Remembering Santhosh Balaraj: Top movies from Ganapa to Kariya 2

Santhosh Balaraj, Kannada actor and the son of film producer Anekal Balraj, passed away at the age of 34 on August 5, 2025. According to Asianet News, he was suffering from jaundice and was in the ICU. He died due to ineffective treatment and was admitted to a private hospital in Karnataka.  

Talking about his personal life, Santhosh used to live with his mother. His father, Anekal Balraj, died in 2022 in a car accident. However, the 34-year-old actor Santhosh Balaraj was not married. He has featured in several Kannada films in his career. Read on to know about his filmography. 

A look at Santhosh Balaraj’s films

1. Kempa

For those who may not know, the actor began his acting career with the 2009 film Kempa and featured as the lead star in the movie. He continued to work in several films in his acting career. Read on to know about his filmography. 

2. Olavina Ole

After this, he appeared in a family drama film ‘Olavina Ole’ which was released in 2012. The film was directed by Teshi Venkatesh. In this film, he portrayed the role of Narasimha, where the actress Neha Patil was seen as Mallige. The music of this film was composed by Yashovardhana. 

3. Janma

In 2023, he was seen in the drama film ‘Janma’. Written and directed by Chakravarthy, the film stars Sai Krishna Enreddy, Bullet Prakash, Santhosh and Sithara in the lead roles. The music of this film was composed by Anoop Seelin. 

4. Ganapa

It was the year 2015 when Santhosh got a role in Prabhu Srinivas’s romantic crime film ‘Ganapa’. In this film, Santhosh played the character of Ganapa. His role was well-received by the audience. Besides him, the Kannada-language gangster film features Priyanka Thimmesh, Tarun, Nishanth, Master Kalyan, Padmaja Rao, Manjunath Gowda and others in the key roles. Notably, the film has an IMDb rating of 7 and is available to stream on the streaming platform SunNxt. 

5. Kariya 2

He was also known for his role in the romantic action thriller film ‘Kariya 2’, which was directed by Prabhu Srinivas. The film revolves around the story of a small-time local goon who was employed by an underworld don. The 2017 film features Ajay Ghosh, Nagesh Karthik, Mayuri Kyatari and Prabhakar in the key roles.