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Avinash Yelandur
Avinash Yelandur
	Avinash in 1998 Kannada serial Mayamruga
Born	Yelandur Narayan Ravindra; 22 December 1959 (age 66); Yelandur, Mysore State, India
Alma mater	University of Mysore
Occupations	Actor; professor;
Spouse	Malavika (m. 2001)
Children	1

Yelandur Narayan Ravindra (born 22 December 1959),^[1] known mononymously by his stage name Avinash, is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Kannada and Tamil films. He has been working in films for more than three decades. Known for his authentic portrayal of complex characters and versatility, Avinash is one of the most sought after actors for supporting roles.

Early life

Avinash was born in the town of Yelandur in Mysore district (now in Chamarajanagar district), in the Mysore State (now Karnataka), to Indira and B. K. Narayana Rao, a lawyer. After completing his education at Mysore's Hardwick High School and College, Avinash went on to attend University of Mysore, where he obtained his master's degree in English literature.^[2] Drawn to theatre and cinema from a young age, he had an active theater life in Mysore and later in Bangalore. During the time, he taught English at the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, and later at the MES college in Bangalore.^[3]

Career

Theatre

His first job after his M.Phil. was that of an English lecturer in National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. He continued to teach at MES College Bangalore as one of the most popular lecturers of the college. However, soon his passion for theatre took him abroad to train in acting at Mermaid Theatre, London.^[4] On returning home, he worked in Kannada theatre as part of the renowned B Jayashree's troupe "Spandana" and with the Shankar Nag as part of his "Sanketh" for many years.

Films

Films were a natural choice for Avinash after his debut in G. V. Iyer's Madhvacharya (1986) based on the life and times of the twelfth-century enlightened master as the protagonist Madhvacharya, a film that won several National and State Awards. His debut in mainstream cinema however, was with Shivarajkumar's Samyuktha (1988), which went in to become a hit with audiences, ushering him into the world of South Indian Cinema. He has worked with more than 200 directors such as K. Balachander, Girish Kasaravalli, T. N. Seetharam, A. R. Murugadoss, Puri Jagannadh, P. Vasu, Vetrimaaran, Siva, Suseenthiran, Duniya Suri, Prashanth Neel, Gautham Vasudev Menon and T. S. Nagabharana.

His other notable performances were in Girish Kasaravalli's Dweepa (2002), in which he played the lead opposite Soundarya, T. S. Nagabharana's Chinnari Mutha (1993) and T. N. Seetharam's Mathadana (2001), all three of which won National Award. He also lists Singaaravva (2003) and Chigurida Kanasu (2003) among his most memorable films.^[5]

P. Vasu's hit horror series Apthamitra (2004), Chandramukhi (2005) and Aptharakshaka (2010) were high points in his career. 5Ters, an experimental (computer graphics) children's film in Hindi gave him the opportunity of playing good and evil characters and he considers the film to be a high point of his career.

Apart from his diverse repertoire, he has played major roles alongside doyens such as Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Rajinikanth, Mammootty, stars such as Nagarjuna, Nandamuri Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Shiva Rajkumar, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Vikram, Suriya, Puneeth Rajkumar, Kiccha Sudeep, Yash, Arya, Karthi, Mahesh Babu, Prithviraj Sukumaran and several of the younger stars of South Indian Cinema.

Personal life

Avinash married Malavika, who was his co-star in the soap opera Mayamruga, in 2001.^[3] They have a son, Gaalav.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2000–01	Karnataka State Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	Mathadana	Won	^[6]
2011	Filmfare Awards South	Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Kannada	Aptharakshaka	Won	^[7]
2018	Rajyotsava Award	Lifetime Achievement	—	Won	^[8]

Partial filmography

Kannada films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Trishula	Damodar Rao
1986	27 Mavalli Circle	P. R. Arunkumar
1986	Madhvacharya	Young Madhvacharya
1987	Aapadbandhava
	Athiratha Maharatha
	Ravana Rajya
	Bandhamuktha	Prabhakar's friend
	Sangrama
	Agni Parva
1988	Samyuktha	Gopal Rao
	Krishna Mecchida Radhe
	Daada	Vishnu's friend
	Mathru Vathsalya	Shekhar
1989	Ondagi Balu	Thyagaraj
	Tarka	Cowry
	Yuddha Kaanda	Dr. Hegde
	Onti Salaga	Ramesh
	Deva
	Inspector Vikram	Rao
	C.B.I. Shankar	Vikram
1990	Ashwamedha	Muthanna
	Kiladi Thatha
	Mathsara	Somashekhar
	Poli Kitty
	Rudra Thandava
	S. P. Sangliyana Part 2	Imposter of CBI officer
	Swarna Samsara	Diwakar
	Utkarsha	Mahendra
1991	Hathya Kanda	Prasad
1991	CBI Vijay^[9]	S.I. Harischandra
1992	Pruthviraj	Inspector Rajashekar
	Mannina Doni	Pradeep
	Sangya Balya	Veeranna Setty
1993	Chinnari Mutha	Saawanth
1993	Aakasmika	Rijji
1994	Nishkarsha	Ramakrishna
	Lockup Death	Police Inspector
	Kiladigalu	Chikkaraja
1996	Huliya	Madagi
1997	CBI Durga
1998	Karnataka Police	Captain
1999	Aryabhata
	Drona	JD
	Idu Entha Premavayya	Arun's brother
	Hrudaya Hrudaya
	Nannaseya Hoove
	Om Namah Shivaya
2000	Yajamana	Devaraj
2001	Lankesha
	Shaapa	Psychiatrist
	Prema Rajya
	Huchcha	Kiccha's brother
	Vishalakshammana Ganda
	Mathadana	Puttathammayya	Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Kotigobba	Keshava
2002	Appu	Rajashekhar
	Ninagagi	Dr. Subramanya
	Karmugilu	Shankar
	Balarama	Landlord
	Kitty	Kitty's brother
	Dweepa	Ganapa
2003	Don	Ramaswamy Iyengar
	Singaaravva	Saragam Desai
	Sri Ram	Lokayuktha DCP Kshetrapal
	Raja Narasimha
	Thayi Illada Thabbali	Nanjappa
	Chigurida Kanasu	Shanubhog
	Khushi	Durga Prasad
	Daasa
	Mani
	Mooru Manasu Nooru Kanasu	Anand's father
2004	Veera Kannadiga	Vishwa
	Durgi
	Apthamitra	Acharya Ramachandra Shastri
	Kalasipalya	Seetharam
	Jennifer	Basha
2005	Valmiki	Deshpande
	Sirichandana
	Aakash	Dayanand
	Deadly Soma	Chinnaswamy
	Siddu
	Sye	Sivaji
	Aadi	Udayachandar
	Amrithadhare	Puru's Father
	News	Umesh
	Swamy	Desai
	Green Signal
2006	Mandya	Bhoopayya
	Chellata	Chandrasekhar
	Cyanide	Kempaiah IPS
	Gandugali Kumararama
	Sirivantha	Mastan Bhai
	Tananam Tananam	Gowda
	Kallarali Hoovagi	Parashuramappa
	Shree
2007	Hudugaata	S. K. Ananth Rao
2007	Gunavantha
2008	Manasugula Mathu Madhura
	Bombaat	Ananthakrishnan
	Baa Bega Chandamama	Poonacha
	Chikkamagaloora Chikka Mallige
2009	Kabaddi
2009	Bellary Naga	Vishwanath Gowda
2010	Police Quarters	Vishwanna
	School Master
	Porki	Satya Narayan Murthy
	Aptharakshaka	Acharya Ramachandra Shastri	Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Kannada
	Prithvi	Narasimha Nayak
	Jayahe	Sushilkumar
	Preethi Hangama	Geetha's boss
2011	Karthik
	Double Decker
	Hudugaru	Paramashiva Murthy
	Paramathma	Srinivas
	Putra	Narasimha
2012	Shakti
	Anna Bond	Major Chandrakanth
	Romeo
2013	Sandalwood Sa Re Ga Ma
	CID Eesha
	Jataayu
	Victory	DCP Rajendra
	Kaddipudi	ACP Vijaya Prasad
	Madarangi	Deepu's father
2014	Angaaraka
	Ninnindale	Lakshmi Venkatesh
	Ugramm	Shivarudra Lingaiah
	Shivajinagara	Dayanand
	Kalyanamasthu
	Ragini IPS	Hiremath
	Huchudugaru
	Maryade
	Veera Pulikeshi
	Maanikya
	Hara
	Jasmine.5
	Aakramana
	Power
2015	Katte	Nagu's father	^[10]
	Mrugashira
	Vajrakaya	Viraj's adoptive father
	Preethiyinda	Amar Kumar Pandey
	Lodde
	Mr. Airavata	Police Commissioner
	Goolihatti
	Dove
	7
	Ring Road Suma
	Bettanagere
	Alone
2016	Bullet Rani		Bilingual film^[11]
	Jaguar	College Principal	Bilingual film
	Kotigobba 2	Landlord
2017	Hebbuli	ACP Prathap
	Raajakumara	Jagadeesh
	Rogue		Bilingual film
	Dandupalya 2	Police Officer
2018	Prema Baraha	Ram
	Idam Premam Jeevanam
	Ambi Ning Vayassaytho	Nandini's father
	Gultoo	Inspector Avinash
	Vaasu Naan Pakka Commercial
	Victory 2	DCP Rajendra
	Orange	Huli Veeraiah
2019	Natasaarvabhowma	Avinash
	Dasharatha
	Akhaada		Only dubbed versions released^[12]
	Pailwaan	Rukumini's father
	Katha Sangama
2020	Mounam
	Arishadvarga	Manjunath Bhat
	Shivarjuna	Rayappa
	Law	Nandini's father
	Act 1978	Chief Minister of Karnataka
2021	Roberrt	Omkar Shukla
	Yuvarathnaa	Jayapal
	Mugilpete
2022	James	Army officer
	Home Minister	Renuka's father
	Shiva 143	Narasimha
2023	Love Birds
	Vidhi (Article) 370
	19.20.21
	Mariguddada Gaddadharigalu
	Suraari
	Siren	Police Commissioner Ashok Kumar
	Yadha Yadha Hi	Avinash Bhat
	Iravan	Dr Satya Murthy
	Aparoopa
	David
	Sheela
	Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A	Shankare Gowda
	Mayanagari
	Kaatera	Shanubogha
2024	Juni	Partha's father
	Abbabba	Gopal Reddy
	Bagheera	Ramakanth Appayya
	Bhairathi Ranagal	Khandre
2025	Guns and Roses
	Choo Mantar	Acharya Ramachandra	Cameo appearance
	Forest	Mani
	Rudra Garuda Purana
	Unlock Raghava
	Vaamana
	Kothalavadi	Commissioner Ananta Padmanabha
	Jambu Circus
	I Am God
	Jai Gadakesari
	Flirt

Tamil films

Year	Film	Role
2003	Thirumalai	Ashok
2005	Chandramukhi	Ramachandra Acharya
2006	Paramasivan	DGP Rajasekar
	Vattaram	Karuppusamy
	Poi	Valluvanar
2007	Madurai Veeran	Vishvanathan
2008	Velli Thirai	Reddy
	Singakutty	Anjali's father
	Satyam	Sathyam's father
	Aegan	John's friend
2010	Kanagavel Kaaka	Vel's Father
2010	Siddhu +2	Pavithra's father
2011	Siruthai	Bavuji
	7 Aum Arivu	Pallava King
	Rajapattai	Chidambaram
2013	Udhayam NH4	Avinash Patel
2014	Veeram	Aavudayappan
2014	Meaghamann	Avinash Bhote
2015	Killadi	SP Easwarapandiyan
	Yennai Arindhaal	Hemanika's father
	Sandamarutham
	Vedalam	Rahul's assistant
2016	Gethu	Craig's boss
2016	Moondraam Ullaga Por	Subramaniam
2018	Sollividava	Ram
2019	Neeya 2	Ananda Siddhar
2020	College Kumar	Kaliyamurthy
2022	Sardar	Victor (Chetta)
2022	Connect	Father Alex
2023	Theedhum Soodhum Endhan Mugavari
2025	Aaryan	DGP Ravi Chakrapani

Telugu films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Golmaal	Abdullah
2007	Lakshmi Kalyanam	Chalamaiah
2008	Sangamam	Raghava Rao
2009	Aa Okkadu	Swamy
2010	Nagavalli	Acharya Ramachandra Siddhanthi
2012	Daruvu	Shantaram
2012	Damarukam	Kaapaalika's chief
2016	Bullet Rani		Bilingual film^[11]
2016	Jaguar	College Principal	Bilingual films
2017	Rogue	Sanju's father	Bilingual films
2017	Raju Gari Gadhi 2	Priest
2020	College Kumar	Madhava Rao
2021	Akhanda	Akhanda's father
2023	Suvarna Sundari	Raja Ram Bahadur
2023	Tantiram	Adhiban
2025	Dear Krishna	Balakrishna	Partially reshot version

Other language films

Year	Film	Role	Language
1998	Jungle Boy	Sanjay	English
2011	Doubles	Louie	Malayalam
2011	5ters: Castle of Dark Master		Hindi

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
2026	Raakshasa		ZEE5	^[13]

Other activities

Avinash is the founder member of Sneha Loka, a club to promote sporting activity among the film fraternity.^{[citation needed]}

References

↑ Weekend with Ramesh - Season 5 / A Rare Actor from the Sandalwood Industry (in Kannada). Zee Kannada. 22 April 2013. Event occurs at 3:48. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
↑ "Banking on immense talent". Deccan Herald. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
1 2 "From reel love to real love". The Times of India. 3 January 2001. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
↑ "A taste of Mollywood". The New Indian Express. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
↑ "Avinash: I keep reinventing myself".
↑ "Karnataka State Film Awards: Rakshit Shetty To Archana Jois, See Full List Of Winners". NDTV. Archived from the original on 19 January 2026. Retrieved 20 July 2026.
↑ "Vedam wins big at Filmfare Awards (South) 2011". Rediff.com. 4 July 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
↑ Sebastian, Shilpa (20 November 2018). "Actor Avinash on his passion -- acting" – via www.thehindu.com.
↑ "CBI Vijay (1991) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". chiloka.com. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
↑ Kumar, G S (3 April 2015). "Katte Movie Review". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
1 2 "Bullet Rani". TVGuide.com.
↑ "Edakku (2021) Vijay Sethupathi, Exclusive Worldwide | Tamil Dubbed Full Rowdy Action Movie | 4K FILM". YouTube. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
↑ "Raakshasa review: A brooding crime thriller rooted in North Karnataka's dark realities". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 20 February 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.

External links

Avinash Yelandur at IMDb

[1] Weekend with Ramesh - Season 5 / A Rare Actor from the Sandalwood Industry (in Kannada). Zee Kannada. 22 April 2013. Event occurs at 3:48. Retrieved 22 August 2023.

[2] "Banking on immense talent". Deccan Herald. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2016.

[toi1-3] 1 2 "From reel love to real love". The Times of India. 3 January 2001. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2014.

[4] "A taste of Mollywood". The New Indian Express. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.

[5] "Avinash: I keep reinventing myself".

[6] "Karnataka State Film Awards: Rakshit Shetty To Archana Jois, See Full List Of Winners". NDTV. Archived from the original on 19 January 2026. Retrieved 20 July 2026.

[7] "Vedam wins big at Filmfare Awards (South) 2011". Rediff.com. 4 July 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2016.

[8] Sebastian, Shilpa (20 November 2018). "Actor Avinash on his passion -- acting" – via www.thehindu.com.

[9] "CBI Vijay (1991) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". chiloka.com. Retrieved 14 October 2025.

[10] Kumar, G S (3 April 2015). "Katte Movie Review". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 April 2026.

[TV-11] 1 2 "Bullet Rani". TVGuide.com.

[12] "Edakku (2021) Vijay Sethupathi, Exclusive Worldwide | Tamil Dubbed Full Rowdy Action Movie | 4K FILM". YouTube. Retrieved 7 April 2022.

[13] "Raakshasa review: A brooding crime thriller rooted in North Karnataka's dark realities". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 20 February 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.

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