Akkineni Nagarjuna Biography | Akkineni Nagarjuna Profile

Nagarjuna was born on 29 August 1959 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to actor Nageswara Rao Akkineni and Annapurna Akkineni. Akkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor in Tollywood and Bollywood, and a producer in Telugu cinema. nagarjuna's magnificence and on-screen charisma is a spectacular-watch for all the movie buffs in South India. In a career expanding to four and a half decades, this Yuva Samrat (a title given to Nagarjuna by his fans) has come to be regarded as one of the finest actors, film directors and producers of Tollywood. Nagarjuna is known for his ace acting skills and instinctive nature. Right from the power-packed performance in front of the camera to handling almost all the departments behind the scenes, Nagarjuna has proved his artistic excellence in almost everything related to film-making.

Nag did his schooling from Hyderabad Public School and completed his senior secondary from Ratna Junior College. Thereafter, he attained a degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy (Chennai). Nagarjuna's academic record was further enhanced with a Master's Degree in Automobile Engineering from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

Tollywood :
Nagarjuna acted in Sudigundalu as a child artist. Nagarjuna stepped into the world of entertainment with the movie 'Vikram' 24th may (1986), a remake of the Hindi film - 'Hero', starring Jackie Shroff. Four films old, Nag tried his hand at tragedy, playing the protagonist for a tragic love story - 'Majnu'. The movie 'Collector Gari Abbayi' saw the father-son duo sharing space on the big screen. Though Nagarjuna continued to act in a number of movies thereafter, success eluded him. It was only in 1988 that Nagarjuna tasted victory, with the movie 'Akhari Poraatam', in which he was paired opposite Sridevi. The film was a big hit and ran for 100 days in 12 centers.

In 1989, nagarjuna starred in Geethanjali, a love story directed by Maniratnam which was dubbed into Tamil. The film cemented his status as a star. In the same year, Nagarjuna acted in Shiva, an action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma which was hugely successful and has been described as a trendsetter in the Telugu film industry. The film earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award.nagarjuna subsequently made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of the same film Shiva. nagarjuna followed it up with action films Killer and Nirnayam (1991 film) directed by Priyadarshan. President Gari Pellam was released in 1993. nagarjuna followed with films, Varasudu, Gharana Bullodu, and Allari Alludu. Criminal (1994) was released as a bilingual. In 1994, nagarjuna ventured into comedy for the first time with Hello Brother. It was later remade into Hindi as Judwaa. Hello Brother was also dubbed into Tamil. In 1996, Nagarjuna starred in & produced Ninne Pelladatha, which was directed by Krishna Vamsi. Later, Nagarjuna portrayed Annamacharya, the 15th-century Telugu singer and poet, in Annamayya (film) which won him his third Filmfare Best Actor Award and nagarjuna's first Nandi Award for Best Actor. In 2000, Nagarjuna starred in Nuvvu Vastavani. His subsequent films that year were Ninne Premistha and Azad (film). nagarjuna starred in the romantic comedies Santhosham, Manmadhudu, and Shivamani as well.

Nagarjuna produced Satyam in 2003, starring his nephew Sumanth.

In 2004, Nagarjuna had two releases- Nennunnanu and Mass. The latter was produced by Nagarjuna and directed by choreographer Raghava Lawrence. In 2005, Nagarjuna acted in and produced Super. In 2006, Nag starred in Sri Ramadasu, his second period film based on the 18th-century Telugu composer of the same name. Nagarjuna received the Nandi Award for best actor. In December 2007 nagarjuna appeared in Don. An year later, nagarjuna appeared in King alongside Trisha Krishnan & Srihari. In February 2010, nagarjuna appeared as Rummy in Kedi and in December 2010 he appeared in Ragada. nagarjuna's latest film Gaganam was released on February 11 2011. Its Tamil version was titled Payanam.

Nagarjuna has acted in various Hindi films such as Shiva (1989 film), Drohi (1992 film), Khuda Gawah (1992), Criminal (1994), Mr. Bechara (1996), Zakhm (1998), Angaarey (1998), Agni Varsha (2002) and LOC Kargil (2003). nagarjuna has also acted in Tamil films like Ratchagan which was dubbed as Rakshakudu in Telugu. nagarjuna's Telugu films which were dubbed into Tamil are Shiva as Udhayam, Geetanajli as Idhayathai Thirudathae, Annamayya, Sisindri and Hello Brother. nagarjuna fluently speaks Telugu, Tamil, English and Hindi.

Nagarjuna made his début as a television producer in 2007 with the serial Yuva. nagarjuna is one of the shareholders of the television channel Maa TV.

Philanthropic :
Nagarjuna, with his wife Amala, is the co-founder of Blue Cross of Hyderabad, a non-government organization (NGO) in Hyderabad, India, which works towards the welfare of animals and preservation of animal rights. nagarjuna is also involved in some of the welfare programs undertaken by the MAA TV association.

In 2010, nagarjuna starred in an HIV/AIDS animated software tutorial created by TeachAIDS, a nonprofit founded at Stanford University..


Filmography & Awards


Year     Title     Awards

1986     Vikram

Captain Nagarjuna
   
1987     Aranyakanda

Majnu

Sankeertana

Collector Gari Abbai

Agni Putrudu

Kirai Dada
   
1988     Aakhari Poratam
Chinna Babu

Murali Krishnudu

Janaki Ramudu
   
1989     Vijay

Vicky Daada

Geethanjali

Agni

Shiva

   
1990     Prema Yuddham

Neti Siddhaartha

Iddaru Iddare
   
1991     Nirnayam

Chaithanya

Santhi Kranthi

Jaitrayatra    

1992     Killer

Khuda Gawah

Antham

Drohi

President Gari Pellam
   
Hindi film

Hindi film

1993     Rakshana

Varasudu

Allari Alludu

Govinda Govinda
   
1994     Criminal

Hello Brother
   
1995     Sisindri

Gharana Bullodu
   
1996     Ninne Pelladatha

Mr. Bechara

Vajram

Ramudochhadu     Also producer, Winner, Filmfare Best Film
Hindi film
1997     Ratchagan

Rakshakudu

Annamayya

Tamil film

Winner, Special Jury Award
/ Special Mention (Actor)
Winner, Nandi Award for Best Actor
Winner, Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu)
1998     Zakhm

Chandralekha

Angaarey

Auto Driver

Aavida Maa Aavide     Hindi film

Hindi film
1999     Ravoyi Chandamama

Seetaramaraju

   
2000     Azad

Ninne Premistha

Nuvvu Vastavani
   
2001     Eduruleni Manishi

Akasa Veedhilo

Bava Nachadu

Adipathi

Snehamante Idera    


Guest appearance
2002     Agni Varsha

Santosham

Hindi film
Winner, Nandi Award for Best Actor

2003     Manmadhudu

LOC Kargil

Shivamani 9848022338
   
Hindi film

2004     Mass

Nenunnanu
   
2005     Super
   
2006     Style

Sri Ramadasu

Boss - I Love You     Cameo appearance
Winner, Nandi Award for Best Actor

2007     Don    

2008     Krishnarjuna

King
   
2010     Kedi

Thakita Thakita

Ragada

Gaganam / Payanam(Tamil)    
Special appearance

Tamil-Telugu bi-lingual

2011     Rajanna

Damarukham     Filming
Filming

As producer

Year                     Title

1979                    Kalyani
   
1980                Pilla Zameendaaru Buchhibabu


1981                    Money Hai To Honey Hai Premaabhishekam


1983                Shri Ranganeethulu Rakshana


1995                      Sisindri

1996                Ninne Pelladatha

1998                Aaha

Sri Seetarama -         Kalyanam Chutamurarandi Chandralekha

1999                Prema Katha Sitaramaraju

2000                Yuvakudu

2002                Manmadhudu

2003                Satyam

2004                Mass

2005                Super

2011                Damarukam Movie Review,Damarukam Movie Songs


Rajanna

Awards

National Film Awards
1997 - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) (Actor) Annamayya (film)

Nandi Awards - Andhra Pradesh State

1997 - Nandi Award for Best Actor for Annamayya (film)

1999 - Kansya (Bronze) Nandi Award for producing PremaKatha

2002 - Nandi Award for Best Actor Santhosham

2002 - Swarna (Gold) Nandi Award for producing Manmadhudu

2006 - Nandi Award for Best Actor Sri Ramadasu


Filmfare Awards South


1990 - Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) for Shiva

1996 - Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) for Ninne Pelladatha

1997 - Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) for Annamayya


Bharathamuni Awards

1989 - Best Actor for Geethanjali

1997 - Best Actor for Annamayya (film)


Vamsee Berkeley Awards

1986 - Best Actor for Vikram

1989 - Best Actor for Shiva

AP Cinegoers Awards

1989 - Best Actor for Geethanjali

Other awards :

1989 - Cinema Express Award for Shiva

1996 - Akruthi Film Award for Ninne Pelladatha

1997 - Screen Videocon Award for Annamayya (film)

2000 - Andhra Pradesh Film Journalists Association Award for Azad (film)

2011- TSR Kala Ratna Award.

Annapurna Studios and Other Career Interests :
One of the most flourishing production houses in today’s time, Annapurna Studios, primarily started by Akkineni Nageswara Rao, was revived by Nagarjuna. Apart from being a production company, it also houses a film studio, in which 90% of the Tamil movies are shot. Nagarjuna's instinctive nature and prompt decision making skills not only brought him personal success, but also gave the Indian film industry some ace directors. Ram Gopal Verma and Krishna Vamsi are amongst the directors who were given their first break by Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna owns several restaurants in India and abroad and is believed to have invested large sums of money in real estate projects in Dubai.

Personal Life :
Nagarjuna tied the nuptial knot two times. Presently, he is married to Amala, a popular actress in Tamil and Telugu film industry. He has two sons - Naga and Chaitanya, from his first marriage. From his second marriage, he has another son - Akhil Akkineni, who was seen in the film - Sisindri.