Sathish Ninasam

Shivakumar (born 20 June), known by his screen name Sathish Ninasam or Neenasam Sathish, is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. Having made his film debut with Madesha (2008), Sathish appeared in small but significant roles in films like Manasaare (2009), Pancharangi (2010), Lifeu Ishtene and Drama (2012). He shot to fame after his performance in the 2013 film Lucia received critical acclaim.

Early life

Shivakumar hails from a village, Yeladahalli, near Mandya, in Mandya district in Karnataka. He was born into a family of farmers. Having been interested in cinema since childhood, he would "often ran away from home to nearby theatres, soon followed by a worried mother to take me back home." He started his career as a theatre actor in Ninasam, a cultural organisation based in Heggodu in the Shimoga district of Karnataka, where prior to acting, he completed a two-year diploma course in acting. Inspired by the work B. V. Karanth, Poornachandra Tejaswi, U. R. Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad and William Shakespeare, Shivakumar realised the importance of work to lead a "meaningful life". Following the course, he performed in plays across Karnataka before landing in Bangalore in 2006. There, he became a part of the Samashti Theatre Group that performed plays.