Sriimurali


Sriimurali, also known by names Murali, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. After making his debut in 2003 in Chandra Chakori, he appeared in Kanti as the eponymous lead, a performance that won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor. He has since appeared in over 10 Kannada films and a film each in Telugu and Malayalam, all of which proved to be commercial failures. His performance in the 2014 Kannada film Ugramm received unanimous praise and emerged as a major success.

Personal life

Sriimurali was born on 17 December 1981 in Bangalore, Karnataka, to a family of film people. His father S. A. Chinne Gowda was a film producer and brother Vijay Raghavendra, an actor. Actor Rajkumar was his uncle and actors Shiva Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar his cousins. He married Vidya, his girlfriend and daughter of a hotelier, on 11 May 2008. They have a son and a daughter together.

Career

Sriimurali made his debut in films in 2003 with a romance film, Chandra Chakori. The film performed well and his performance received praise. In Kanti, which focuses on the dispute on linguistic grounds between Karnataka and Maharashtra, he played the eponymous lead of a college student who, on falling in love with a Marathi girl, gets embroiled politically. His performance won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor.
He then appeared in films such as Siddu, Shambu, Yashwant and Preethigaagi, which did not perform well at the box office. In 2008, he appeared in Minchina Ota, produced by his father, along with his brother Vijay Raghavendra. He also takes care of the production responsibilities of his family banner Sowbhagya Pictures, under which several films produced by his father were made such as Sevanthi Sevanthi and Ganesha Mathe Bandha.
After two successive hits Chandra Chakori and Kanti, Sri Murali could not keep up the expectations of the audiences.
But Murali believing in fate and time waited for right opportunities. As a coincidence Prashant Neel came up with a story in 2008, exclusively for taking off Sri Murali's career again on a high note. The movie was initially named "Nandhe" and later changed to "Uggram". It took nearly 4-5 years for completion of the project
In 2014, Sriimurali appeared in an action-drama, Ugramm, directed by Prashanth Neel, who was making his directorial debut. He played the role of Agastya, a mechanic, who protects Nithya from being caught alive by goons, and takes on the mafia. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success with his performance receiving acclaim. A. Sharadhaa of The Indian Express wrote: "This is definitely a 'comeback' film for Murali, a carefully thought-out project for him by the director. Murali is smarter than he looks and tougher than people expected him to be." He received his first nominations for Best Actor in Filmfare Awards South and SIIMA Awards. Following the massive success of the film, it was reported that he was flooded with offers for film totaling to 67, all of which he rejected.

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
2003Chandra ChakoriPuttaraju
2004KantiKantiKarnataka State Film Award for Best Actor
2005Yeshwanth Yeshwanth
2005SidduSiddu
2005ShambuShambu
2006GopiGopi
2007PreethigaagiSanjay
2008Minchina OtaBhadra
2009ShivamaniShivamani
2009SrihariSrihari
2009YagnaYagna
2010SihigaliDharani
2010Sri HarikatheHari
2011Hare Rama Hare KrishnaRama/Krishna
2012Sri Kshetra AdichunchanagiriSri Balagandhranatha Swami
2013LoosegaluKabira
2013BhajarangiHimselfSpecial appearance in song "Bossu Nam Bossu"
2014MurariMurari
2014UgrammAgastyaNominated Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Kannada
Nominated, SIIMA Award for Best Actor
2015RathavaraRathavaraAlso playback singer for song "Hudugi Kannu"
2017Raj VishnuMuraliSpecial appearance
2017MuftiGanaSIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- -Kannada
2019BharaateJagan Mohan & JayaratnakaraDual role
2020Madagaja