Akkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor, producer and television presenter who works primarily in the Telugu cinema, and television. He has acted in over 90 films as a lead actor and in supporting and cameo roles, including Bollywood and Tamil films. The actor in his illustrious career has been recognized with 9 state Nandi Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and a Special Mention at the National Film Awards. In 2013, Nagarjuna represented Cinema of South India at the Delhi Film Festival"s 100 Years of Indian Cinema celebration, alongside Ramesh Sippy and Vishal Bhardwaj from Bollywood

Early Life of Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna was born on August 29, 1959 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to veteran Telugu actor Nageswara Rao Akkineni and Annapoorna Akkineni. The family later moved to Hyderabad, where he attended the Hyderabad Public School and Little Flower Junior College. He completed his graduation in Bachelor of Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy and later Master of Science in Automobile Engineering from Eastern Michigan University, United States.

Film Career of Akkineni Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna started out acting as a child artist in the 1967 Telugu film "Sudigundalu", directed by veteran film maker Adurthi Subbarao and starring his father Akkineni Nageswara Rao in the lead. Years later, he made his debut as a lead actor in the year 1986, with the Telugu film "Vikram", directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao and a remake of the 1983 Hindi film "Hero" with which Jackie Shroff made his lead role debut and achieved stardom. The film was a success and gave Nagarjuna a good start. Later, he starred in films like "Majnu", directed by Dasari Narayana Rao, which was successful and well received as did Nagarjuna"s portrayal. The actor was then featured in "Sankeertana" directed by debutant Geetha Krishna which was another hit. In 1988, he starred in K. Raghavendra Rao"s action blockbuster "Aakhari Poratam", opposite Sridevi and Suhasini. The following year the actor starred in Mani Ratnam"s romantic drama "Geethanjali", which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment and seven Nandi Awards, alongside becoming a blockbuster. Immediately, Nagarjuna saw another success with "Siva", the debut film of acclaimed director Ram Gopal Varma, a crime drama based on college politics, a new genre at the time. The subsequent year, he made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of "Siva", titled "Shiva", which premiered at the 13th International Film Festival of India.

Nagarjuna starred in the 1991 social problem film "Jaitra Yatra", for which his performance was critically appraised as one of his finest work; but the film could not do that much business in box office. He followed it up with "Prema Yuddham" and "Iddharu Iddhare". The actor then delivered box office hits like "Killer", "Neti Siddhartha", "Chaithanya" and "Nirnayam", working with eminent directors like Fazil, Prathap Pothen and Priyadarshan. Nagarjuna earned the tagline "Celluloid Scientist", for experimenting with different genres. In 1994, he starred in a Hindi-Telugu bilingual thriller "Criminal" directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The same year, he ventured into comedy with "Hello Brother", which along with Nagarjuna"s dual role was praised. It was later remade in Hindi as "Judwaa" featuring Salman Khan. His 1996 produced film "Ninne Pelladata" was conferred the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. The following year, he acted in "Annamayya" where he portrayed the 15th century Telugu singer and poet Annamacharya, which won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and his first Nandi Award for Best Actor. He was honoured with a National Film Award - Special Mention for the film. In the early 2000s, Nagarjuna featured in romantic comedies like "Santosham", "Manmadhudu" and "Shivamani".

Then he produced "Satyam" in 2003, a romantic drama that starred his nephew Sumanth alongside Genelia D"Souza and was a box office success. In 2005, Nagarjuna acted in and produced the box office hit "Super". In 2006, he starred in "Sri Ramadasu", his second period biographical film on the 18th century Telugu composer Bhakta Ramadasu, whose portrayal by Nagarjuna earned him the Nandi Award for Best Actor, along with the film being critically acclaimed and a blockbuster. In 2011, Nagarjuna signed three movies in a row, "Rajanna", "Damarukam" and "Shirdi Sai". In 2014, he featured in another blockbuster "Manam", a family drama directed by Vikram Kumar. In 2016, he acted in a dual role in "Soggade Chinni Nayana" and a handicapped character in commercially successful bilingual "Oopiri". In 2017, he was seen as Hathiram Bhavaji in his biographical film "Om Namo Venkatesaya", alongside Anushka Shetty.

Selected Filmography of Akkineni Nagarjuna
Some selected films of Akkineni Nagarjuna have been enlisted below, in which his acting skill has been especially praised:


•1986 - "Vikram" as Vikram

•1987 - "Majnu" as Rajesh

•1988 - "Aakhari Poratam" as Vihari

•1989 - "Geethanjali" as Prakash

•1989 - "Siva" as Siva

•1993 - "Allari Alludu" as Kalyan/Rajesh

•1993 - "Khuda Gawah" as Raja Mirza

•1994 - "Hello Brother" as Deva/Ravi Varma

•1995 - "Criminal" as Dr. Ajay Kumar

•1997 - "Annamayya" as Annamacharya

•2000 - "Nuvvu Vastavani" as Chinni Krishna

•2002 - "Santosham" as Karthikeya

•2002 - "Manmadhudu" as Abhiram

•2003 - "Sivamani" as Sivamani

•2005 - "Super" as Akhil

•2007 - "Don" as Suri

•2010 - "Kedi" as Ramesh

•2011 - "Rajanna" as Rajan

•2012 - "Dhamarukam" as Mallikarjuna

•2012 - "Shirdi Sai" as Lord Shirdi Sai Baba

•2014 - "Manam" as Nageshwar Rao/Bittu/Sitaram

•2016 - "Soggade Chinni Nayana" as Bangarraju/Dr.Ram Mohan

•2016 - "Oopiri" as Vikramaditya

Recognitions to Akkineni Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna has been honoured with the awards enlisted below:

National Film Awards

•Best Feature Film in Telugu (Producer) for "Ninne Pelladatha"

•Special Mention - Actor for "Annamayya"

Filmfare Awards - South:

•Best Film - Telugu (Producer) for "Ninne Pelladatha"

•Best Film - Telugu (Producer) for "Manam"

•Best Actor - Telugu for "Annamayya"

Nandi Awards:

•Akkineni Award for Best Home Viewing Feature Film (Producer) for "Ninne Pelladatha"

•Best Actor for "Annamayya"

•Best Feature Film - Kansya (Bronze) (Producer) for "Prema Katha"

•Special Jury Award (Producer) for "Yuvakudu"

•Best Actor for "Santosham"

•Best Feature Film - Swarna (Gold) for "Manmadhudu" (Producer)

•Best Actor for "Sri Ramadasu"

•Special Jury Award for "Rajanna" (as Actor)

•Best Feature Film - Rajata (Silver) for "Rajanna" (Producer)

Personal Life of Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna got married to Daggubati Lakshmi Ramanaidu in 1984, but the couple got divorced in 1990. He, then, married actress Amala Akkineni in 1992, and their children are actors Akkineni Naga Chaitanya and Akkineni Akhil.