When it comes to outsourcing talents in the entertainment industry, Karnataka stands very top at the list. Be it Prakash Raj, Rajinikanth, or Deepika Padukone, the quality of actors from the southern state is top class.
However, we have also seen cases wherein actors from other industries have donned the greasepaint for Kannada movies. Be it cameos or full-fledged roles, when this befalls, there is a certain measure of excitement in the viewer’s mind. In this article, we discuss ten such occurrences where noted actors from other industries have worked in Kannada films.
Amitabh Bachchan
The Megastar of Indian Cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, appeared in a short cameo with the Nagathilhalli Chandrashekar directorial Amirthadare. In the movie, Mr. Bachchan appeared as himself who fulfills his fan’s wish of meeting him.
Kamal Haasan
Well, we might have seen a lot of him, but for the Kannada audience, his performance in Rama Shama Bhama cannot be forgotten. Despite not having a stronghold of the language, Kamal aced a different version of it, and amidst this, his comic timing did not suffer an inch.
Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi is probably the most familiar face for Kannadigas. Most of this has been through his superhit Telugu films that also did well in Karnataka. He played a cameo in Ravichandran’s Sipaayi, and also acted in Sri Manjunatha. In both cases, his role was received well by the audience.
Mohanlal
Mohanlal first appeared in a cameo role in Rajendra Singh Babu’s Love before he did a chunk role in BM Giriraj’s Mythri. The latter also had Puneeth Rajkumar playing an important role. Mohanlal’s character in Mythri was very well-written and had all the requirements to suit the complete actor’s image.
Mammootty
He has acted only in one Kannada movie so far. Directed by Abhaya Simha, Shikari had released in 2012. Although the movie did not do very well at the theaters, the audience were surely left with the yearning to see more of the Mollywood legend in Kannada films.
Akshay Kumar
Much before his rise as a superstar, Akshay Kumar had featured in a multilingual film which was called Vishnu Vijaya in Kannada. The movie had legend Vishnuvardhan in a prominent role too, and the film did extremely well in Karnataka. The Hindi version, though, was a flop.
Anil Kapoor
Not many in Bollywood might be aware, but before his success in B-Town, Anil Kapoor had already made his full-fledged Kannada debut. Directed by Manirathnam, Pallavi Anu Pallavi did pretty well at the box-office. After this movie, though, Anil has not done anything major in Sandalwood.
Suniel Shetty
Although a Mangalore-born actor, Suniel Shetty appeared for the first time in front of the Kannada audience with the Sudeep film Pailwaan. Suniel was given a chunk role to play in this movie, and as usual, he did it with perfection.
Vivek Oberoi
Once regarded as the next big thing in Bollywood, Vivek Oberoi lost track with unnecessary controversies and poor choice of scripts. Nevertheless, his acting talent is still revered, and on his Kannada debut alongside Shivaraj Kumar in Rustum, he proved it yet again with a neatly delivered performance.
Srikanth
Noted Telugu actor Srikanth had featured alongside Ravichandran in the film Ugadi. The actor’s screen-time was a little more than a cameo, but his role happened to be a crucial one in the plot. After this stint, Srikanth did not appear in any other prominent Kannada films.
