Richard Rishi

Richard Rishi is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films and few Malayalam and Kannada films. He is known for Koottu, A Film by Aravind and his subsequent movies with director Mohan G, namely Draupathi and Rudra Thandavam.

Career Rishi made his acting debut with Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari which was released in 1990. He was cast as a child artiste in the Tamil film Anjali in the same year. He first appeared as an adult actor in Kadhal Virus in 2002, playing the lead opposite Sridevi Vijaykumar. The film was released after some delay and fared poorly at the box office.

Despite a relatively high-profile launch through Kadhal Virus, Rishi found it difficult to experience further success in the following years. After that he acted in the Malayalam film called Koottu (2004), which tells the story of two college buddies. The songs were a hit. Films such as Thiru 420 by director duo Sekar Kumar and Sengattuvan, where he starred opposite former Miss India contestant Swetha Vijay, were stalled after production began.

In 2005, Girivalam, a remake of the Bollywood film Humraaz, was released. The movie A Film by Aravind (2005) made him noticeable. In 2006, the Tamil movies Naalai and Yuga were released. Richard had a lesser role to play in the latter film, and the film received mixed reviews. Bhagyalakshmi Bumper Draw, a Telugu film was released in 2007. It was the remake of Bollywood film Malamaal Weekly. It also had Rishi playing a side role. Then came the movie Bangaru Konda (2007) with actress Navaneet Kaur. Maharajasri, is another movie for 2007. In 2008, came Veedu Mamoolodu Kadu with Rishi portraying as negative role, then Geetha, a remake of the Hollywood film Phone Booth and Three in which Rishi was reunited with the director Sekhar Suri. In 2009, he acted in Tamil movie Thamizhagam. In 2010, he appeared in Telugu movie Dammunnodu. His next movie Pen Singam (2010) failed at the content of story. In 2011, Uppukandam Brothers Back in Action (2011) was received negative reviews. Then came the movie Endukante... Premanta! (2012) where Rishi was in again in a small side role but the film was a commercial hit. The film Uu Kodathara? Ulikki Padathara? (2012) was a Telugu socio-fantasy with Rishi in a small role. In 2013, the only film that came was Kannada action comedy film Benki Birugali, where Rishi was in the lead.

His film Ner Ethir (2014), which was a remake of Across the Hall followed by Ninaithathu Yaaro (2014). Then came Avatharam (2014), with a devotional story. The film Netru Indru (2014) and Sutrula (2014) and was not received well. The Telugu film Adavi Kaachina Vennela (2014) was released to positive reviews. In 2015, came the comedy-horror, Maharani Kottai and action film, Adhibar. In 2016, he appeared in Telugu, Srimathi Bangaram followed by three Tamil films Kallattam, Pazhaya Vannarapettai and Andaman. His following films are Dr Chakravarty (2017) and Oollo Pelliki Kukkala Hadavidi (2018). Richard Rishi has joined hands with his 2016's political thriller Pazhaya Vannarapettai director Mohan G, to deliver a revenge drama stained with casteism in Draupadi (2020). The film turns into a drama where message gains preference over storytelling. He appeared alongside Trisha and Nandha in the political thriller film, Paramapadham Vilayattu (2021), portraying a goon who tries to strike fear with psychopathic tendencies.

Filmography Year Film Role Language Notes 1990 Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari Orphan Telugu Child artiste Anjali Tamil Child artiste 1999 Swapnalokam Sanjay Telugu Debut as an adult; Credited as Rahul Bobbili Vamsam 2002 Kadhal Virus Deepak Tamil 2004 Koottu Harikrishnan Malayalam 2005 Girivalam Giriprasad Tamil A Film by Aravind Rishi Telugu 2006 Naalai Justin Tamil Yuga Sri Bhagyalakshmi Bumper Draw Kittu Telugu 2007 Devathalu Maharajasri Rajani Bangaru Konda Chandu 2008 Veedu Mamoolodu Kadu Rishi Geetha Rahul Three Sriram 2009 Thamizhagam Shanmugam Tamil 2010 Dammunnodu Bose Telugu Pen Singam Nagendran Tamil 2011 Uppukandam Brothers Back in Action Ettuveetil Ganeshan Malayalam 2012 Endukante... Premanta! DK Telugu 2012 Uu Kodathara? Ulikki Padathara? Rishi Kumar 2013 Benki Birugali Chandu Kannada 2014 Ner Ethir Karthik Tamil Ninaithathu Yaaro Arun Avatharam Prasad Telugu Netru Indru Sathya Tamil Premalo ABC Daya Telugu Adavi Kaachina Vennela Sekhar Sutrula Johnny Tamil 2015 Maharani Kottai Sanjay Adhibar Karna 2016 Srimathi Bangaram Sriram Telugu Kallattam Mahendran Tamil Pazhaya Vannarapettai Moorthy Andaman Thamizh 2017 Dr Chakravarty Arun Telugu 2018 Oollo Pelliki Kukkala Hadavidi 2020 Draupadi Prabhakaran Tamil 2021 Paramapadham Vilayattu David 2021 Rudra Thandavam Rudra Prabhakaran 2023 Sila Nodigalil Raj 2026 Draupathi 2 King Veera Simha Kadavarayan