Rockline Venkatesh: From Success to Scandal

Bengaluru: Rockline Venkatesh is a well-known movie producer and a hardcore supporter of actress-cum-politician Sumalatha, who represents Mandya in the Lok Sabha.

Venkatesh, along with Sandalwood stars Darshan and Yash, played a key role in ensuring Sumalatha’s victory against JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the last Lok Sabha elections.

However, Rockline Venkatesh has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

An FIR was registered by the police against him for partying late with Sandalwood actors Darshan, Dhananjaya, and Abhisekh Ambareesh. They were celebrating the success of the Kannada movie "Katera" at Jetlag pub situated in Rajajinagar.

Now, Venkatesh is again in the news for the wrong reasons.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Revenue Department officials have sealed Rockline Mall, owned by Venkatesh, due to his failure to clear property tax arrears worth Rs 11.51 crore.

The BBMP revenue department officials visited Rockline Mall on Tuesday night and insisted that the manager of the mall receive the demand notice from them.

They sealed Rockline Mall on Wednesday morning in the presence of Zonal Commissioner Preethi Gehlot, Joint Commissioner Bala Shekhar, revenue officials, BBMP Marshals from Dasarahalli Zone, and the police.

Meanwhile, Rockline Venkatesh has threatened to appeal to the Karnataka High Court seeking action against the BBMP authorities for illegally sealing his mall.

“I want to question the BBMP authorities as to why they visited the mall on Tuesday night to issue the notice. Can’t they visit the mall during the daytime?’’ asks Rockline Venkatesh.

He claimed that he has been paying over Rs 2 crore per year towards property tax for the mall as per the Karnataka High Court’s order.

“I have already paid the property tax for the year 2023-24 and have also informed the BBMP authorities about it. They did not respond to me. They merely visited the mall last night and asked the manager to receive the notice from them,’’ said Venkatesh.

Meanwhile, the BBMP, in a press release, has claimed that Venkatesh has to pay Rs 11.51 crore towards property tax arrears, and the demand notice has already been issued to him to clear the property tax arrears pending from 2011-2012 to 2022-23.

It may be recalled that the BJP government was in power when Rockline Mall was constructed. It was launched by the then Home Minister R Ashoka.

Rockline Venkatesh is known for bankrolling many Kannada movies, including the recent box-office hit "Katera," in which Darshan played the lead.

He was a co-producer for the Hindi movie "Bhajarangi Bhaijan," in which Salman Khan played the lead.