| Indrajit Lankesh | |
| Birth Place: | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Occupation: | Film director, actor and journalist |
| Parents: | P. Lankesh (father) |
| Spouse: | Arpitha |
| Relatives: | Gauri Lankesh (sister) Kavitha Lankesh (sister) |
Indrajit Lankesh is an Indian filmmaker, producer, and director of Kannada and Hindi films. He is also the publisher of the weekly Kannada tabloid Lankesh Patrike. He is the son of iconic writer, journalist and film maker P. Lankesh.
Lankesh comes from a prominent family of journalists and media publishers. His father P.Lankesh founded the highly successful weekly tabloid Lankesh Patrike. His sister Kavitha Lankesh is a filmmaker and his other sister Gauri Lankesh was a journalist/activist.
Lankesh Patrike is an Indian vernacular weekly published in Kannada language from Bengaluru, Karnataka. The weekly newspaper was started by his father, P.Lankesh, in 1980—along the lines of Harijan, a weekly journal published by Mahatma Gandhi. The weekly remains to this day, true to its founding principles, having never published a single advertisement nor having generated any advertisement revenue, surviving on subscription from its readers alone. After working with All-rounder, Indrajit joined Lankesh Patrike as a sub-editor sometime in 1992–93. He now serves as the publisher and managing editor of the weekly newspaper.
Lankesh began his career as a director in 2001. His debut film, Thuntata, was an Aniruddh – Rekha Vedavyas- Chaya Singh starrer, which won him the V. Shantaram Award for Best Debutant Director, along with the Shankarnag Award for the same. Following the success of Thuntata, Lankesh came up with a real-life incident based film Lankesh Patrike. Darshan and singer-turned-actor Vasundhara Das featured in this film.
In 2004, Lankesh directed the film Monalisa starring Dhyan and Sadha in the lead roles. This film brought him to the limelight again and he received the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director and Best Film.[1] Monalisa had a successful run of 25 weeks across Karnataka. The film was one of the first Kannada films to be screened in the Multiplexes.
In 2006, he directed the film Aishwarya starring Upendra in the lead. This was the debut film for the Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone. The film opened to full houses, and Lankesh won the Filmfare Award for Best Director.
Lankesh then went on to direct the commercial potboiler Huduga Hudugi, with Dhyan and Lekha Washington in the lead roles. Actresses Sadha and Ileana made special appearances in the same film. In 2012, Lankesh's Diganth and Charmee Kaur starrer, Dev Son of Mudde Gowda released to mostly mixed reviews from the audience and critics alike.
In 2015 Lankesh directed Luv U Alia starring V. Ravichandran, Bhumika Chawla and Chandan Kumar.
In 2020, he directed Shakeela, starring Richa Chadda and Pankaj Tripathi in the title role.
Indrajit Lankesh plays the permanent celebrity judge and is a household name with his presence and performance in Majaa Talkies, a family comedy show, is the longest run reality show in the history of Indian television. It has the highest TRP and the most popular show among Kannadigas across the world.
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Thuntata | |
| 2003 | Lankesh Patrike | |
| 2004 | Monalisa | |
| 2006 | Aishwarya | |
| 2010 | Huduga Hudugi | |
| 2012 | Dev Son of Mudde Gowda | |
| 2016 | Luv U Alia | |
| 2020 | Shakeela | Hindi film |
| 2024 | Gowri | |
| Year | Awards and Award Category | Film | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | - V Shantaram Award – Best Debut Director | Thuntata | [2] |
| 2004 | - Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director | Monalisa | [3] |
| 2006 | - Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada Aryabhatta Ragavendra Swamy Award Shankarnag Award for Direction | Aishwarya | [4] |
| 2017 | - Best Tabloid: State Media Awards | Lankesh Patrike | |
2020 Bangalore press club journalists award