Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna (born c. 1954), also known as Neernalli Ramakrishna, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Kannada cinema, block buster debut being Babruvahana as lord Krishna alongside the lead double role played by Dr. Rajkumar as Arjuna and Babruvahana, and known for his portrayal of character roles as a lead actor. He was born into the Havyaka Brahmin community in Neernalli, near Sirsi, in the erstwhile North Canara (now Uttara Kannada) region of Karnataka State. In his career spanning over 30 years, he has appeared in over 200 films, mostly Kannada and a handful in Tamil and Telugu cinema; he appeared in a lead role in K. Balachander's Poikkal Kudhirai (1983). A protégé of the renowned filmmaker Puttanna Kanagal, he featured in some of the latter's best works such as Ranganayaki (1981), Maanasa Sarovara and Amrutha Ghalige (1984). Since the 1990s, he has appeared mostly in supporting roles.

At the 2004 general elections, he contested from the erstwhile Kanara Lok Sabha constituency and lost, representing the Janata Party (JP). He had revealed that he had played the role of Lakshmana alongside Rajkumar who played the role of Lord Rama in Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's Lava Kusha which also happened to be Telugu actor Krishna's maiden Kannada venture but was stalled after a week's shooting in Hyderabad.