Thirupathi Narasimhalunaidu Venkatesh (born 24 March 1963), better known by his stage name Rockline Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and film producer known for his works predominantly in Kannada films. He is the founder and owner of the production and distribution company, Rockline Entertainments which has directed over five films as of 2012. In 2015 he co-produced Bajrangi Bhaijaan which earned the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 63rd National Film Awards.
Career
1987–2010 Venkatesh began his career in films as a stuntman and playing supporting roles in 1987. In 1992, he produced his first television series, Ashawadigalu. He started his production venture in 1996 with co-production of Ayudha. He has made films with original stories and also remakes from other languages. He has made films with top super stars of Kannada film industry like Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Ravichandran, Shivaraj Kumar, Upendra, Sudeep, Puneeth Rajkumar, Darshan, Vijay and others and also made a few small budget films. He has used top film directors like Ravichandran, S.V.Rajendra Singh Babu, D.Rajendra Babu, S. Narayan, KV Raju, Om Prakash Rao, MS Rajashekhar, Sadhu Kokila, Dayal Padmanabhan, Meher Ramesh and others. In 2009, When IDBI started financing Kannada films, Rockline Venkatesh one of the initial producers to welcome the bank to Industry. Rockline Productions has now become a brand name in the Kannada film industry which has produced several blockbusters like Preethse, Preethsodh Thappa, Yaare Neenu Cheluve, Ajay, Mourya, Diggajaru, and Dakota Express.
2010 – present
In 2010, The ongoing buzz was created when it was said superstar Upendra is directing a movie after 10 years, Rockline Venkatesh produced the movie and its said that they spend lakhs of money on photoshoot itself. Later it was mentioned that Rohit Shetty from Hindi film industry would direct the Hindi version of the film. Recently Venkatesh has been seen working with superstars from various industries, he made his debut as a Telugu film producer with 2014's Power, starring Ravi Teja, Lingaa starring Rajnikanth which released in various languages and in 2015 he associated with Bollywood's superstar Salman Khan for the film Bajrangi Bhaijaan which emerged as a commercial success grossing over ₹6.25 billion worldwide and in the process and became the third highest grossing Indian film after PK and Baahubali.
On New Year's Eve 2015, Killing Veerappan by Ram Gopal Varma was released. Rockline Venkatesh has keyed well in the prominent role as a police officer (where he has performed police roles in movies such as Agni IPS and Police Story) who becomes one of the victim to the killings of Veerappan.
In mid 2016 Rockline Venkatesh acquired the remake rights of Marathi blockbuster Sairat for four southern languages. Sairat, the critically acclaimed love story is the first Marathi film to gross over ₹100 crore (US$15 million) worldwide. Rinku Rajguru, heroine of the Marathi film Sairat will make Sandalwood debut with the Kannada version directed by S. Narayan.
In January 2017, Rockline Venkatesh's first Malayalam film was announced. The film, starring Mohanlal and Manju Warrier, was directed by B. Unnikrishnan while Tamil actor Vishal has been cast as the main villain.
Filmography
As producer Kannada films Year Title Notes1992Belli ModagaluRemake of Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu 1993 Ananda Jyothi Based on the novel Maangalya Maale by Kakolu Saroja Rao 1994 Rasika 1995 Himapatha Based on the novel of same name by T. K. Rama Rao1996 Aayudha 1997 Agni IPS Laali Karnataka State Film Award for Second Best Film 1998 Kurubana Rani Co-written by V. Vijayendra Prasad Yaare Neenu Cheluve Remake of Kadhal Kottai Preethsod Thappa Remake of Ninne Pelladata 1999 Naanu Nanna Hendthiru Remake of Thaikulame Thaikulame 2000 Preethse Remake of Darr Krishna Leele Remake of Gokulathil Seethai 2001 Diggajaru Remake of Natpukkaga Jodi Remake of Darling Darling Usire Remake of Bharathi Kannamma 2002 Dakota Express Remake of Ee Parakkum Thalika Nagarahavu Remake of Baazigar 2003 Ondagona Baa Remake of Kalisundam Raa 2004 Maurya Remake of Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi 2005 Varsha Remake of Hitler 2006 Ajay Remake of Okkadu Sirivantha Remake of Aa Naluguru2008 Bombaat 2009 Yodha Remake of Bose Junglee Devru Remake of Abhimanyu Manasaare 2010 Super 2012 Dakota Picture Remake of Malamaal Weekly 2016 Kotigobba 2 Sundaranga Jaana Remake of Bhale Bhale Magadivoy2017 Manasu Mallige Remake of Sairat2018 Brihaspathi Remake of Velaiilla Pattadhari2019 Natasaarvabhowma Aadi Lakshmi Puraana 2023 Kaatera 2024 Karataka Damanaka
Other language films
Year Title Language Notes2003 Dum Tamil Remake of Appu2005 Majaa Remake of Thommanum Makkalum 2014 Power Telugu Lingaa Tamil Cameo appearance in the song "Oh Nanba" 2015 Bajrangi Bhaijaan Hindi Similar to Kallarali Hoovagi Written by V. Vijayendra Prasad2016 Mudinja Ivana Pudi Tamil 2017 Villain Malayalam 2018Aatagadharaa Siva Telugu Remake of Rama Rama Re...
As actor Year Film Role Notes 1989 Hongkongnalli Agent Amar 1993 Ananda Jyothi 1993 Anuragada Alegalu 1994 Rasika Rajeev 1996 Police Story 1997 Agni IPS Baasha Khan 2000 Independence Day Kannada-Tamil film2002 Dheera Dakota Express Krishna Balarama Balarama Nagarahavu 2007 Police Story 2 Vijay 2008 Kaamannana Makkalu Krishna 2009 Devru 2012 Dakota Picture Krishna 2013VaradhanayakaPolice Officer 2014 Lingaa Man at the barTamil filmCameo appearance in the song "Oh Nanba"2016 Killing Veerappan T. Harikrishna Nataraja Service Inspector Venkatesh 2018 Naachiyaar Feroz Khan Tamil film 8MM Bullet KK 2019 Kurukshetra Shalya 2026Raktha KashmiraHimself Special appearance in the song "Star Star"
References
External links