Achyuth Kumar

When Girish Kasaravalli cast him in the television serial Gruhabhanga in 2000, Achyuth Kumar already had college theatre in Tiptur behind him, with local groups and guidance from Nataraj Huliyar, as well as training at Ninasam. Born in Bengaluru, the character actor works chiefly in Kannada, with Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films too. More TV followed in Moodala Mane and Preethi Illada Mele. Films came from 2007, beginning with the gangster Oil Kumar in Aa Dinagalu and the heroine's father in Moggina Manasu. He was soon taking on around a dozen films a year. Lucia (2013), in which he played the cinema owner Shankaranna, brought wide recognition and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Hejjegalu that same year won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. Later he played a scavenger in Amaraavati, the scheming landlord Devendra Suttooru in Kantara (2022) and the politician Gurupandian in KGF: Chapter 2. He was a lawyer in the Tamil film Rajini Murugan and has appeared in Sidlingu. His honours come to three Filmfare Awards and two Karnataka State Film Awards. He was seen in the Malayalam film Ananthan Kaadu and the Tamil film Mandaadi in 2026.