Akkineni Nagarjuna (born 29 August 1959) is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter and businessman who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. The son of veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna has had a career spanning four decades, during which he has appeared in more than ninety films across Telugu, Hindi and Tamil languages. He is regarded as one of the leading figures of Telugu cinema and has won several Nandi Awards, Filmfare Awards South and two National Film Awards.
| Full name | Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 August 1959, Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu |
| Father | Akkineni Nageswara Rao |
| Mother | Annapurna Akkineni |
| Spouses | Lakshmi Daggubati (m. 1984; div.); Amala Akkineni (m. 1992) |
| Children | Naga Chaitanya, Akhil Akkineni |
| Education | Little Flower Junior College, Hyderabad; College of Engineering, Guindy (Chennai); Eastern Michigan University, USA |
| Occupation | Actor, film producer, entrepreneur |
| Production house | Annapurna Studios |
| Languages worked in | Telugu, Hindi, Tamil |
Nagarjuna was born into the Akkineni family, one of the most prominent film families of South India. His father, Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR), was a leading actor of Telugu cinema and the founder of Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad. Nagarjuna pursued engineering education in Chennai and the United States before returning to India to enter the film industry.
Nagarjuna made his debut as a child artist in Sudigundalu (1967), directed by Adurthi Subba Rao. His debut as a lead actor came with Vikram (1986), directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao, which became a commercial success. He followed this with films such as Majnu (1987) and Aakhari Poratam (1988), directed by K. Raghavendra Rao.
His role in Mani Ratnam's bilingual Geetanjali (1989) earned him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film and established him as a romantic hero. In 1990, he made his Hindi film debut with Shiva, the dubbed/remade version of Ram Gopal Varma's Telugu film Siva (1989), a landmark in Telugu cinema for its action choreography and technical craft.
Through the 1990s, Nagarjuna delivered films such as President Gari Pellam (1992), Govinda Govinda (1994), Criminal (1995), Ninne Pelladata (1996) and Annamayya (1997). His portrayal of the 15th-century saint-poet in Annamayya, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, won him the National Film Award for Best Actor (Special Jury) and remains one of his most acclaimed performances.
Nagarjuna continued to balance commercial entertainers with devotional and experimental films. Notable works include Ninne Premista (2000), Santosham (2002), Mass (2004), Sri Ramadasu (2006) and Don (2007). He returned to mythological/devotional cinema with Shirdi Sai (2012), playing Sai Baba of Shirdi.
In later years he worked in films such as Manam (2014), which featured three generations of the Akkineni family — ANR, Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya — and won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. He also appeared in Soggade Chinni Nayana (2016), Oopiri (2016), Devadas (2018), the Hindi film Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva (2022) directed by Ayan Mukerji, and The Ghost (2022).
Nagarjuna has hosted the Telugu version of the reality show Bigg Boss Telugu on Star Maa from its third season (2019) onwards, succeeding earlier hosts. He also hosted Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu, the Telugu adaptation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
Nagarjuna heads Annapurna Studios, the studio complex founded by his father in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills. Under his leadership, the studio expanded to include post-production facilities and the Annapurna College of Film and Media, which offers training in filmmaking. His production banner has produced films across genres in Telugu cinema. He is also associated with N Convention, a chain of convention centres, and has business interests in hospitality and real estate.
Nagarjuna married Lakshmi Daggubati, daughter of producer D. Ramanaidu, in 1984; their son Naga Chaitanya, also a Telugu actor, was born in 1986. The couple later divorced. In 1992, he married actress Amala Akkineni; their son Akhil Akkineni, also an actor in Telugu cinema, was born in 1994.
Nagarjuna is considered a pivotal figure in Telugu cinema, bridging the era of his father's classical romantic films and the modern, technically driven Telugu industry. His collaborations with directors such as Mani Ratnam, Ram Gopal Varma and K. Raghavendra Rao helped redefine genre conventions in Telugu cinema, particularly in urban romance, action and devotional films. As the head of Annapurna Studios and the related film school, he has also contributed to the institutional infrastructure of South Indian film production.