Actor · Telugu cinema
Makarand Deshpande
Makarand Deshpande movies: 12 Telugu films on file, 2008–2025. Earliest on file: Jalsa (2008). Latest release: Kishkindhapuri (12 September 2025).
- Films on file
- 12 (12 as actor)
- Years on file
- 2008–2025
- Record
- Q6738761 on Wikidata
Makarand Deshpande is an Indian actor, writer and director who works in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films as well as in theatre. He often plays supporting and pivotal parts, including drunkards, wanderers and comic characters, in films such as Jungle, Satya, Sarfarosh, Swades, Makdee, Darna Zaroori Hai and Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap, and has directed five films.
Theatre
Deshpande’s theatre work began in 1990 at Prithvi Theatre with the support of Sanjana Kapoor. In 1993 he founded the Ansh Theatre Group with Kay Kay Menon. He has written or staged over 50 short plays and 40 full-length plays, among them Sir Sir Sirla, Joke, Maa In Transit and Krishna Kidding, and his play Patni, with Niladri Kumar, has been a hit across the country.
Films
On screen he is known for the Kannada Dandupalya film series. His Marathi work includes Dagdi Chawl, which brought a Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In Tamil he played Chief Kalamugar in Ponniyin Selvan: II and Sikandar Singh in Jailer (both 2023). He made his English-language debut as Baba Shakti in Dev Patel’s Monkey Man (2024).
Director
The films he has directed are Danav (2003), Hanan (2004), Shahrukh Bola “Khoobsurat Hai Tu” (2010), Sona Spa (2013) and the Marathi film Saturday Sunday (2014).
Television
His television work includes Aahat, Filmi Chakkar, Sailaab, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Vikram Betaal Ki Rahasya Gatha (2018), in which he played Betaal, and he has judged Maharashtracha Superstar 2.
Recognition
He won the SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role for Dandupalya and No. 66 Madhura Bus, and in 2025 received a Suvarnaratna Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.
Makarand Deshpande: quick facts
- Work: Actor, writer and director in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films, and in theatre (Wikipedia)
- Theatre: His theatre work began in 1990 at Prithvi Theatre; in 1993 he started the Ansh Theatre Group with Kay Kay Menon (Wikipedia)
- English debut: Monkey Man (2024), directed by Dev Patel (Wikipedia)
- Telugu films: From Jalsa (2008) and Ek Niranjan (2009) to RRR (2022), Daaku Maharaaj (2025) and Kishkindhapuri (2025); 12 are on file
More Makarand Deshpande Telugu films listed on TMDB
These Telugu-language films are credited to Makarand Deshpande on TMDB but are not yet part of the filmography table on this page. The credit column is TMDB’s own listing; check the film’s page for full details.
| Year | Film | Credit listed on TMDB |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Bombhaat | as Mad Scientist |
| 2022 | Thaggedhe Le | Cast |
| 2023 | Spy | as RAW Chief Shastri |
| 2023 | Rules Ranjann | Cast |
Career on file
Makarand Deshpande appears in 12 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 2008 to 2025. The earliest of them is Jalsa (2008), and the most recent release is Kishkindhapuri (2025). The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are RRR (2022), Liger (2022) and Jalsa (2008). Other recent releases on file are Hari Hara Veera Mallu (2025), Daaku Maharaaj (2025) and Double iSmart (2024).
Ali is the most frequent co-star, sharing three films with Makarand Deshpande, followed by Ramya Krishnan (2) and Pawan Kalyan (2). Among directors, Puri Jagannadh cast Makarand Deshpande most often, in three films. M. M. Keeravani and Mani Sharma each scored two of them, more than any other music director. Puri Connects produced two of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 11 different directors, 12 music directors and 44 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 8 of them; they average 155 minutes, and the longest is RRR at 182 minutes. Nine of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 2000s (2) and 2020s (10).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.