Kannada film director and screenwriter Abhay Simha is originally from Mangalore. A graduate of St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, he studied Kannada, English Literature and Journalism. Later, he specialized in film direction from ‘Film and Television Institute of India, Pune’ and started his film career in Bangalore in 2007. His first film ‘Sparrows’ won the National Award for Best Children’s Film in 2008. The second film ‘Shikari’ was released in Kannada and Malayalam languages. The third film is ‘Sakkare’ starring actor Ganesh. After that he produced a Tulu film ‘Paddai’ for which he won the National Award for Best Film.