Mailasandra Hanumappa Manjunatha Reddy, known popularly as Thriller Manju, is an Indian

stunt coordinator A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for ...

, filmmaker, actor known for his work in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directed ...

. He has occasionally also served as

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. Apart from Kannada, Manju has also worked in a handful

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

- and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language films. He ventured into film direction with the film, '' Police Story'' (1996).

Early life

Manju was born in Mailasandra, a village in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, to C. Hanumappa Reddy and A. Rukminiamma. He had two siblings: older brother Gurumurthy and younger sister Padmavati. Hanumappa Reddy served as the chief of the village before the family moved to Bangalore city where he began working as an

electrical contractor An electrical contractor is a business person or firm that performs specialized construction work related to the design, installation, and maintenance of electrical systems. An electrical contractor is different from an electrician; an electricia ...

. The family resided in the Basavanagudi, where Manju was educated, at the Kamala Nehru Education Society. With a

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

and a

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

training center in close proximity to his house, he was drawn towards both of these as a kid. He cited Rajkumar and

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

as his idols growing up.

Career

Manju began his career as a stuntman with ''Nyayada Kannu'' (1985). He played the

stunt double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

of one of the characters in the film. Manju had one scene in the film and was shot in the

Kanteerava Studios Kanteerava Studios which was planned and allotted for the development of Kannada Films providing world class facilities. Rajkumar and his son Puneeth Rajkumar, popular actors in Kannada cinema, are buried within the studio grounds. History In 1 ...

. Manju's 2010 Kannada film, ''Jayahe'' featured himself in the leading roles alongside actors Ayesha and

Jai Akash Jai Akash, also known as Akash, is an Indian actor, who acted as hero in Telugu and Tamil films. He has acted in a Kannada film as hero too. He is the hero of the Telugu blockbuster movie Anandam ''Anandam'' (2001). Career Jai Sathish, a Tamil ...

. The film was later dubbed and released in Malayalam as '' Lady Bruce Lee'' (2011) and into Tamil as '' Vettai Puli'' (2013).

Filmography

;As director (Kannada) *'' Police Story'' (1996) *''Jackie Chan'' (1997) *''Thriller Killer'' (1998) *''One Man Army'' (1998) *''Om Namah Shivaya'' (1999) *''Hunter'' (2003) *''Om Ganesh'' (2004) *''

Police Story 2 ''Police Story 2'' (, also known marketed as ''Jackie Chan's Police Story 2'') is a 1988 Hong Kong action film starring and directed by Jackie Chan, who also wrote the screenplay with Edward Tang. It is a sequel to the hit 1985 film '' Police S ...

'' (2007) *'' Rajani'' (2009) *''Jayahe'' (2010) *''Police No. 1'' (2011) *''

Police Story 3 ''Police Story 3: Supercop'' (), released as ''Supercop'' in the US, is a 1992 Hong Kong action film starring Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. Jackie reprises his "Kevin" Chan Ka-Kui character, a Hong Kong cop from '' Police Story'' and '' ...

'' (2011) ;As actor *''Thriller Killer'' (1998) *''Amar Akbar Anthony'' (1998) *''Naxalite'' (2000) *''Narahantaka (2001) *''Supari'' (2001) *''Mafia'' (2001) *'' Neethone Vuntanu'' (2001; Telugu) *''Police Officers'' (2002) *''Thrisakthi'' (2002) *''Hunter'' (2003) *''Bodyguard'' (2003) *''Rama Krishna'' (2004) *''Samudra'' (2004) *''Bhagath'' (2004) *''Police No. 1'' (2011) *''CBI Sathya'' (2016) *''Raj Bahadur'' (2016) *''Dandu'' (2016) ;As stunt coordinator *''Shhh'' (1993) *''

Lockup Death ''Lockup Death'' is a 1994 Indian Kannada-language action film directed and written by Om Prakash Rao starring Devaraj, Nirosha and Saikumar. The film was produced by Ramu for his Ramu Enterprises production banner. It was the first Kannada ...

'' (1994) *'' Om'' (1995) *'' Police Story'' (1996) *''Hunter'' (2003) *'' Auto Shankar'' (2005) *''

Veera Madakari ''Ee Shatamaanada Veera Madakari'' (also known as ''Veera Madakari'') is a 2009 Indian Kannada-language action film directed by Sudeep. The film features Sudeep in a double role alongside debutant Ragini Dwivedi in the lead roles. The film fea ...

'' (2009) *'' Thittivasal'' (2017) *''Sarvasva'' (2017)

Awards and nominations

* 1994-95: Karnataka State Film Award for Best Stunt Director (Special Award) - ''

'' * 2010: Innovative Film Award for Best Stunt Director

References

External links

* {{authority control Living people Kannada film directors Filmfare Awards South winners Male actors from Bangalore Indian male film actors 20th-century Indian male actors 1972 births Indian action choreographers Film directors from Bangalore 20th-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian film directors Martial artists from Karnataka