Dinesh Baboo

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English Template:Wikidata image Dinesh Baboo (also known as Dinesh Babu) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, actor and screenwriter who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 40 films, filmed more than 20 films and been the scriptwriter for 6 films. He is the recipient of several accolades including two Karnataka State Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and two Cinema Express Awards.

Baboo has created many critical and commercially successful films, like Suprabhatha, Idu Saadhya, Hendthighelbedi, Amrutha Varshini, Laali, Nishyabda, Abhi, Chitra, Hollywood, Magic Ajji, Neenello Naanalle and Bellary Naga. His 1989 comedy-thriller film Inspector Vikram was an average grosser at the time of release but as over the years attained a "cult" status. He has also been the cinematographer for many commercially successful films, like Paadu Nilave, Ninaive Oru Sangeetham, Dhruvam, Ammayane Sathyam, Commissioner, Pidakkozhi Koovunna Noottandu and The King.

Career

Cinematographer

His career in cinema started as a cinematographer. He stood behind the camera for noted Malayalam film blockbusters like Dhruvam, Ullasa Poonkattu and the 1994 blockbuster Commissioner which was instrumental in raising Suresh Gopi, to stardom. His most successful film as a cinematographer was the Shaji Kailas' 1995 blockbuster The King, which was the highest grossing Malayalam film at the time.

Great talent in cinematography was the springboard that launched him to great success in the world of cinema. This also helped him to have first hand knowledge of every technical aspect of cinema, which a director need not be necessarily familiar with. He also directed a Malayalam film named Mazhavillu starring Kunchacko Boban and Preeti Jhangiani. Although his camera skills were widely appreciated in Mollywood, his ambition took him to the world of Kannada films where he chose to direct rather than handle the camera.

Director

His directorial career in the Kannada film world took off with Suprabhatha, a film with Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini which became a box office hit creating many records and gave a major boost to Baboo's career. His next movie was the hugely successful thriller Idu Saadhya in 1989. The movie, featuring eight stars, was made on a shoestring budget of just 1.5 million INR and shot at a single location within 36 hours, setting a record for the fastest completion of an Indian film. He followed it up with the comedy cop thriller - Inspector Vikram - which was a first of its kind in Kannada cinema at that time. Though an average success at the time of its release, the movie has gained cult following among the viewers over the years. As a director, his craftsmanship has been lauded by columnists and reviewers - especially for his screenplay which revolves around very few locations and for successfully blending the comedy and thriller genre.

Actor

He appeared in front of the camera for the first time as a police officer in the film Accident, directed by Ramesh Aravind.

Filmography

Films

Source:

As cinematographer, writer and director

Year	Film	Language	Credited as			Notes
			Cinematographer	Writer	Director
1983	Bhagavathipuram Railway Gate	Tamil	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1984	Unnai Naan Santhithen		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Nilavu Suduvathillai		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1985	Udaya Geetham		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Geethanjali		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1986	Uyire Unakkaga		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Sathya Jyothi	Kannada	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Aayiram Pookkal Malarattum	Tamil	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1987	Paadu Nilave		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Ninaive Oru Sangeetham		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Manithanin Marupakkam		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Unakkaagave Vaazhgiren		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Ananda Aradhanai		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
1988	En Uyir Kannamma		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Suprabhatha	Kannada	Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
1989	Idu Saadhya		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Inspector Vikram		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Hendthighelbedi		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
1990	Papa Kosam	Telugu	Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Maheshwara	Kannada	Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
1993	Dhruvam	Malayalam	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Ammayane Sathyam		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Chamayam		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Vasantha Poornima	Kannada	Red XN	Green tickY Story	Red XN
1994	Commissioner	Malayalam	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Pidakkozhi Koovunna Noottandu		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Thendral Varum Theru	Tamil	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1995	The King	Malayalam	Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Ullasappoonkattu		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1996	Mahathma		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
1997	Bhoopathi		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Laali	Kannada	Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Amruthavarshini		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
1998	Nishyabda		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Hendthigheltini		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
1999	Premotsava		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Mazhavillu	Malayalam	Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Nanenu Madlilla	Kannada	Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
2000	Nan Hendthi Chennagidale		Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Chitte		Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Deepavali		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2001	Chitra		Green tickY	Green tickY Only screenplay	Green tickY
2002	Hollywood		Green tickY	Red XN	Green tickY
	Balagalittu Olage Baa		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2003	Abhi		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Panchali		Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
2004	Kanakambari		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2005	Magic Ajji		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Pandu Ranga Vittala		Green tickY	Green tickY Only screenplay	Green tickY	Story by V. Vijayendra Prasad
2006	Neenello Naanalle		Red XN	Green tickY Only screenplay	Green tickY	Based on Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana
2007	Ganesha		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2008	Akasha Gange		Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Neene Neene		Green tickY	Red XN	Red XN
	Mr. Garagasa		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Janumada Gelathi		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Accident		Red XN	Red XN	Red XN	Only actor
2009	Mr. Painter		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Mooru Guttu Ondu Sullu Ondu Nija		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Bellary Naga		Green tickY	Green tickY Only screenplay	Green tickY	Based on Rajamanikyam
2010	School Master		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Eradane Maduve		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2011	Mathond Madhuvena		Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Bhale Mogudu Bhale Pellam	Telugu	Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Naanalla	Kannada	Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
2012	Ondu Kshanadalli		Red XN	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Golmal Gayathri		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Paper Doni		Red XN	Green tickY Only lyrics	Red XN
2014	Athi Aparoopa		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2016	Priyanka		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2018	Krishnam	Malayalam	Green tickY	Green tickY Only screenplay	Green tickY	Partially reshot in Telugu as Dear Krishna (2025)
	Preethi Keli Sneha Kaledukollabedi	Kannada	Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
	Nanagista		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2019	Hagalu Kanasu		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
2022	Kasthuri Mahal		Green tickY	Green tickY	Green tickY
TBA	Utthara	Kannada	Green tickY		Green tickY

Television

• Mane Mane Kathe
• Akansha
• Swati Muttu

External links

• Template:Trim/ IMDB page mainly referring to his film career at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:Trim/ Template:Trim at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck