Fanpower, masculinity & crime: How Kannada superstar Darshan became prisoner no 6106
In February 2011, the papers and channels in Karnataka were abuzz with the news of Kannada superstar Darshan’s arrest. The allegations against him were severe — that he battered his wife and threatened to murder their toddler. At the barber shop where Swami worked, however, all anybody could talk about was Darshan’s latest film, Saarathi.
For 14-year-old Swami who lived in a small town in Mysuru district, watching Saarathi and seeing Darshan on the big screen was a revelation. He was captivated by his performance as Raja, an autorickshaw driver who was torn apart from his birth family by his uncle, who was also responsible for his father’s death. In the film, Raja avenges his father’s death, reclaims his rightful place in a well-off family, and wins the woman.
Swami and his friends were not the only ones in thrall; Saarathi went on to become a runaway hit.
In the years that came after, Swami religiously followed the actor’s career and troubles with the law. Even as controversies piled up, his admiration only grew stronger. “When Darshan was released from jail, I felt immense relief,” Swamy, who is now 27, recalled.
When Darshan entered the Kannada film industry 27 years ago, he was a little-known figure despite being the son of an actor. After achieving a measure of success, he often gave media interviews in which he talked about his troubles because of his father’s illness. That was when fans began to call Darshan the ‘Challenging Star’ — the underdog who won. Eventually, these fans gave him another name: ‘D-Boss’, and began to refer to themselves as the ‘D-Army’. This ‘Army’ has since stood steadfastly behind him, even through allegations of domestic violence and murder.
Swami said that by the time Darshan’s Jaggu Dada was released in 2016, he had even styled his hair and beard like him. “I also connected with other D-Boss fans, and I’m often mistaken for D-Boss himself,” he said.
Swami has since completed his SSLC, and now owns a barber shop. In the past eight years, he has developed an Instagram presence with over 33,000 followers. He religiously posts videos of himself re-enacting iconic songs and dialogues from Darshan’s films.
Thirteen years after Swami first saw him on screen, Darshan is now back in jail. This time, he is accused of conspiring to murder, 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a pharmacist from Chitradurga.
But the murder allegations haven’t shaken Swami’s loyalty to his idol. “I don’t believe D-Boss could ever intentionally harm anyone. Even if mistakes were made, they must have been by accident. Imagine someone sending inappropriate photos to your loved ones — what would you do?” he asked.
The man Darshan is accused of killing, Renukaswamy, had allegedly sent lewd messages and obscene pictures to Pavitra Gowda, the actor’s long-time romantic partner.
According to the police, Darshan wanted to teach Renukaswamy a lesson. So he allegedly conspired with his fans Raghavendra, Jagadish, and Ravi, who abducted Renukaswamy from Chitradurga. They brought him to a shed 200 km away in Bengaluru, where they tortured him for hours. When he died of his injuries, they dumped his body in a gutter near an apartment complex, the police said. It was a security guard who discovered his body.
On June 11, Darshan and Pavitra were arrested along with 15 others on charges of murder, kidnapping, extortion, use of criminal force, use of deadly force, and criminal conspiracy among others.
Swami was not the only fan who rushed to Darshan’s defence. Many others justified the actor’s actions to the media, repeatedly asserting that their idol can do no wrong. The day after Darshan’s arrest, a large group of fans gathered outside the police station where he was being questioned and created a ruckus.
Some proceeded to take their fandom to increasingly bizarre levels.
Several fans tattooed Darshan’s prisoner number ‘6106’ on their bodies. Some got customised licence plates with 6106 for their vehicles and decorated their cars with pro-Darshan stickers. A Bengaluru couple dressed their newborn baby in a jail uniform bearing the inmate number 6106, proudly displaying the words ‘Jai D-Boss’ next to the infant in a social media post. Every second day since his arrest, a YouTuber has been interviewing fans who fervently proclaimed their love for Darshan and their faith in his innocence. A temple priest was suspended by state Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Department for offering pooja to Darshan’s photo alongside the deity’s statue in Karnataka’s Ballari.
Kannada cinema has seen its share of vandalism over star actors, but Darshan’s cult has brought to the surface a brand of violent masculinity that’s rare in Kannada popular culture. In the past decade, Darshan has been accused of assault, violating animal protection laws, beating his wife, burning her with cigarettes, and threatening to kill their son while he was still a toddler. Far from denting his following, these incidents have come to define his fanbase and their worldview. His status as a larger-than-life figure seemed to only grow with each horrifying episode.
The challenging star
For young Kannadiga boys coming of age in the early 2000s, Darshan was an underdog-turned-superstar.
Born to Thoogudeepa Srinivas, a popular actor known for his negative roles, Darshan has often emphasised that he wasn’t handed opportunities on a silver platter. On the Kannada show Weekend with Ramesh, Darshan shared the struggles his family endured after his father was diagnosed with a kidney disease. He said that during this time, he used to milk cows and sell the milk to support his family. While his father was ailing, Darshan attended Ninasam, a progressive theatre school started in the 1940s that sought to combine the performing arts with activism.
After his father died in 1995, Darshan started working in the film industry. He began as a lightboy in movies, earning Rs 150 per day.
“I had respect when my father was alive. After he died, people treated me like I was nobody,” he recounted in an interview, recalling how a crew member once pushed his chair away.
He then worked as an assistant cameraperson to cinematographer BC Gowrishankar and took on minor roles in TV serials and movies, until he landed his first lead role in the 2002 film Majestic. The film, in which he played an orphan-turned-gangster, ran successfully for more than 100 days in theatres, catapulting him to fame.
At the age of 23, two years before his first big break, he got married to his wife Vijayalakshmi.
Immediately after Majestic, Darshan acted in a string of flops such as Kitty, Ninagoskara, Neenandre Ishta, and Daasa. He also starred in Kannada filmmaker Prem’s directorial debut, the 2003 action film Kariya, and took on diverse roles such as a budding musician in Laali Haadu, a journalist in a movie based on the iconic progressive journalist P Lankesh, and a penniless blind man in Namma Preethiya Ramu. His versatility solidified his status as a leading actor in the Kannada film industry.
Darshan’s first significant box office hit was Kalasipalya in 2004, where he starred alongside actor Rakshitha. In Kalasipalya, Darshan played the role of Kencha, a man who becomes a vengeful vigilante after his family is killed by a gangster. Kencha brutally kills the gangster, ending his reign of terror, and avenging his family’s death. Remarkably, Kencha surrenders to the commissioner but is not arrested, as the people he killed were gangsters. In the aftermath, Kencha and his friends form a vigilante group to punish other gangsters.
Reflecting on this pivotal moment in his career, Darshan said in an interview, “If it wasn’t for Kalasipalya, my career would have ended then. Soon after my debut, I had back-to-back movies signed. I had seen the high and the low by then.”
Darshan’s rise to fame coincided with that of another Kannada star, Kichcha Sudeepa. But while Sudeepa’s sophisticated image found success in multiple film industries in south India, Darshan’s rugged, common man characters resonated deeply with the masses in Karnataka. Unlike Sudeepa, Darshan made a conscious decision to stay within the Kannada film industry, a stand he took to remain connected with his roots and loyal fanbase. “Idu nanna territory, nanu illiye films madodu (this is my territory, this is where I am going to work),” he had said.
Film critic Muralidhar Khajane told TNM that Darshan had meticulously cultivated his image, aiming to be more than just a celebrity; he aspired to be a cultural icon. “He wanted his photo plastered on the back of auto rickshaws,” Khajane said.
Darshan eventually succeeded. Auto rickshaws with his photos plastered on them are now a common sight in Bengaluru. It is reminiscent of the cultural imprint left by actor Shankar Nag, who had inspired devotion by emerging as an urban working class icon through his portrayal of an autorickshaw driver in the 1980 film Auto Raja.
But Shankar Nag also had many admirers among Karnataka’s progressive intellectuals and was considered an icon of the parallel cinema movement. Darshan couldn’t be more different.
As his fame soared, so did the backing from influential figures in both the film industry and politics, enabling him to repeatedly evade consequences with impunity.
The infamy
Darshan’s image as a star untouched by controversies changed in 2011, when he was arrested for assaulting his wife Vijayalakshmi, and threatening to kill her and their son with a loaded pistol.
Vijayalakshmi’s accusations were shocking. She alleged that Darshan burned her face with cigarettes, hit her with slippers, and threatened to murder their three-year-old son. For most other stars, these accusations might have spelled doom. But in Darshan’s case, it was the first instance that revealed just how powerful he was.
His incarceration sparked a volatile reaction from his fans, who burned buses and staged protests in front of the police station, demanding his release.
By this time, Darshan was a superstar whose films ran for weeks in theatres. Producers had a lot riding on him. Prominent figures in the Kannada film industry — including the late Ambareesh, whom Darshan regarded as a father figure, Jaggesh, and Munirathna — allegedly attempted to pressure Vijayalakshmi into dropping the charges. They reportedly assured her that they would advise Darshan to change his behaviour and that police intervention was unnecessary.
Vijayalakshmi agreed to reconcile only on one condition: actor Nikita Thukral, who Vijayalakshmi alleged was causing problems in her marriage with Darshan, must be banned from the industry. The Kannada Film Producers’ Association promptly imposed a three-year ban on Nikita in 2012, citing that she was “allegedly creating marital discord in Darshan's family.”
While Nikita bore the brunt of the relationship, the allegations did little to harm Darshan’s career.
His film Saarathi, released while he was still in judicial custody, became a massive box office hit. Producers hurriedly added 20 more screens on the film’s opening day due to the massive turnout. Theatres ran at full capacity for an entire week. Released on September 30, the death anniversary of the legendary Kannada actor and filmmaker Shankar Nag, the film was also seen as a tribute to the late star.
Psychologist Dr MS Thimmappa, who had closely followed Darshan’s case, told Bangalore Mirror that the massive turnout for Saarathi could be partly attributed to the negative publicity surrounding the actor. He suggested that the Indian male psyche didn’t consider beating one’s wife as a big deal. “For many, it is not even a crime. So when their hero is put behind bars for such an issue, they sympathise with him. In their chauvinistic mind, they are watching the film to wash away their guilt,” Dr Thimmappa had said.
This isn’t surprising. In fact, according to the National Family Health Survey of 2019-2021, up to 81.9% of men and 76.9% of women in Karnataka believe that husbands can beat their wives.
After spending four weeks in jail, Darshan made a public apology by doing baski in front of his fans — a traditional gesture of holding one’s own ears and performing sit-ups to express regret. “It is because of my wife that I am a happy person. I apologise to my fans and the people of Karnataka for causing them this hurt. I am sorry and promise that such a thing will not be repeated,” he said.
This was a turning point in Darshan’s life. The controversies only got bigger from there, and so did the steadfast support of his fans.
The adoration
Darshan’s appeal lay in his carefully cultivated image as an outspoken working class hero, never mind that there’s nothing working class about him in real life.
“D-Boss is one of us,” said 20-year-old Ram Kumar, a fan from Yadgir. “He talks about his struggles, his bad habits, just like we do.”
Darshan was one of the few actors, like the late Ambareesh, who openly talked about his vices such as smoking and drinking. This candour endeared him to his fanbase, who appreciated his “straightforward and unpretentious nature.”
In many interviews, Darshan has admitted that he drank and smoked. “I don’t like to hide things from my fans. This is me. I am a regular at pubs. Of course I drink. If I am at a pub, I am not drinking water, right?” he once remarked, adding that unlike other actors, he wouldn’t pretend he wasn’t smoking if a fan ever spotted him doing so.
In the decade that followed his arrest, Darshan consciously worked on his image. As his films raked in awards and big money, the actor added another facet to his public persona by projecting himself as an animal lover. He won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Best Actor (Kannada) award for his role in the 2012 film Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna. He also received the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) for Best Actor (Kannada) in 2020 for his role in Yajamana.
The impunity
In 2012, just a year after his first imprisonment, the political backing that Darshan enjoyed became evident.The then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Karnataka appointed him as an ambassador for the state Health Department.
This support persisted over the years, regardless of who held power in Karnataka. In 2018, during the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress alliance with HD Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister, he was named the brand ambassador of the Forest Department.
Under the BJP government in 2021, he was appointed the brand ambassador for the Agriculture Department. He also promoted the Zoo Authority of Karnataka during this time.
Ironically, in January 2023, his farm was raided for harbouring the endangered bar-headed geese, a migratory bird from central Asia. He was also arrested in November that year, accused of setting his dogs on a 48-year-old lawyer for parking her car near his residence.
In 2021, Darshan had found himself embroiled in yet another controversy when he reportedly assaulted a waiter at Hotel Sandesh Prince, owned by film producer Sandesh Nagaraj. The waiter was allegedly paid Rs 50,000 to keep quiet about the incident. This was soon followed by a viral audio clip in which Darshan was heard abusing a journalist using foul language. This behaviour led to several Kannada media channels boycotting Darshan.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant disruptions to the film industry, and Darshan’s career was no exception. His projects were stalled and his visibility waned.
However, the anticipation for his comeback grew as the team behind Darshan's next release, Kranti, announced their first public event in October 2022, confirming that the film would hit the screens on Republic Day the following year.
While the news delighted Darshan’s fans, the event itself was noteworthy for different reasons.
As the mainstream media largely boycotted the event, over a hundred social media influencers attended instead. “Darshan’s fans took the lead in promoting the film, organising processions and events independently,” a digital media journalist told TNM. Darshan also marked his gratitude by getting a tattoo that read “nanna celebrities” (my celebrities), honouring his devoted fanbase.
In a vlog, Darshan showcased his routine for a day, including smoking post-workout. “Darshan has all habits – drinks and smokes, but in moderation,” he said, referring to himself in third person as he frequently did in interviews.
Darshan’s first-ever YouTube interview also happened around this time, with Rajini Mahadevaiah, a news anchor-turned-content creator. Following this, he gave numerous interviews to social media influencers as part of the Kranti promotional campaign.
In the meantime, Darshan garnered criticism for making an inappropriate statement about the Hindu goddess Lakshmi during the film promotions. “The Goddess of Luck does not always come knocking on your door. So when she does come, grab her, drag her, and lock her in your bedroom without giving her clothes,” he had said. This statement led to a member of the audience hurling a slipper at him. The entire Kannada film industry, including actors Shivarajkumar, Duniya Vijay, and Dhananjaya, came out in his support.
Darshan later said, “I don’t know what I did to get a chappal hurled at me. It’s not like I raped or murdered someone.” It would be another two years before he was accused of orchestrating the murder of a pharmacist.
Recognising the limitations of a media blackout against Darshan, producer Rockline Venkatesh, who financed the actor’s 2023 film Kaatera, had taken steps to mend his relations with the press. According to reporters from two different media houses, Venkatesh facilitated a meeting between Darshan and the mainstream Kannada media. Darshan issued a formal apology letter during this meeting, signalling his intent to reconcile and have amicable relationships with the media.
Kaatera grossed over Rs 100 crore.
Darshan had seemed invincible at this point. He was protected and enabled by a formidable network of actors, politicians, and steadfastly loyal fans.
But then came the murder of Renukaswamy — a case that would have probably gone unnoticed, if not for the dogged persistence of two police officers.
The turn of the tide
The murder had initially appeared straightforward. A body was found near a stormwater drain and four men had surrendered claiming responsibility for the murder. “Usually murders are associated with gang-related killings. In this case, the circumstances were unusual. The four suspects exhibited inconsistencies in their statement and the victim was not a known offender,” said a police officer.
These discrepancies raised red flags for Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) S Girish and Assistant Commissioner of Police Chandan Kumar. The two officers started questioning the suspects and found that they were just the fall guys, who were offered money to go to jail.
The next question was obvious: who paid them? The men pointed to Deepak, an accomplice in the crime. The police moved to arrest him and Deepak confessed to distributing Rs 5 lakh each to the four individuals who initially took responsibility for the murder to protect Darshan.
The police then unravelled the involvement of several others, including some of Darshan’s close associates and fans. The picture that emerged was one of a carefully planned operation, involving abduction, torture, and murder. The body was found on June 8, and the men had surrendered the next day. On June 11, the police arrested Darshan from a hotel in Mysuru, where he was staying while shooting for his upcoming movie Devil.
While the police have so far been tight-lipped about the evidence against the actor and other accused, the media has been relentless in its pursuit of the story. They aired leaked CCTV footage, details of the post mortem report, hounded the police throughout the documentation of the crime scene.
The frenzy reached a peak when the media reported that Darshan’s shoes — which he allegedly wore when the crime took place — were found at his wife Vijayalakshmi’s residence. Darshan’s costume manager had allegedly shifted the shoes to Vijayalakshmi's house.
The invasive reporting prompted Vijayalakshmi to get an injunction against the media.
A section of fans, meanwhile, have been painting Darshan as a heroic saviour who committed the crime to defend his partner Pavitra’s ‘honour’, allegedly after Renukaswamy sent her vulgar messages. According to researcher and consultant Dr Mamta, the glorification of such violence pointed to deeper underlying problems. “It perpetuates harmful notions of masculinity,” she said.
Mamta said she had noticed this troubling trend during her research visits to around 80 government schools and colleges in Karnataka. “Many students idolise Darshan, whom they call ‘D-Boss.’ They admire him for his looks, masculine traits, love for animals, and helpful nature.”
But this also nurtured an environment that normalised violence as a masculine and admirable trait, she added.
Now that Darshan is in judicial custody, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) visited the dead man’s family and offered compensation. But the organisation is yet to ban or suspend Darshan.
Film critic Khajane said the silence was likely driven by commercial interests. In an industry with modest budgets, the actor commanded a high fee. “Darshan was in the middle of shooting his upcoming movie Devil and had committed to two other movies,” Khajane said. If the actor was to be banned at this point, the monetary impact on the producers would have been significant.
Since Darshan’s arrest, social media has been flooded with fan support. People made pages paying tribute to and showcasing videos of the actor, organised protests, and consistently attempted to justify the alleged murder. Fans have been engaging in various acts of devotion and support, from visiting Tirupati and offering prayers at temples to organising rallies. One fan even consulted an astrologer to determine when Darshan might be released from jail.
YouTube content creator Rajini Mahadevaiah has been using her channel, Rajini Express, as a platform to amplify the voices of Darshan’s supporters and cover every development that concerned him.
Some fans who grappled with the allegations asked, “How can someone who wouldn’t hurt a fly commit such brutality?”
Many police sources said that soon after Darshan was arrested, there was tremendous pressure on the two officers. The media scrutiny and the chorus supporting Darshan was so strong that Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda held an unusual press meet, stating that no more ‘off the record’ updates would be given about the case and asking the media to cooperate with the police.
Though it seems now that Darshan has finally run out of luck, many in the police force are cautious about their optimism. No matter the course of the investigation or the strength of the evidence, once the case moves to trial, Darshan’s extended support systems can kick into overdrive, pulling out all the stops to shield him from accountability.