and RRR (2022) writer Dr V Vijayendra Prasad.
Finally, Kiccha Sudeep’s better half Priya Sudeep surprised the actor by releasing a special song made by his songs penned by lyricist Dr V Nagendra Prasad.
To mark the actor’s 50th birthday, his fans have given him a new title — Abhinaya Tilaka.
Now he is Abhinaya Tilaka too!
Enjoy this song made with love from fans https://t.co/e2zlf6h5CT
@BleedForKichcha #AbhinayaTilaka #BleedForKichcha #Kicchotsava2023 #HBDKicchaSudeep #K46 #K47— Priya Sudeep/ಪ್ರಿಯ (@iampriya06) September 1, 2023
Except for Kabzaa, no other films — especially with Kiccha Sudeep in the lead — have been released so far this year.
However, the actor announced his 46th film, which is titled Max.
Max is produced by Tamil filmmaker Kalaipuli S Tahnu under the V Creations banner and directed by Vijay Karthikeyaa.
However, the biggest and most special event occurred a few days ago when the actor was seen sharing a stage with his “once” best buddy Challenging Star Darshan.
Both shared the stage at actress-turned-politician And Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh’s birthday bash. While there were speculations that the two were back as friends, it was soon back to square one after Darshan shared a cryptic message on his social media that he was happy being alone and with his fans and that we have to surrender to time eventually.
Wishing the multifaceted Kiccha Sudeep, a very happy birthday!
