| Akkineni Nagarjuna |
 |
| Born |
Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao
August 29, 1959 (1959-08-29) (age 49)
Chennai, India |
| Other name(s) |
Nag, Yuva samrat and King |
| Occupation |
Actor,
Producer |
| Years active |
1986 - Present |
| Spouse(s) |
Lakshmi (1984-1990)
Amala (1992-present) |
|
Akkineni Nagarjuna (Telugu: ఆక్కినేని నాగార్జున) (born August 29, 1959 in Chennai, India), is a popular Indian Telugu cinema actor and a successful producer. He is the son of the legendar Telugu actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Personal Background
Nagarjuna is the son of the legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Annapurna Akkineni. He is the youngest of their five children. Nagarjuna did his early schooling at Hyderabad Public School and later went to Little Flower Junior College for his intermediate education. Subsequently, he attended the College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai, from where he later transferred to the University of Michigan, where he completed his B.S in mechanical engineering. He then attended the San Jose State University in California where he received his M.S. After completing his education in the US, he returned to India thinking he would involve himself in business outside film. However this attempt did not last long, and he decided to pursue a career in acting, much to the delight of his father's fans.
Nagarjuna married twice. His first wife, Lakshmi Ramanaidu, whom he married on 18 February 1984, is the daughter of prominent Telugu film producer, D.Ramanaidu, and sister of Telugu film star Venkatesh. Lakshmi is an interior designer and has settled in Chennai since her divorce from Nagarjuna in 1990. Nagarjuna's and Lakshmi's son, Naga Chaitanya (born, 23 November 1986, Birth Place - Hyderabad) is making his acting debut with the film Josh, which is to release in August 2009.
Nagarjuna is currently married to Amala, a popular actress in the Tamil and Telugu film industry. Amala was born in West Bengal, India to an Irish Mother and Bengali Father. Her maiden name was Amala Mukherjee. After retiring from acting, she went on to become one of the prominent animal rights activists in India. She and Nagarjuna were married on 11 June, 1992 and have a son, Akhil (born on 8 April, 1994 - Birth Place - San Jose,USA. Akhil starred in the hit film, Sisindri as a toddler.
1986-2004
Nagarjuna's first movie Vikram released on May 24, 1986. It was a remake of the hit Hindi film Hero. Despite receiving unfavourable reviews, the film went on to become a hit. After four unsuccessful films, he starred in the hit film, Majnu as a tragic protagonist; Similar roles were known to be his father's forte. It can be fairly said that Majnu, which was made by his father's long time director Dasari Narayana Rao, was the first film that established him as a true actor. He later acted alongside his father in the hit movie, Collector gari Abbayi. His next big hit was Aakhari Poratam' co-starring Sridevi and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The big shift up in his career however came a year later when he attained immense critical and commercial success with Geethanjali, a love story that was directed by Maniratnam. Geethanjali became a huge hit when it was dubbed into Tamil as well. In 1990, Nagarjuna followed it up with the trendsetting blockbuster, Shiva, an action film that was directed by Ramgopal Varma. It went on to become one of the all time hits of the Telugu film industry, and is responsible for elevating Nagarjuna into a bonafide superstar. He subsequently made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of the same film, which too turned out to be a huge success all over India. It was mainly Nagarjuna's keen vision that was responsible for launching the career of the maverick Bollywood director, Ramgopal Varma. After Shiva, the expectations on his subsequent films were too high, and Nagarjuna had to endure a series of commercial setbacks before President Gari Pellam released in 1993. He was able to follow it up with the hit films, Varasudu, Gharana Bullodu, and Allari Alludu, to name a few. In 1994, he ventured into the all out comedy genre for the first time with Hello Brother. Hello Brotherwas such a huge hit that it was later remade into Judwaa, a Hindi film starring Salman Khan. In 1994, Nagarjuna starred as well as produced, Ninne Pelladutha, which was directed by Krishna Vamsi and co-starred the prominent National Award winning Hindi actress, Tabu. It is rumoured that Nagarjuna signed Krishna Vamsi upon seeing just ten minutes of the director's, then yet to be released debut film, Gulabi. The film appealed to a broad cross section of audience, and brought about a much needed freshness into the romantic comedy genre. It went on to become the biggest hit of that year, while also launching the career of music director Sandeep Chowta. Later, Nagarjuna took up the immense challenge of potraying Annamacharya, the legendary 15th century Telugu singer/poet, in Annamayya. Like Shiva and Geethanjali, Annamayya added a completely new dimension to Nagarjuna, and set him well and truly apart from his contemporaries. For his role in this film, Nagarjuna went on to receive the National Award from the President of India. It also must be noted that Annamayya was made at a time when period films were considered to be completely out of vogue. Nagarjuna was commended by one and all for re introducing this long forgotten genre back into Telugu cinema. In 2002, after a few forgettable films, Nagarjuna starred in Nuvvu Vasthavani which went on to become a blockbuster. His subsequent films that year, Ninne Premistha and Aazaadtoo met with commercial success. Later, he starred in the romantic comedies, Santhoshamand Manmadhudu, both of which were huge hits at the box office. Shivamani capped off a a golden run of six continious hits for Nagarjuna, a record that has few equals in the business. During that time, he also produced the blockbuster film, Sathyam, which was responsible for reviving the acting career of his nephew, Sumanth.
2004-Present
In 2004, Nagarjuna had two releases, Nennunnanu and Mass. The former, despite being slammed by critics, went on become a box office winner. Mass, which was produced by Nagarjuna himself and directed by a debutant, the prominent dance choreographer Lawrence, too became one of the highest grossing films in his career . Once again, Nagarjuna proved that he had a good eye in spotting new talent. In 2005, Nagarjuna acted and produced Super, which didn't exactly reach up to exceptations. Then in 2006, Nagarjuna reunited with Annamayya director, K.Raghavendra Rao, and starred in the film Sri Ramadasu, his second period film that was based on the great 18th century Telugu saint-composer of the same name. Nagarjuna received the Nandi award for best actor that year. Sri Ramadasu , much like his earlier Annamayya, gave Nagarjuna immense critical as well as commercial success. It once again set him apart from his contemporaries, who rarely attempted nor succeeded in this genre of films. His most recent films, Don and King, were successful commercially despite not receiving the best of critical reviews.
Upcoming Films
Nagarjuna is currently starring and co-producing a yet to be titled film with his friend and long time producer, D. Sivaprasad Reddy. It is slated to release in December, 2009. for complete information visit www.nagfans.com an exclusive fan website.
Annapurna Studios
Nagarjuna actively involves himself in his family owned, Annapurna Studios, which was established by his father in 1975. He produced several successful films under its banner, and is especially known for introducing new talent to the Telugu film industry. He has also been highly instrumental in setting up the ambitious renovation project of Annapurna Studios, which potentially will turn it into one of the leading film studios in Asia within a few years.
Additional
Nagarjuna is also popular for his several business ventures outside films, particularly in the field of real estate. In 1993, he set up the popular lounge bar, Touch. He subsequently sold it a few years later and ventured into becoming a restauranter. He currently co owns the popular resto bar N in Hyderabad.
Awards
National Film Awards
Winner
Nandi Awards
Winner
Filmfare Awards
Filmography
As actor
Produced
| Year |
Film |
Notes |
| 1981 |
Premaabhishekam |
hit |
| 1983 |
Shri Ranganeethulu |
hit |
| 1995 |
Sisindri |
hit |
| 1996 |
Ninne Pelladatha |
hit |
| 1998 |
Sri Seetharamula Kalyanam Choothamu Rarandi |
hit |
| 1999 |
Prema Katha |
average |
| 2000 |
Yuvakudu |
average |
| 2001 |
Aaha |
average |
| 2002 |
Manmadhudu |
hit |
| 2003 |
Sathyam |
hit |
| 2004 |
Mass |
hit |
| 2005 |
Super |
average |
