M. G. Srinivas

M. G. Srinivas is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter who works in Kannada cinema. He made his debut as a director in the Kannada film industry with Topiwala (2013), a commercial entertainer starring Upendra. He made his debut as a lead actor in Srinivasa Kalyana (2017).

M. G. Srinivas
Personal details
Born	Madihalli Gopalakrishna Srinivas 9 July Hassan, Karnataka, India
Spouse	Shruti. I. L ​ (m. 2019)​ [1]
Alma mater	Seshadripuram College
Occupation	Actor, director, screenwriter

Srinivas first became a radio jockey with his show on 93.5 RED FM, Blade Raja. He did short films. His first short film Rules, has the distinction of being screened at Australia's Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival. His next project, Simply Kailawesome, won him the Platinum Remi Award at the Houston Film Festival. The film centers itself around the life and literary works of renowned Kannada writer T P Kailasam. It was also this very film that caught Upendra's attention, following which Topiwala happened. This led to his first feature Topiwala, with Upendra in the lead.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Early life and background

He was educated at Bangalore's Presidency School. After completing his graduation and acquiring his BSc degree from Seshadripuram College.

He began his career as a background dancer for various shows before transitioning to dance choreography. In 2007, he joined 93.5 93.5 RED FM as a professional radio jockey. His morning prime time show Blade Raja became one of the station's most popular programs during that period.

Personal life

He married Shruti IL, a journalist, on 30 June 2019 in Mysore.^[1]

Film career

Alongside his radio jockey career, Srinivas started making short films. His first short movie was Rules, which grabbed attention for its slapstick comedy intertwined with a satirical tone on speed breakers. This film was officially screened in the Australian Film Festival, Bollywood & Beyond^{[disambiguation needed]}.

Following this stint, Srinivas trained at Abhinaya Taranga to learn the nuances of acting. He made his second short film Simply Kailawesome, which was based on TP Kailasam's works^{[citation needed]}. He essayed the lead role in the film. Simply Kailawesome's win of the Platinum Remi Award at the Houston Film Festival, paved way for a formal introduction to Kannada superstar Upendra. Srinivas then went on to direct Topiwala for Upendra and the film opened to a positive response.^{[citation needed]}

He next directed a romantic comedy, Srinivasa Kalyana, produced by Bharat Jain under Mars Films. This movie also saw Srinivas making his commercial movie debut as a lead actor. However, Srinivas was first seen as an actor in Sudeep directorial, Just Maath Maathalli. In this 2010 Kannada movie, he played as Ramya's music freak brother.

Srinivasa Kalyana opened to positive reviews across the state. Deccan Chronicle gave the movie a 3/5 and praised the movie for its light-hearted comedy and youthful charm which showed a complex philosophical thought in a simple manner. Times of India rated the film a 3.5/5 and praised the sassy touch to this candy-floss romance.^{[citation needed]}

His next venture was the crime thriller Birbal Trilogy. The trilogy consisted of Case 1: Finding Vajramuni, followed by Case 2: Avrn bitt, Ivrn bitt, Ivryaru?, and lastly Case 3: Turremane. Birbal Trilogy Case 1: Finding Vajramuni released in January 2019, and starred Srinivas and Rukmini Vasanth in the lead roles. Sujay Shastry, Suresh Heblikar, and Madhusudhan Rao are also, seen in prominent roles.

Srinivas completed the film Old Monk. The film features MG Srinivas, Aditi Prabhudeva^[8][9] in the lead roles. The film's title was inspired from the popular alcohol beverage brand, but it also means "Hale Sanyasi" in Kannada.^[10] Veteran actor Rajesh, made a special cameo appearance in the film. The film was released on 25 February 2022. Critics praised the direction, comedy, writing, dialogue and performance of the film.^[11][12] Music Director duo Saurabh and Vaibhav collaborate a second time with Srinivas after Birbal, and are one of the producers of the movie.^[13]

His next film was Ghost, which is an Indian Kannada-language action heist thriller film written and directed by Srini, and produced by Sandesh Nagraj under Sandesh Productions banners. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Prashant Narayanan, Jayaram, Anupam Kher, and Archana Jois. The film was officially announced in 2022 under the Sandesh Nagraj Productions Sandalwood. The film was released theatrically on 19 October 2023, coinciding with Dussehra. It is the second installment of a cinematic universe following Birbal Trilogy Case 1: Finding Vajramuni in which Srinivas reprises his role as Mahesh Das. The film received positive reviews from critics.

Awards

Year	Category	Event name	Work	Award Name	Result
2011	Best Short Film	Houston International Film Festival	Simply Kailawesome	Platinum Remy award	Won
2022	Rising Star	Chittara Star Awards	Birbal Trilogy	Chittara Rising star award	Won
2023	Most Entertaining star of the year	Chithra Santhe Awards	Old Monk	Chithra Santhe Most Entertaining star of the year	Won
2024	Best Director - Critics	Chithra Santhe Awards	Ghost	Chithra Santhe Best Director - Critics	Won
	Best Director	South Indian International Movie Awards		Best Director	Nominated
	Best Director	International Indian Film Academy Awards		Best Director	Nominated

Filmography

As an actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Just Maath Maathalli	Tanu's brother
	Chirru	Chirru's friend	Credited as Srini Dilip
	Simply Kailawesome	T. P. Kailasam	Short film
2017	Srinivasa Kalyana	Srinivas aka Lakshmi Kantha Baalu
2019	Birbal Trilogy	Mahesh Das
	Ranganayaki	Krishna Murthy
2021	Old Monk	Appanna / Narada		[14]
2023	Ghost	Mahesh Das		[15]
TBA	Birbal 2 †		Filming

As a director

Year	Film	Credit as		Notes	Ref.
		Director	Writer
2010	Simply Kailawesome	Yes	Yes	Short film
2013	Topiwala	Yes	No
2017	Srinivasa Kalyana	Yes	Yes
2019	Birbal Trilogy	Yes	Yes
2021	Old Monk	Yes	Yes	Also co-produced the film	[14]
2023	Ghost	Yes	Yes		[15]
TBA	Birbal 2 †	Yes	Yes	Filming
TBA	A for Anand †	Yes	No	Announced
TBA	Dalavayi †	Yes	No

Business ventures

In 2024, Srini founded AI Samhitha, a company specializing in voice cloning technology.^[16]