Upendra was born on 18 September 1967.He is a Kannada cinema director, actor and script writer. Born in a middle class family, Upendra started his career off with film director Kashinath as a writer and an assistant director. His first directorial venture was Tharle Nanmaga.
In the late 90s he broke into the scene with the extremely violent Om, which also starred actual Bangalore gangsters. He followed this up with A, in which he starred. Upendra, his next film, starred Raveena Tandon, a popular Bollywood actress.His two films "A" and "Upendra" explore human emotions in a new dimension.
Tharle Nanmaga, his maiden venture as a director, was declared a major success. This film was Jaggesh's first movie as a lead actor. This cult hit is popular even today for its slapstick comedy and out-of the box narration. His second movie Sshhh with Kumar Govindu in the lead was another box of success. This surprise suspense thriller also starred Kashinath and introduced Kumar Govindu as mainstream hero. Interestingly it has small cameo by Uppi as a brash youth in police costume. His next directorial venture Om was a super hit movie starring Shiv Rajkumar and Prema. This story explored and exposed Bangalore underworld. The movie was controversial because of presence of numerous famous real-life rowdy sheeter(s) (underworld gang members). It had a sound track with hit numbers like "Hey Dinakara", "Mehbooba", "College Kumaru" etc.He belongs to Koteshwara brahmin family from kundapura. His movie "Upendra" was released in Japan for that it had story similar to Buddha's story where the hero realizes "Vyraagya" in the climax of movie.
In 2004 he ventured into Ad film making through his own startup advertising agency UppiAds. He even acted as brand ambassador.