Lokesh (actor)

Lokesh (actor) Biography

Lokesh was a cine actor and director associated with Kannada cinema. He was a stage actor too. He was the son of legendary theatre and film personality Subbaiah Naidu, who acted in the first Kannada movie as lead hero, and also directed and acted in the first Kannada talkie, Sati Sulochana in 1934. Lokesh joined film industry in the late 1950s and was fully involved with it till his death in 2004. His wife Girija Lokesh is a film actress and film director. His son Srujan Lokesh is also into film industry known as an actor, and he works in television industry also. Lokesh remained a top hero of 1970s and 1980s, and won earned Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor thrice and Filmfare award for best actor once.

Lokesh was born on 19 May 1947 in Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore, British India. Born as the son of the legendary actor Subbaiah Naidu, he too joined the same stream. He started his film career as a child artist through 1958 mythological film, Bhaktha Prahalada. Interestingly it was his father’s last screen appearance. His father was fully involved with theatre till he died of a cardiac arrest in 1962. Hearing his death news, Lokesh’s mother also died the same day. Thus he had to go through some of the unexpected personal losses of his family without any gap. He was only 15 years old when he lost both his parents a single day. Lokesh too was in his middle ages, when he passed away aged 57.

As a cine artist, he first appeared in Bhaktha Prahalada. Then he returned to movies after a break of 10 years. Adda Daari (1968) was his first release as an adult actor, and he was also featured in 1974 National award winning film, Kaadu. Since early 1970s he was regular in films mostly portraying supporting roles. With mid-1970s he moved to lead roles, and earned Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor thrice for the movies - Bhutayyana Maga Ayyu (1973), Parasangada Gendethimma (1978) and Banker Margayya (1983). He also received Filmfare award for best actor for Bhutayyana Maga Ayyu (1974) and Ellindalo Bandavaru (1980). With early 1990s, he moved to film direction and won Filmfare Award for Best Director for Bhujangayyana Dashavataragalu in 1991.

Published: October 09, 2018

Updated: October 09, 2018