The Best Upendra Movies
Ranked By
385 votes
93 voters
Voting Rules
Vote for your favorite movies, regardless of critic reviews or how big the role was.
1Nayantara, Upendra Rao, Tulip JoshiSuper is a 2010 Indian multilingual film written and directed by Upendra. The film was released on 3 December 2010 in its Kannada version; and on 11 March 2011 in its Telugu version This utopian film had a concept of a contrasting futuristic India set in the year 2030, and the contemporary image of India. With the title of the film depicted only by a symbol, it features Upendra and Nayantara in lead roles and is produced by Rockline Venkatesh, while V. Harikrishna scored the music. Making more than 100 million through satellite television and audio rights even before release, in Kannada it grossed a record 25 million in first three days of the opening weekend. The film grossed 500 million at the box office and was one of the Highest grossing Kannada films of 2010, along with Jackie.
2Upendra Rao, ChandniA is a 1998 Indian Kannada language blockbuster psychological love story film written and directed by Upendra. It starred Upendra and Chandini as the lead couple. It tells the love story between a film director and an actress which is narrated through multiple flashbacks within flashbacks and reverse screenplay. The film deals with dark truths of the film world like the casting couch. Due to the reverse screenplay, some audience members watched it multiple times to understand the story. Upon release, A collected more than 20 crore at the box office. The movie was dubbed into Telugu and released in Andhra Pradesh. The film was remade in Tamil as Adavadi. It was Gurukiran's first film as a music director. Upendra won the Udaya Film Award for Best Male Actor and Gurukiran won the Udaya Film Award for Best Music Director.
3Upendra
Upendra Rao, Raveena Tandon, PremaUpendra is a 1999 philosophical, psychological thriller Kannada film written and directed by Upendra. It starred Upendra, Raveena Tandon, Prema and Damini in the lead roles. The film explores three human emotions through the relationship between the main character and the three heroines. The songs of the film were written by Upendra and music was composed by Gurukiran. The film won Filmfare Award for Best Film and Filmfare Award for Best Director. A Japanese who saw the film in Bangalore was impressed by it as he found it similar to the story of Buddha and got it released in Japan. It was screened at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan in 2001.
4Upendra Rao, Lakshmi, Suman RanganathanBudhivanta is a 2008 Kannada language film starring Upendra in the lead role. It was directed by Ramnath Rigvedhi. It is a remake of the Tamil film Naan Avanillai. It was released on 26 September 2008. The film was supposed to be released on Upendra's birthday, 18 September 2008, but because of the delay in censor certification, the release date got postponed to 26 September 2008. It became the highest grossing Kannada film of 2008 and turned out to be a much bigger hit than the original Naan Avanillai. Upendra's performance in 7 different roles and his dilogue delivery was praised by the critics and the audience.
5Raktha Kanneeru
Upendra Rao, Ramya Krishnan, Sadhu KokilaRaktha Kanneeru is a 2003 Kannada film directed by Sadhu Kokila and starring Upendra and Ramya Krishnan in the lead roles. The film was produced by Munirathna and was simultaneously made in Kannada and Telugu. It was a remake of the 1954 Tamil film Ratha Kanneer starring M. R. Radha The screenplay and dilogues of the film were written by Upendra and the music was composed by Sadhu Kokila. Upon release, the film broke all opening box office records in Karnataka. It was the highest-grossing film of the year 2003. The film was followed by a semi sequel titled Katari Veera Surasundarangi released in 2012.
6Shilpa Shetty, Upendra Rao, Sudha RaniAuto Shankar is a 2005 Kannada film starring Upendra, Shilpa Shetty, Kutty Radhika and Sudharani. The film was directed by D. Rajendra Babu and produced by Ramu, of Ramu Enterprises. The movie was filmed in a variety of locations including Austria, Finland, the Bangalore Palace, and the Mysore Lamps Factory, Mysore.
7Anatharu
Upendra Rao, Darshan Thoogudeep, RambhaAnatharu is a 2007 Kannada film directed by Sadhu Kokila. The film stars Upendra, Darshan, Radhika and Sanghavi. The film is a remake of the 2003 Tamil film Pithamagan.
8Hollywood
Upendra Rao, Anant Nag, Felicity MasonHollywood is a 2002 Indian sci-fi Kannada movie written by Upendra and directed by Dinesh Babu. It starred Upendra in a triple role as "Surendra," "Upendra" and "US 47" along with the Australian actress Felicity Mason as "Manisha." The movie was dubbed into Telugu the following year retaining the same title. The movie was shot entirely in Hollywood, California with a very few support cast, including Ananth Nag and a monkey called Lakshmi, voiced by Ramesh Bhat. The movie was also dubbed into Telugu, retaining the same title.
9Preethse
Upendra Rao, Sonali Bendre, Shiva RajkumarPreethse is a 2000 psychological thriller Kannada film starring Upendra, Shivrajkumar and Sonali Bendre. The film was directed by D Rajendra Babu and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The film is a remake of the 1993 Bollywood film Darr. The film was dubbed in Telugu as Sadist.- 10
Omkara
Upendra Rao, Shweta Menon, Rahul DevOmkara is a 2004 Kannada crime thriller action film starring Upendra and Preeti Jhangiani in the lead roles. The film was directed by Shivamani and produced by Company Films under the banner of R S Productions and has music by Gurukiran. Omkara was Upendra's first gangster film and was based on the connection between film industries and the Mumbai underworld mafia. The film was an average grosser. 
11Super Star
Upendra Rao, Keerthi ReddySuper Star is a 2002 Kannada film written by Upendra and directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar, starring Upendra and Keerthi Reddy. The story line was loosely based on the Nepalese royal massacre involving Dipendra of Nepal, the tragedy that struck the family of the Nepal king. Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar had mentioned in an interview that, although he was credited as the director, he was not given much freedom on the sets and Upendra was the one who directed most of the movie. The film had four climaxes that viewers could select on their own. It was dubbed into Telugu as Stupid, which was surprisingly a lot more successful than the Kannada version.
12Deepika Padukone, Upendra Rao, Sadhu KokilaAishwarya is a 2006 Kannada movie starring Upendra, Daisy Bopanna and introducing Deepika Padukone. The movie was directed by Indrajit Lankesh. It was a remake of hit Telugu movie Manmadhudu. The film featured Upendra as a rich advertisement executive and changed his mass image into a classy one. The film was a commercial success and was among the top 5 hit films of 2006. The film was inspired in significant bits from the Tamil movie by the name Ghajini and main plot is from Telugu blockbuster hit Manmadhudu starring Nagarjuna and Sonali Bendre.
13Topiwala
Upendra Rao, Bhavana Menon, Rangayana RaghuTopiwala is a 2013 Kannada political satire film starring Upendra and Bhavana in the lead roles. The film is written by Upendra and directed by MG Srinivas. Kanakapura Sreenivas and K.P. Srikanth jointly produce this venture under R.S. Productions banner. V. Harikrishna composed the music. The film was released on 15 March 2013 in 150 Karnataka theaters and grossed 35 million in its opening weekend and more than 50 million in its first week.
14Upendra Rao, Vishnuvardhan, JyothikaNaagarahaavu is a 1972 Indian Kannada language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal, based on T. R. Subba Rao's three novels Nagarahavu, Ondu Gandu Eradu Hennu and Sarpa Mathsara, and starring Vishnuvardhan, Aarathi, K. S. Ashwath in lead roles. The supporting cast features Leelavathi, Ambrish, Shivaram, Dheerendra Gopal, Lokanath and Vajramuni.This is the 1st kannada movie to complete 100 days in 3 centres. The film was a huge success and paved way for the stardom of Vishnuvardhan and Ambarish who eventually morphed as leading actors in Kannada cinema. Over a period of time the initially less noticed character roles of Leelavathi, Dheerendra Gopal, Loknath, Lakshmi Devi have come in for their share of applause. The film is about the teacher who miserably fails in blending his daily educative chores on society interfering philosophically in guiding a tough lad. Although Vishnuvardhan's character cannot be called a Cobra but he is too tough a guy who doesn't listen to anybody but has an obvious anger towards the age old caste system and inefficiency of urban society in holding up culture which makes his first love a prostitute under a corrupt husband .
15Katari Veera Surasundarangi
Upendra Rao, Ramya, AmbareeshKatari Veera Surasundarangi is a 2012 3D Kannada Romantic fantasy film starring Upendra and Ramya in the lead roles. The film is a sequel to Upendra's 2003 film Raktha Kanneeru. Veteran actor Ambarish also plays a vital role. The film is directed by Suresh Krishna and produced by Munirathna. It is the first full length 3D film in Kannada cinema. A 3D Mythological Romantic fantasy film, it was partly a sequel to Rakta Kanneeru. It was also the first full length 3D film in Kannada cinema. Upendra reprises his role of the highly educated rich-man turned beggar Mohan now in hell, who meets his look alike gangster son who is killed in a gang war. The film tells the story of how Mohans son Upendra falls in love with Lord Indra's daughter Indraja in Indraloka and how he faces the challenges of Lord Brahma, Lord Yama and other Devatas of Indraloka to marry Indraja. Katari Veera Suruasundarangi was the Second Highest Grossing Kannada film of 2012 and was declared as a 'Super Hit'. The film was also dubbed into hindi as Ek hi don.
16Naanu Naane
Upendra Rao, Anant Nag, Sadhu KokilaNaanu Naane is a 2002 movie directed by D. Rajendra Babu starring Upendra and Sakshi Shivanand in leading roles. The movie is a remake of Hindi movie Raja Hindustani. 2010 marked Upendra's comeback to direction after 10 years. After several ups and downs in his acting career, Upendra finally came back as a director after 10 years in 2010 with the movie Super in which he starred opposite Tamil actress Nayantara and Tulip Joshi. The movie was released in a record number of theatres all over Karnataka[38] and was also dubbed into Telugu and released in Andhra Pradesh. Super was a blockbuster,[10] breaking many box office records upon release and completing 175 days of run, becoming one of the highest grossing Kannada films of 2010 and was also critically acclaimed.[18] Upendra then starred in several films like Shrimathi opposite his wife Priyanka Trivedi and bollywood actress Celina Jaitly, and Aarakshaka.
17Shrimathi
Upendra Rao, Prem Chopra, Celina JaitlyShrimathi is an Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ravi kumar, which stars Upendra, Priyanka Trivedi and Celina Jaitly in the lead roles, along with Prem Chopra, Sayaji Shinde and Rekha Das in the supporting roles. A remake of 2004 Bollywood film Aitraaz, which in turn, is loosely based on Disclosure. It is produced by Shankare Gowda and features the original soundtrack and film score by Ghantadi Krishna.
18Godfather
Upendra Rao, Bhumika Chawla, SadhaGodfather is a 2012 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by cinematographer-turned- director Sethu Sriram starring Upendra and Soundarya Jayamala in the lead roles. Catherine Tresa also plays a prominent role and Bhumika Chawla makes a special appearance. The film is remake of the 2006 Tamil blockbuster Varalaru that starred Ajith Kumar, Asin Thottumkal and Kanika Subramaniam in the lead roles. Internationally acclaimed composer A. R. Rahman, who composed music for the original Tamil version, is the composer of the songs, while Rajesh Ramanath is composed the background score. The film was released on 27 July 2012 and opened to a large number of highly positive reviews from the critics. Upendra's performance of a Bharatha Natyam dancer and as an old man bound to his wheelchair was highly acclaimed by critics and is considered one of the best performances of his career. Godfather performed moderately well at the box office and was declared a "Hit".
19Kalpana
Upendra Rao, Babu Antony, Raai LaxmiKalpana is a 2012 Kannada comedy horror film that stars Upendra, Saikumar and Lakshmi Rai in the lead roles. Film maker Rama Narayanan directed and produced this movie under his banner Sri Thenaandal Films. The film is a remake of the 2011 Tamil film Kanchana. Saikumar reprises the role of a transgender Kalpana, originally played by Sarath Kumar in the Tamil and Telugu versions. Shruti and Umashri play supporting roles originally played by Devadarshini and Kovai Sarala. The film was released across Karnataka on 28 September 2012 and opened to positive response from critics and audiences. The performances of Sai Kumar and Upendra have been critically acclaimed. The film did well at the box office and was a 'Super Hit' in Mysore, Northern Karnataka, Chitradurga, Bellary districts, while a 'Hit' in other parts of Karnataka. Kalpana was the Sixth Highest Grossing Kannada film of 2012. Upendra won the Udaya Film Award for Best Male Actor for his performance in the film.
20Dubai Babu
Upendra Rao, Saloni Aswani, ThukralDubai Babu is a 2009 Kannada-language film directed by Naganna, and produced by Shailendra Babu under Shri Shailendra Productions. The film is a remake of Telugu film Dubai Seenu It stars Upendra, Nikitha and Saloni Aswani in the lead roles.
21Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Gulshan GroverAngaaray is a 1998 Hindi action film produced by Madhu Ramesh Behl on Rose Movies Combines banner, directed by Mahesh Bhatt. It stars Akshay Kumar, Nagarjuna, Pooja Bhatt, Sonali Bendre in lead roles and music is composed by Anu Malik & Aadesh Shrivastava. It was a flop at the box office. It is inspired by the Hollywood film State of Grace. Akshay Kumar did many dangerous stunts like jumping from one moving bus to another, hanging on to a speeding bus with only his legs, and jumping from a six-floor building to a three-floor building which are 45 feet apart. Mahesh Bhatt again used the same theme in his movie "Footpath" starring Aftab Shivdasani and directed by Vikram Bhatt.
22Priyamani, Upendra Rao, RamyaToss is a 2007 Telugu film written and directed by Priyadarshini Ram. The film stars Upendra, Raja, Kamna Jethmalani, and Priyamani in prominent roles. The film was released on 14 July 2007. This is the first film in India to be shot with the Thompson Viper Filmstream Camera.
23Arakshaka
Upendra Rao, Ragini Dwivedi, SadhaArakshaka is a 2012 Kannada Psychological thriller film starring Upendra, Sadha and Ragini Dwivedi in the lead roles. The film is directed by P. Vasu. Krishna Prajwal has produced the film under Udaya Ravi Films. Gurukiran is the music director of the film. Karnataka`s former CM and State Janata Dal President, H. D. Kumaraswamy released the audio of the film. The film is loosely inspired by the 2010 Hollywood film Shutter Island. Upendra has played a psychological role after a brief gap. He had last played such type of roles in his earlier psychological films like A, Upendra which were directed by himself, and Preethse. The film was released on 26 January 2012 and opened to positive reviews. It turned out to be an average grosser.
24Nayantara, Upendra Rao, BrahmanandamSathyam is a Tamil/Telugu action film directed by debutante A. Rajasekhar, an associate of Suresh Krishna. The film stars Vishal in the role of a cop for the first time. Nayantara plays the female lead role, while Kannada actor Upendra plays the role of the antagonist. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Harris Jayaraj. The film released on 15 August 2008 coinciding with Independence Day from mixed to negative reviews. It was declared as a box office Flop. The film is produced by Vikram Krishna, Vishal's brother. The film was dubbed and simultaneously released in Telugu as Salute.
