Jaggesh

Eshwar Gowda (born 17 March 1963), known professionally as Jaggesh, is an Indian politician, film actor, director and producer, who mainly works in Kannada cinema. Known for his roles in comedy films, he is popular by the moniker Navarasa Nayaka. Considered one of the popular actors, Jaggesh has won Karnataka State Film Awards and Suvarna Film Awards for his acting.

Jaggesh started his film career by playing minor part in Ibbani Karagithu (1982) and then he essayed supporting roles in Ranadheera (1988), Ranaranga (1988), Yuddha Kaanda (1989), Rani Maharani (1990), C. B. I. Shiva (1991) among others and also worked as an assistant director for several films. His first lead role came with Bhanda Nanna Ganda in 1992 but his major breakthrough came in Tharle Nan Maga in the same year.

He is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2022 and the spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka.

Jaggesh, born on 17 March 1963 as Eshwar is originally from Mayasandra (Jadeya Mayasandra) of Turuvekere Taluk in Tumkur district to a Vokkaliga family.

Jaggesh married Parimala on 22 March 1984 with whom he has sons Gururaj (b.1987) and Yathiraj (b.1992). Parimala's brother Sunder Ramu is also an actor.

He debuted in Ibbani Karagithu (1983) starring Anant Nag and Lakshmi. After playing supporting roles for almost 10 years, he got his first lead role in Tharle Nan Maga (1993), directed by Upendra in his directorial debut. His first big grosser was Bhanda Nanna Ganda. In a career spanning 40 years he has acted in nearly 150 films, with notable films including Super Nan Maga, Server Somanna, Bevu Bella, Mata, Eddelu Manjunatha, Vaastu Prakaara and Neer Dose. He is popularly known as 'Navarasa Nayaka' of sandalwood for his unique mannerisms and comic timing. He directed two films, Guru and Melkote Manja.

He became the celebrity judge for the comedy show Comedy Khiladigalu and joined the reality show Khiladi Kutumba.

Jaggesh's political affiliation was with the Indian National Congress (INC). He claimed that his father had been a "Mandal Panchayath President, and mother a Zilla Panchayat member in Tumkur." In the 2004 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, Jaggesh contested Turuvekere, and won with a healthy margin but resigned from the INC to join the BJP. He served as Member of Legislative Council and held the cabinet rank as the vice-chairman of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (K.S.R.T.C.).

All the films are in Kannada.

• Official website (archived)
• Jaggesh at IMDb