Sunil Kumar Desai is an Indian film director, writer and producer, known for his work in Kannada cinema. In most of his films, Desai blends art and commercial cinema. He has written and directed suspense/thrillers and love stories. He has won the Karnataka state awards (4 times) in the Best Screenplay & Best Dialogues categories. He has also won the Filmfare awards 4 times. Desai worked with South Indian musicians like Illayaraja, Hamsalekha and Gunasingh.
Desai was born in 1955 in Bijapur, Karnataka. He had his primary education in Bijapur and higher education in Pune. He started his film-career as an assistant to Kashinath, and later Suresh Heblikar.
Career
Desai made film debut as a director with Tarka in 1989. He subsequent films Nishkarsha, Beladingala Baale and Nammoora Mandara Hoove earned him a reputation as the most innovative and influential directors of the 1990s. After three years of absence, Desai had announced that he have four films up his sleeve one of which is due at the end of 2019.
Filmography
| Title | Year | Director | Producer | Screenwriter | Notes |
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| Tarka | 1989 |  |
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• Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay • Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada |
| Utkarsha | 1990 | |
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| Sangharsha | 1993 | |
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| Nishkarsha | 1994 | |
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• Karnataka State Film Award for First Best Film • Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay |
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| Beladingala Baale | 1995 | |
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• Karnataka State Film Award for Third Best Film • Karnataka State Film Award for Best Dialogue • Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada |
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| Nammoora Mandara Hoove | 1996 | |
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| Prema Raga Haadu Gelathi | 1998 | |
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| Prathyartha | 1999 | |
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Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay | |
| Sparsha | 2000 | |
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Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada | |
| Parva | 2002 | |
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| Marma | 2002 | |
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| Ramya Chaitrakaala | 2006 | |
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| Kshana Kshana | 2007 | |
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| …Re | 2016 | |
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| Udgharsha | 2019 | |
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