The two times national award winning actor for supporting roles Dattanna alias HG Dattatreya was working in Air Force, but was interested in acting. He is one of the actors, who are highly qualified and also held a position as a principal in the management academy of HAL. Acting was his passion and so, he continued to do films regardless of awards. Although awards are definitely an encouragement for the actor, but to continue his journey in over 90 films that spanned over 26 years is indeed a remarkable feat. Although he chose to take up supporting actor role or even in character roles, he is known for his versatile performances in Kannada film industry.
In many Kannada films, the central plot revolved around him, therefore, giving a greater satisfaction to this actor, who had underplayed his role as per the script always. HG Dattatreya had excelled in many movies, especially in Munnudi (2000) and Bharath Stores (2012) that fetched him a national award. For his effortless and natural performance of a small time grocery retailer in Kannada film Bharath Store, he was given a special jury award. Most of the actors in the tinsel town are not comfortable doing minor roles, but this actor has no qualms about it. He also impressed the Telugu audience with his performance in Thila Danam. His acting wooed audiences with brilliant performance in
Kempe Gowda
(2011). Many would have raised eyebrows at the decision of Dattanna to move towards tinsel town, but so far, he received applauds for his acting in many films. Known for his magnificent acting prowess in Kannada cinema, he has bagged many State film awards too and won an International award. In the years that followed after his journey from theater to Kannada screen, the actor has carved a niche for himself.
Besides grabbing the National Awards twice in 2003 and 2012, Dattareya had received the Best Actor Award in International Film Festival in Fiji in 2013. Dattareya’s performance in Neer Dose with “
Jaggesh
,” "
Haripriya
" and
Suman Ranganathan
is unforgettable. In 2017, he played in
Srinivasa Kalyana
, “
Jilebi
,” a comedy horror thriller, Prathima, “
Raajakumara
,” Tab, Kempirve and Hombanna. In 2018, he played in more than half a dozen films including a web series titled Joshelay. 2019 started with success for Dattareya through Jaggesh movie
Premier Padmini
. He played in the high budgeted multi-starrer Bollywood film,
Mission Mangal
with
Akshay Kumar
,
Vidya Balan
,
Taapsee Pannu
,
Nithya Menen
and
Sonakshi Sinha
, directed by Jagan Shakti.
Thanks to his underrated yet extremely sincere performances in half a dozen films. To sum up his acting ability, he had given strong proof of his acting talents holding his own against the biggest banners of Kannada cinema.