Avinash Yelandur

Avinash Yelandur
Avinash in 1998 Kannada serial Mayamruga
Born	Yelandur Narayan Ravindra (1959-12-22) 22 December 1959 (age 64) Yelandur, Mysore State, India
Nationality	Indian
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 actors in the supporting category. He is one of the few actors to enjoy both critical and commercial success.

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 at Mysore and later at Bangalore. During the time, he taught English at the National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, and later at the MES college in Bangalore.^[3]

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 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 series Apthamitra (2004), Chandramukhi (2005) and Aptharakshaka (2010) were high points in his career and have fetched him several national, state smf popular awards. 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 had the privilege of playing 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.

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

1. Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Mathadana
2. South Indian cinematographers association award for Best Supporting actor for Mathadana
3. Film Fans Association award for Best Supporting Actor for Dweepa, Mathadana
4. Jury's special mention for Dweepa, Singaaravva
5. SIFA award for Best Supporting Actor for Aptharakshaka
6. Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Kannada for Aptharakshaka^[6]
7. Udaya TV award for excellence in cinema
8. Suvarna TV award for Prithvi
9. Aryabhata Award for Best Actor for TV series Shikari
10. Rajyotsava Award of the Karnataka State Govt
11. Kempegowda Award of the BBMP

Avinash is the founder member of Sneha Loka, a club to promote sporting activity among the film fraternity.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avinash.

• Avinash Yelandur at IMDb