Akkineni Nagarjuna

Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao (born 29 August 1959), known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and entrepreneur.

Nagarjuna has acted predominantly in Telugu cinema, along with a few Hindi and Tamil films.

Akkineni Nagarjuna was born on 29 August 1959 in Madras (present-day Chennai) in a Telugu family to the veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and his wife Annapurna.

His family hails from Ramapuram in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh.

His father moved to Madras seeking career as an actor.

The family later moved to Hyderabad, where he did his schooling in Hyderabad Public School and intermediate education from Little Flower Junior College, Hyderabad.

He completed one year of his Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University in Madras, former Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Srikanth was his college mate during his Engineering days, and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Nagarjuna began acting as a child artist in the 1967 Telugu film Sudigundalu directed by Adurthi Subba Rao.

He appeared as an infant in movie Velugu Needalu penned by Sri Sri.

Both movies starred his father Akkineni Nageswara Rao in the lead role.

It is the remake of the 1983 Hindi film Hero.

The film was a success, giving Nagarjuna a good start.

Later, he starred in films like Majnu, directed by Dasari Narayana Rao, which was well received.

Nagarjuna got positive reviews for his portrayal of a heartbroken man.

He then starred in Sankeertana, a below average grosser directed by debutant Geetha Krishna with music by Ilaiyaraaja.

The film was appreciated for its content and music.

In February 1984, he married Lakshmi Daggubati, the daughter of D. Ramanaidu, a prominent film-maker, and sister of the actor Venkatesh and producer Suresh Babu.

Lakshmi and Nagarjuna have one son, actor Naga Chaitanya born on 23 November 1986.

Years later he made his debut as a lead actor through the 1986 Telugu film Vikram, directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao, with Shobana as the female lead.

Nagarjuna has largely starred in action films, establishing himself as an action star with works such as Aakhari Poratam (1988), Vicky Daada (1989), Siva (1989), Neti Siddhartha (1990), Chaitanya (1991), Nirnayam (1991), Antham (1992), Killer (1992), Khuda Gawah (1992), Rakshana (1993), Hello Brother (1994), Govinda Govinda (1994), Criminal (1994), Ratchagan (1997), Azad (2000), Sivamani (2003), Mass (2004), Super (2005), and Don (2007)

In 1988, he starred in the blockbuster Aakhari Poratam, scripted by Yandamuri Veerendranath, and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao where he was paired opposite Sridevi and Suhasini.

In 1988 he starred in Janaki Ramudu alongside Vijayashanti.

This film, directed again by Raghavendra Rao, was also a hit.

In 1989, he starred in the Mani Ratnam-directed romantic drama film Geetanjali, which won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film.

In 1989, he starred in the Mani Ratnam-directed romantic drama Geetanjali.

Nagarjuna made his Bollywood debut with the 1990 Hindi remake of Shiva.

However, the couple got divorced in 1990.

The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment in 1990.

Immediately, he saw another success, Siva.

This film marked the debut of director Ram Gopal Varma.

This film is considered a trendsetter in Telugu cinema, and made Nagarjuna a superstar.

In 1990, he subsequently made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of the same film titled Shiva.

Nagarjuna then married actress Amala on 11 June 1992, and the couple have one son, actor Akhil, born on 8 April 1994.

In 1995, he ventured into film production, with a production unit operating in Seychelles, and was a co-director of an Emmy Award-winning film animation company called Heart Animation.

Nagarjuna is the co-owner of the production company Annapurna Studios.

He is also the president of the non-profit film school Annapurna International School of Film and Media based in Hyderabad.

He received two National Film Awards namely, for Ninne Pelladata (1996), which he produced won the Best Feature Film in Telugu and a Special Mention as actor for Annamayya (1997); nine state Nandi Awards, and three Filmfare Awards South.

Known by his works in biographical films, he played 15th-century composer Annamacharya in Annamayya (1997), Yavakri (the son of the ascetic Bharadvaja) in Agni Varsha (2002), Major Padmapani Acharya in the war film LOC: Kargil (2003), 17th-century composer Kancherla Gopanna in Sri Ramadasu (2006), Suddala Hanmanthu in Rajanna (2011), Sai Baba of Shirdi in Shirdi Sai (2012), Chandaludu in Jagadguru Adi Shankara (2013), and Hathiram Bhavaji in Om Namo Venkatesaya (2017).

In the same year, he appeared in the commercially successful Siva, an action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma; featured at the 13th IFFI' 90.

In 2013, he represented the Cinema of South India at the Delhi Film Festival's 100 Years of Indian Cinema's celebration, alongside Ramesh Sippy and Vishal Bhardwaj from Bollywood.