Vijay Deverakonda Biography – An Indian Actor and Film Producer

Deverakonda Vijay Sai (born 9 May 1989), known by his screen name Vijay Deverakonda, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He is the recipient of a Filmfare Award and a SIIMA Award.

Deverakonda made his Telugu debut with Nuvvila (2011) and received praise for the films Yevade Subramanyam (2015) and Pelli Choopulu (2016). He established himself with the blockbuster Arjun Reddy (2017) and gained further success in 2018 by starring Mahanati, Taxiwaala, and Geetha Govindam, all of which became the highest-grossing Telugu films of 2018.

Deverakonda owns his own production house, King of the Hill Entertainment, which had its first release with Meeku Maathrame Cheptha (2019). In 2019, he was featured by Forbes India in their 30 Under 30 list and became the most searched South Indian actor according to Google’s annual report.

Early life

Deverakonda Vijay Sai was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), to Govardhan Rao and Madhavi. His family hails from Thummanpeta village of erstwhile Mahbubnagar district (now Nagarkurnool). His father was a small television serial director who quit doing them due to a lack of success. Deverakonda studied in Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School (a boarding school) till 10th grade in Puttaparthi. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He has a younger brother, Anand, who is also an actor.

Career

Early career and struggle (2011–2015)

Deverakonda made his debut with Ravi Babu-directed romantic comedy Nuvvila (2011). He later appeared in Sekhar Kammula’s Life is Beautiful in a minor role. He was introduced to Nag Ashwin, who later cast him in a supporting role for the 2015 film Yevade Subramanyam alongside actor Nani. The film was produced by the daughters of Ashwini Dutt, a producer in the Telugu film industry; Priyanka Dutt backed him, and once the shooting started, Swapna Dutt signed him onto her company.

Breakthrough and success (2016–present)

Deverakonda’s first lead role was in Pelli Choopulu, a romantic coming-of-age film directed by Tharun Bhascker. The film became commercially successful and won the Best Feature Film in Telugu and the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu at the 64th National Film Awards. He starred in the masala film Dwaraka in 2017. His next film Arjun Reddy received praise and criticism for being bold and radical. Vijay’s portrayal as a self-destructive, short-tempered, and alcoholic surgeon received critical acclaim and won awards like the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. In 2019, Film Companion ranked Deverakonda’s performance in Arjun Reddy in “100 Greatest Performances of the Decade”.

As of April 2021, his Hindi–Telugu bilingual film Liger is under production. The film is being directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Karan Johar.

In March 2022, Devarakonda announced his upcoming film JGM, directed by Puri Jagannadh and scheduled to release on 3 August 2023.

Brands and endorsements

He was the brand ambassador of the food delivery app Zomato. On 15 October 2018, Deverakonda launched his fashion brand Rowdy Wear. Later, in 2020 Rowdy Wear was launched on Myntra.

Other works

Deverakonda has donated to relief funds, including a donation to families of victims in the 2019 Pulwama attack.

The Deverakonda Foundation

Deverakonda conceptualized and founded The Deverakonda Foundation, a nonprofit organization, in April 2019. In early 2020, he donated ₹24,000 through the Foundation to help Ganesh Ambari, a kickboxer who won the Vaco Indian Open International Kick-boxing Championship Title 2020.

COVID-19 pandemic

An initiative was started to battle the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The foundation has successfully aided 17,000 middle-class families with their groceries and essentials, spending ₹1.7 crores with the help of his Middle-Class Fund (MCF). More than 8,500 volunteers donated over ₹1.5 crores to join his community effort. Organizers decided to end the initiative on 2 June 2020.

In the media

Deverakonda says his family used to call him rowdy every time he did something they did not approve of. Over time, he started using this term for himself and his fans.

Deverakonda is known to express his real, unfiltered opinions on stage or in interviews and has gained much popularity, like his speech at the Arjun Reddy audio launch in 2017.

Deverakonda placed 72nd in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list of 2018. He was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Men at No. 4 in 2018, No. 3 in 2019, at No. 2 in 2020.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

• All films are in Telugu unless otherwise noted.

List of films and roles

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
2011	Nuvvila	Vishnu
2012	Life Is Beautiful	Ajay Devang
2015	Yevade Subramanyam	Rishi More
2016	Pelli Choopulu	Prashanth
2017	Dwaraka	Erra Srinu/Sri Krishnananda Swamy
	Arjun Reddy	Dr. Arjun Reddy Deshmukh
2018	Ye Mantram Vesave	Nikhil “Nikki”
	Mahanati	Vijay Anthony
	Geetha Govindam	Vijay Govind	Also singer for “What the Life.”
	NOTA	Varun Subramanyam	Tamil film partially reshot in Telugu
	Ee Nagaraniki Emaindhi	Himself	Cameo
	Taxiwaala	Shiva Rawaali
2019	Dear Comrade	Chaitanya ”Bobby” Krishna
	Meeku Maathrame Cheptha	Himself	Cameo; also a producer
2020	World Famous Lover	Gautham/Seenayya “Srinu” Prajapat
2021	Jathi Ratnalu	—	Cameo
2022	Liger	TBA	Completed; simultaneously shot in Hindi
	Kushi	TBA	Filming
2023	Jana Gana Mana	TBA	Filming

As presenter

• Pushpaka Vimanam (2022)

Awards and nominations

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