Akkineni Nagarjuna (Telugu: ఆక్కినేని నాగార్జున) (born August 29, 1959 in Chennai, India), often known as Nagarjuna, is a popular Telugu Cinema actor and a successful producer. He is the son of veteran actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who is a very respected actor having successfully done multiple films through the last four and half decades.
Born Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao
August 29, 1959 (age 49) Andhra Pradesh, India
Other name(s) Nag, Yuva samrat
Occupation Actor,Film Director,Producer
Years active 1986 - Present
Spouse(s) Amala
Personal Background :
Nagarjuna was born to Telugu cinema actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Annapurna Akkineni. Nagarjuna did his schooling at Hyderabad Public School and later went to Ratna Junior College to do his intermediate. After that, he went on to do mechanical engineering in College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai(also called as Anna University). He later attended the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, where he received his master's degree in Automobile Engineering.
Nagarjuna has married twice. He is currently married to Amala who was a popular actress in Tamil and Telugu film industries. He has two sons. Naga Chaitanya from his first marriage, and Akhil Akkineni from second marriage(featured in Sisindri).
Acting career :
[edit] 1986-2004
His first movie Vikram released on May 24, 1986 was a remake of the Hindi film Hero starring Jackie Shroff. After acting in four films, he acted in Majnu as a tragedy hero; similar roles were known to be his father's forte. He acted with his father in the movie Collectorgari Abbayi. His first big hit was Akhari Poraatam co-starring Sridevi that ran for 100 days in 12 centers. Geethanjali a love story directed by Maniratnam followed by Shiva an action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma were highly successful and established him as one of the top heroes. During this phase of his career he relished working with new directors such as Ram Gopal Varma in order to recreate his screen persona and enjoy a certain creative energy, through the fresh approach of these young directors. He also made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of Shiva. Movies such as President Gari Pellam and Hello Brother gave him the status of a mass hero. After that, Ninne Pelladutha directed by Krishna Vamsi appealed to a broad cross section of people, both young and mature. The movie was a big success at the box office. Later, he took up the challenge of portraying Annamacharya, the legendary singer/poet of medieval times in the movie Annamayya It ran for 100 days in 42 centers and is one of the biggest hits in Tollywood. He won the National Award for this role in Special Jury.
2004-Present
In 2004, Nagarjuna had two releases, Nenunnanu and Mass, the latter going on to become a hit.[1]. In 2005, Nagarjuna had one release, Super. Super didn't reach up to the exceptations. Then in 2006, Nagarjuna had two releases, Sri Ramadasu, a period film based on the life of great saint-composer Ramadasu, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, and Boss, I Love You. Sri Ramadasu was a big hit at box office however he got Nandi award for Sri ramadasu Boss, I Love You was a flop.[2] His latest release Don, was directed by Raghava Lawrence.
Upcoming Films
Currently Nagarjuna is filming for King. The film will be directed by Sreenu Vaitla and produced by D Sivaprasad Reddy. His co-stars are Trisha Krishnan, Srihari, Sunil. It is slated for theatrical release in December 23 2008.
Annapurna Studios
Nagarjuna revived his father's production Annapurna Studios which has become one of the most successful production companies of recent times in Tollywood. He never hesitates to experiment when he produces films. He gave a chance to a newcomer who had no prior experience in movies to direct him. The newcomer didn't disappoint him and went on to become one of the finest directors of Indian film industry. The director is none other than RamGopal Verma. Nagarjuna is also known for his swiftness in decision making. He agreed to work with Krishna Vamsi(director) after seeing 10-minute-rushes of the director's film Gulabi. His decision proved to be bang on target as they made the blockbuster movie Ninne Pelladutha[citation needed].
