Vidyasagar (15 April 1932 – 19 February 2022), known by his stage name Rajesh, was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films.

He appeared in many films as the lead in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later on gravitated to strong character roles.

He is the father of film actress Aasha Rani who acted in Rathasapthami with Shivrajkumar and the father-in-law of popular Kannada and Tamil actor Arjun Sarja.

[3] Rajesh was born as Vidyasagar in Bangalore, India, on 15 April 1932,[1] to a Kannada Kuruba Gowda family.

He had developed interest in theatre from his childhood and joined Sudarshana Nataka Mandali without his parents' knowledge.

Playwright Basheer asked him to act in plays and he was in Visha Sarpa, Nandadeepa, Chandrodaya and Kittur Rani Chennamma.

The then Finance Minister Ramakrishna Hegde gave the film 100 per cent tax exemption.

In that competitive period, Rajesh stood strong for his terrific performance on the silver screen in Kannada cinema.

[3] After that he had more hits like Devara Duddu, Badhu Bangaravaythu, Beluvaladha Madilalli, Mugiyadha Kathe in the 1970s and Kaliyuga, Pitamaha and Satyanarayana Pooja Phale in the 1980s.

Pantulu, K. S. Ashwath, Narasimha Raju, Balakrishna, Iyer, B. Saroja Devi, Leelavathi, Pandari Bai, MV Rajamma, Mynavathi, Vandhana, Kalpana, Jayanthi, Bharathi enriched the film industry.

But Rajesh regretted that Kannada films produced in the recent times have lost their credence in the absence of good story and social commitment.

The technological development and huge money being spent on films have not been used by filmmakers for the good of the society.