Naga Chaitanya

Akkineni Naga Chaitanya (born 23 November 1986), known professionally as Naga Chaitanya, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema.

He has received one Filmfare Award South and one Nandi Award for his work.

Chaitanya was born on 23 November 1986 in Hyderabad to actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and Lakshmi Daggubati.

His paternal grandfather, actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and his maternal grandfather, producer D. Ramanaidu are prominent figures in Telugu cinema.

Chaitanya's parents got divorced when he was a child.

Both his parents later remarried.

While Nagarjuna married former actress Amala Mukherjee, Lakshmi married Sharath Vijayaraghavan, a corporate executive at Sundaram Motors.

Chaitanya has a paternal half-brother, actor Akhil Akkineni and a maternal step brother.

His maternal uncle Venkatesh and first cousins Rana Daggubati, Sumanth and Sushanth are also actors.

Chaitanya grew up in Chennai, where he was raised for 18 and a half years.

He was educated at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Chennai and at AMM School, Chennai.

He then completed his graduation from St. Mary's College, Hyderabad.

He expressed his desire to Nagarjuna to take up acting as his profession during his second year in college.

He enrolled in a three-month acting course in Mumbai.

He received further training in acting and martial arts in Los Angeles, apart from taking voice and dialogue coaching for one year before making his acting debut.

Son of actor Nagarjuna, Chaitanya made his acting debut in 2009 with Josh, which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South.

Chaitanya debuted in 2009 with the film Josh, directed by Vasu Varma, in which he played a college student.

Rediff.com wrote: "As a debutant, Naga Chaitanya has performed well. He has his moments where he's proven himself. There is always scope for improvement and one hopes that he will hone his skills in the years to come."

Chaitanya won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut - South.

He achieved his career breakthrough with the romantic drama Ye Maaya Chesave (2010) and went on to further establish himself with notable films such as 100% Love (2011), Tadakha (2013), Manam (2014), Premam (2016), Rarandoi Veduka Chudham (2017), Majili (2019), Venky Mama (2019), Love Story (2021), and Bangarraju (2022), while receiving the Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor for Manam and three Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu nominations for Ye Maaya Chesave, Premam, and Love Story.

In 2022, Chaitanya made his Hindi film debut with the comedy drama Laal Singh Chaddha.

In addition to his film career, Chaitanya is the owner of the cloud kitchen chain Shoyu and is a celebrity endorser for numerous brands and products.

He next starred in the 2010 romantic drama Ye Maaya Chesave, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, which was simultaneously shot in Tamil as Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, with a different cast and climax.

He played a Hindu Telugu assistant director who falls in love with a Christian Malayali girl.

A reviewer from Sify.com wrote: "Naga Chaitanya is at home in romantic scenes. His asset is his voice and his casual acting style. Chaitanya has improved his performance from his first film. He can now confidently act in more romantic films and strengthen his position."

However, the reviewer felt that he should concentrate on his looks as he felt that Chaitanya looked "very boyish".

The film was a success at the box office and went on to receive a cult status.

He also received a nomination for Filmfare Award South for Best Actor Male.

After Ye Maaya Chesave, he paired up with Tamannaah Bhatia in 2011 for love story titled 100% Love, in which he played a studious and egotistical college student who is the top ranker of his college.

It was a box office success.

123telugu stated, "Naga Chaitanya is suave to the level of being egoist. He performs well and gives a calm skin to his character."

His next film was Dhada (2011).

The Times of India wrote, "After good performances in his last two films, Naga Chaitanya doesn't live up to expectations. He has the same expression stuck on his face throughout the movie."

His next release that year was Bejawada, directed by Vivek Krishna.

The film saw Chaitanya portraying the role of a college student-turned-gangster.

The film received negative reviews, with critics calling it his worst film.

His performance was also panned by critics.

The Times of India wrote: "This film might have even outdone "Dhada", in being called the worst film of Chaitanya's career. While the young actor still needs to work on his facial expressions, he was saddled with a poorly sketched character in this film, devoid of all heroism, and he fails to rise above it."

Chaitanya's next film, Tadakha in 2013, was an official remake of N. Lingusamy's Tamil action film Vettai.

He was married to actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu from 2017 to 2021.