Huccha Venkat
Indian actor and filmmaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Venkataram Laxman, also known by his stage name Huccha Venkat, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works in Kannada cinema.[2][3][4]
Career
Venkat made his acting debut in a supporting role in the 2005 film Mental Manja[5] and in Swathanthra Palya (2009), which he also directed.[6] In Huccha Venkat (2014), which he also directed and produced, Venkat starred as the eponymous lead. The film received negative reviews.[7][8]
Before the release of Huccha Venkat (2014), Venkat was an unknown actor but he became famous after media outlets released a viral video[9] in which he identified Kannadigas not watching Huccha Venkat as the main reason for its failure on the day of its release. Following the incident and the film's re-release,[10] Venkat has been a regular guest on television talk-shows such as Bengaluru Benne Dose and Divided.[11][12] He often appears on news channels while drunk. In October 2015, he appeared as a contestant on the reality television series Bigg Boss Kannada 3, which aired on Colors Kannada.[13] Venkat clashed with the show's other participants, mainly because he said the female contestants were dressing inappropriately; he also fought with Pratham after the show ended.[14][15][16][17][18] This incident led to his eviction from the house after he assaulted another contestant, Ravi Mooruru.[19][20][21][22] Venkat also challenged Sudeep, and later withdrew the challenge and refused to talk to Sudeep again.[19]
Venkat's fans have created an Android app called Huccha Venkat that provides updates about Venkat.[23][24][25] Senior journalist Ganesh Kasargod has written a book titled Huchcha Venkat ... Huchchu Manasina nooru mukhagalu, which was released in January 2016.[26]
Other work
In 2018, Venkat contested the Assembly elections for the seat of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru, as an independent candidate.[27] He failed to win the seat.[28]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Actor | Director | Producer | Singer | |||
| 2005 | Mental Manja | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2009 | Swathanthra Palya | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 2014 | Huccha Venkat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2016 | Parapancha | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Cameo appearance in the song "Huttida Ooranu"[29] |
| 2017 | Porki Huccha Venkat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | Thikla Huccha Venkat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Dictator Huccha Venkat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Durahankari Huccha Venkat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| O Premave | No | Yes | No | No | No | Cameo appearance | |
| 2020 | Mayabazar 2016 | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Bigg Boss Kannada season 3 | Contestant | Colors Kannada | Ejected on Day 21 |
| 2021 | Life Ok | Host | Siri Kannada | Co-hosted with Murali[30] |
Controversies
Venkat is frequently seen as a controversial person in Kannada media.[3] While promoting his film Huccha Venkat (2014), Venkat said he was married to the Kannada actor Ramya and gave an expletive-laden speech to a television interviewer. Ramya responded to Venkat's claims by filing a police report and publicly refuting his statements, to which Venkat did not publicly respond;[31][32][33][34][35][36] Venkat stopped saying Ramya was his wife and started saying he liked his partner Rachana on the television show Super Jodi. Sushma refused to love Venkat so in 2017, he drank phenol.[37] Venkat's speech in response to the poor opening turnout for his film, quickly went viral on YouTube and spawned several parody videos.[3][38]
In November 2015, Venkat made other controversial statements in a television appearance; he made derogatory remarks about B. R. Ambedkar while taking part in a panel discussion.[39][40][41][42] After the appearance, several students viewing the discussion lodged complaints about Venkat and the news station, which the students said provoked Venkat into making the offensive remarks.[41] These complaints were followed by several protests and blackened Venkat's face.[43][44][45] On 19 November 2015, Venkat was arrested and was held in judicial custody at Bangalore Central Prison until 4 December that year.[41][46][47][48]
Venkat's attorney has said Venkat has schizophrenia.[49] As a growing concern, Venkat's remarks on the television channel were discussed in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.[50] On 25 November, a Bangalore city civil court issued conditional bail to Venkat.[51][52][53][54] Venkat was not released until the surety amount was paid and the completion of bail formalities. He was released on 3 December with conditional bail.[55][56][57] Venkat has also said he will become prime minister of India one day.[58][59]
