Dinesh Mangaluru

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dinesh Mangaluru

• Dinesh Mangaluru was an Indian film actor and art director, known for his work in the Kannada film industry. He came into the limelight with the popular pan-India film sequels K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018) and K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022), in which he played the role of Shetty.

• His debut film, ‘Aasphota’ (1988), was a political drama film, which bagged various accolades, including the Best Film award at the 36th Filmfare Awards South.

• After making his debut in Sandalwood, he appeared in the Kannada films Nagamandala (1996), Z (1999), and Smile (1999).

• In 2007, he played Seetharam Shetty, the right-hand man of underworld don Kotwal Ramachandra, in the Kannada crime drama Aa Dinagalu.

  

• Dinesh Mangaluru appeared in the Kannada biographical film ‘Attahasa’ in which he played the role of Minister Nagappa. The film was based on Veerappan, a forest brigand who was notorious for kidnapping politicians for ransom. Minister Nagappa was one of the politicians who were abducted by Veerappan.

  

• In 2014, he starred in the Kannada neo-noir crime drama anthology film ‘Ulidavaru Kandanthe’ as a local gangster-cum-businessman named Shankar Poojary.

  

• In the Kannada action thriller film ‘Rana Vikrama’ (2015), Dinesh Mangaluru played the role of Kulkarni, an MLA of Maharashtra’s ruling party.

  

• Other acting credits under his belt include the Kannada films Ricky (2016) and Kirik Party (2016).

• He gained popularity when he played the role of Shetty in the pan-India period action film sequels K.G.F: Chapter 1 (2018) and K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022). The film series focused on Rocky, a high-ranking assassin in Mumbai who was born in poverty. In the films, Rocky, while seeking power and wealth, arrived in Bombay as a child, where he worked for the prominent gold smuggler Shetty.

  

• Later, he featured in the Kannada film ‘Senapura’ in which he shared the screen with his son, Surya Siddhartha. Another film in which the father-son duo starred together was Days of Borapura (2018).

  

•  As an art director, he worked on various Kannada films, including Chandramukhi Pranasakhi (1999), Veera Madakari (2009), and Vriksham (The Tree) (2019).
  

• In 2021, Dinesh Mangaluru uploaded an old picture on his Facebook account, which featured him along with former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam at an award ceremony.

  

• Being an avid animal lover, Dinesh often shared pictures of street and pet animals on his Facebook account.

  

• Dinesh Mangaluru passed away on the morning of 25 August 2025, at his residence in Kundapur, Udupi, Karnataka, after battling a prolonged illness for which he had been receiving treatment at Surgeon Hospital in Koteshwara, Karnataka.