Movie stars who have acted in multiple film industries

The Kannada film industry constantly churns out one talented actor after another - actors who are capable of pulling off any role with aplomb. They carry the same passion and drive to deliver power-packed performances at all times, something that makes them irresistible to filmmakers from other industries as well. Here are five such actors from our film industry who have not just acted in films from other industries, but also left an indelible mark in the audiences’ hearts.

Sudeep

The versatile actor is one of Kannada film industry’s biggest star and with good reason. No matter how his movies fare, his acting often ends up taking the cake, so much that it hasn’t gone unnoticed by other film industries, be it Tamil, Telugu and even Hindi. His popular films in other languages include Eega and Baahubali (Tamil-Telugu bilinguals), Rakta Charitra (Tamil-Hindi), Puli (Tamil) and Phoonk (Hindi).

Upendra

Actor, director, producer, screenwriter, lyricist and playback singer – in the Kannada film industry, Upendra is a man of many talents. Apart from acting in Sandalwood films, Real Star has also acted in many Telugu films and a Tamil film too. Some of his notable other language films include Sathyam in Tamil, and S/O Satyamurthy, Kanyadanam and Buddhimanthudu in Telugu.

Arjun Sarja

The actor, who was born into a Kannada family Madhugiri, has predominantly worked in the Tamil film industry. But the king of action has acted in over 20 Kannada films, and even in Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. Some of his memorable other language films include Rama Rama Krishna Krishna, Hanuman Junction and Trimurtulu in Telugu, Gentleman, Mudhalvan and Kadal in Tamil and This Weekend in Hindi.

Prakash Rai

The actor is a polyglot, which is good enough a reason for his talents to be made use of by not one but many film industries. The multiple National award-winning actor has over 300 films to his credit. His other language hits include Iruvar, Kanchivaram and Abhiyum Naanum in Tamil, Antahpuram, Nuvve Nuvve and Dookudu in Telugu, and Heropanti, Zanjeer and Dabangg 2 in Bollywood.

Prem

Prem Kumar, known popularly as Prem or Nenapirali Prem, made his acting debut in 2004 with the film Praana, but it was his lead role in Nenapirali the following year that won him a lot of recognition. In between his films in the Kannada industry, the Lovely Star acted in Chandra, a Kannada-Tamil bilingual film opposite Shriya Saran.