Naga Chaitanya
Encyclopedia
Naga Chaitanya is an Indian film actor who has appeared in Telugu films. He made his debut in the 2009 college film, Josh
His second film, Gautham Menon
's Ye Maaya Chesave
became a commercial as well as critical success, with his portrayal of a love-torn film director winning him critical acclaim. His third film, 100 % Love released in 2011.
Naga Chaitanya was born on 23 November 1986 to actor Akkineni Nagarjuna
and his first wife, Lakshmi. Naga Chaitanya's grandfather, Akkineni Nageswara Rao
is one of the stalwarts of Telugu cinema
. His maternal grandfather, D. Ramanaidu
, is a famous producer in the film industry whilst his maternal uncle, Venkatesh
is also one of Tollywood's biggest stars. Naga Chaitanya's cousins, Sumanth
, Sushanth
and Rana
, are also film actors.
Naga Chaitanya was born in Hyderabad, but moved to Chennai
with his mother after his parents split. He received schooling at the PSBB School in Chennai, during which he often visited his father in Hyderabad. He played the guitar and drums occasionally for the PSBB school band. He was not originally interested in acting; he wanted to race cars and is still very good at it. However, his father convinced him otherwise and talked him into acting to keep the legacy going. He was then sent to an acting school in Mumbai
, and subsequently to Hollywood Studios in California
(USA) to learn dance and fights before he made his debut.
, Chaitanya was introduced to the film world where his debut film was launched. Josh
, directed by newcomer Vasu Varma and produced by Dil Raju
, featured him alongside fellow debutant Karthika Nair
, daughter of Radha
, with his role drawing comparison with his father's character from Shiva
. However upon release, the film fared averagely at the box office and received negative reviews from film critics, although Naga Chaitanya's performance secured him the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for South Indian films.
Prior to the release of his first film, he signed his second film with Indira Productions, which was to be directed by Gautham Menon
and featured music by A. R. Rahman
. Ye Maaya Chesave
released in February 2010 to unanimous positive reviews with the film being dubbed as a "classic" by reviewers, with comparisons drawn to his father's romantic film, Mani Ratnam
's Geethanjali
. Critics also praised his on-screen chemistry with debutant actress Samantha
, as the film went on to become a commercial success at the box-office. This was the Telugu version of the Tamil film, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya
. He also made a cameo appearance in the Tamil version.
His next movie was Sukumar
's 100% Love with Tamannaah Bhatia has gained huge success in the box office and lead Naga Chaitanya into a top lead in Telugu film industry.His next movie Dhada with Kajal Aggarwal
directed Ajay Bhuyan released in August with huge expectations was a colossal failure. Naga Chaitanya has already finished working in Ram Gopal Varma
's Bejawada. This movie is scheduled to be released in last week of november. Naga Chaitanya is currently working on Deva Katta's Autonagar Surya. This movie stars Samantha
who has already worked with Naga Chaitanya in Ye Maaya Chesave
. Naga Chaitanya is one of the most popular actors in tollywood and is often referred to as the youngest male actor.
Josh (2009 film)
Josh is a 2009 Telugu film that marked the debut of Naga Chaitanya and Karthika in the lead roles, whilst, prominent actor J. D. Chakravarthy plays a pivotal role. Directed by Vasu Varma, and produced by noted producer, Dil Raju. An initial date of the 3rd of September for release, was delayed due...
His second film, Gautham Menon
Gautham Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...
's Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...
became a commercial as well as critical success, with his portrayal of a love-torn film director winning him critical acclaim. His third film, 100 % Love released in 2011.
Naga Chaitanya was born on 23 November 1986 to actor Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor in Tollywood and Bollywood. He is a producer and one of the lead actors in Telugu cinema.- Early life :...
and his first wife, Lakshmi. Naga Chaitanya's grandfather, Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Akkineni Nageswara Rao , also known as ANR, is a Telugu cinema actor from Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh. Nageswara Rao has worked in several genres of films in his 70-year acting career, including mythological, social, and drama films...
is one of the stalwarts of Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema
The Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, also referred to as Telugu Cinema or Tollywood, is the Telugu film industry in India. The Telugu language film industry is known for being one of the three largest in terms of no.of films produced yearly in India. The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad is one of the...
. His maternal grandfather, D. Ramanaidu
D. Ramanaidu
Daggubati Ramanaidu is an Indian movie producer. In 2010, He was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. The Guinness Book of Records lists him as the most prolific producer with 130 films...
, is a famous producer in the film industry whilst his maternal uncle, Venkatesh
Daggubati Venkatesh
Venkatesh Daggubati is an Indian film actor who stars in Tollywood films. He is the son of veteran Tollywood film producer, former MP, Dr. D. Ramanaidu. He is often credited as Victory Venkatesh in films and is one of the lead actors in Telugu Cinema. He has won seven Nandi Awards and four...
is also one of Tollywood's biggest stars. Naga Chaitanya's cousins, Sumanth
Sumanth
Sumanth is a Telugu film actor. He is the nephew of actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and grandson of actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He is also a partner in Annapurna Studios, a prominent film studio/production house that was established in 1975 by his grandfather....
, Sushanth
Sushanth
Sushanth is a Telugu film actor. He has appeared in Telugu films in leading roles. He is the nephew of Nagarjuna, whilst his cousins Sumanth and Naga Chaitanya are also actors.-Early career:...
and Rana
Rana Daggubati
Rana Daggubati is an Indian actor. Better known as Rana, he was born on 14 December 1984 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is the son of film producer D. Suresh Babu, the latter being the elder son of D. Ramanaidu. Venkatesh is D. Ramanaidu's younger son. Rana is also nephew of another Tollywood actor...
, are also film actors.
Naga Chaitanya was born in Hyderabad, but moved to Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
with his mother after his parents split. He received schooling at the PSBB School in Chennai, during which he often visited his father in Hyderabad. He played the guitar and drums occasionally for the PSBB school band. He was not originally interested in acting; he wanted to race cars and is still very good at it. However, his father convinced him otherwise and talked him into acting to keep the legacy going. He was then sent to an acting school in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, and subsequently to Hollywood Studios in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(USA) to learn dance and fights before he made his debut.
Career
Following in his family's footsteps, Naga Chaitanya's debut was widely anticipated. After several rumours regarding his debut, during the audio launch of his father's KingKing (2008 film)
King is a 2008 Indian Telugu film starring Akkineni Nagarjuna, Trisha Krishnan, Arjan Bajwa , and Mamta Mohandas. The film was directed by Sreenu Vaitla and produced by D Sivaprasad Reddy.-Plot:...
, Chaitanya was introduced to the film world where his debut film was launched. Josh
Josh (2009 film)
Josh is a 2009 Telugu film that marked the debut of Naga Chaitanya and Karthika in the lead roles, whilst, prominent actor J. D. Chakravarthy plays a pivotal role. Directed by Vasu Varma, and produced by noted producer, Dil Raju. An initial date of the 3rd of September for release, was delayed due...
, directed by newcomer Vasu Varma and produced by Dil Raju
Dil Raju
Dil Raju |Dil]], Arya,Bhadra, Bommarillu,Kotha Bangaru Lokam and Brindavanam . His recent film Mr.Perfect.-Biography:...
, featured him alongside fellow debutant Karthika Nair
Karthika Nair
Karthika Nair |Josh]] opposite Naga Chaitanya. She rose to fame starring in her second and her first successful tamil film Ko opposite Jeeva.-After birth:...
, daughter of Radha
Radha (actress)
Udaya Chandrika, better known by her screen name Radha is an Indian actress popular in the 80s and early 90s. She has acted in numerous movies with top actors of the South Indian cinema such as Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan , Sathyaraj, Prabhu, Vijayakanth, Chiranjeevi, Karthik, Suresh, Mohan,...
, with his role drawing comparison with his father's character from Shiva
Shiva (film)
Shiva is a 1989 Telugu-language film. The 1989 Indian film starring Akkineni Nagarjuna and Amala which deals with violence and student politics inside the college campus. The film was written by Tanikella Bharani and directed by film-maker Ram Gopal Verma who made his debut with this film. The...
. However upon release, the film fared averagely at the box office and received negative reviews from film critics, although Naga Chaitanya's performance secured him the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for South Indian films.
Prior to the release of his first film, he signed his second film with Indira Productions, which was to be directed by Gautham Menon
Gautham Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...
and featured music by A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
. Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...
released in February 2010 to unanimous positive reviews with the film being dubbed as a "classic" by reviewers, with comparisons drawn to his father's romantic film, Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
's Geethanjali
Geethanjali
Geethanjali is a National Award-winning 1989 Telugu film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Upon release, the film met with both commercial success and critical acclaim. Later it was dubbed in Malayalam and Tamil languages...
. Critics also praised his on-screen chemistry with debutant actress Samantha
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Samantha Ruth Prabhu is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Born to Malayali and Telugu parents, Samantha was brought up in Chennai and pursued a career in modeling during her late teens...
, as the film went on to become a commercial success at the box-office. This was the Telugu version of the Tamil film, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa is a 2010 Tamil musical romantic drama film directed and written by Gautham Menon, featuring Silambarasan Rajendar and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles. It is a parody of Tamil romantic melodramas. The film, distributed by Udhayanidhi Stalin, features a successful...
. He also made a cameo appearance in the Tamil version.
His next movie was Sukumar
Sukumar
Sukumar Bandreddi , better known by his first name, is a Tollywood film director and screenwriter. He worked as assistant director for the films Kshemanga Velli Labhanga Randi and Dil and made his directorial debut with Arya.- Background :...
's 100% Love with Tamannaah Bhatia has gained huge success in the box office and lead Naga Chaitanya into a top lead in Telugu film industry.His next movie Dhada with Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal is an Indian film actress, who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She has also appeared in Tamil and Hindi films.Kajal made her film debut in the 2004 Hindi film Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na and entered the Telugu film industry through the film Lakshmi Kalyanam...
directed Ajay Bhuyan released in August with huge expectations was a colossal failure. Naga Chaitanya has already finished working in Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer...
's Bejawada. This movie is scheduled to be released in last week of november. Naga Chaitanya is currently working on Deva Katta's Autonagar Surya. This movie stars Samantha
Samantha
Samantha is a feminine given name. It was first recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its origin is unknown.Speculation has suggested an origin from the masculine given name Samuel and anthos, the Greek word for "flower"...
who has already worked with Naga Chaitanya in Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave
Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack...
. Naga Chaitanya is one of the most popular actors in tollywood and is often referred to as the youngest male actor.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Josh Josh (2009 film) Josh is a 2009 Telugu film that marked the debut of Naga Chaitanya and Karthika in the lead roles, whilst, prominent actor J. D. Chakravarthy plays a pivotal role. Directed by Vasu Varma, and produced by noted producer, Dil Raju. An initial date of the 3rd of September for release, was delayed due... |
Sathya | Telugu Telugu language Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu... |
Winner, Filmfare Best Male Debut Winner, Nandi Award for Best Male Debut Winner, CineMAA Award for Best Male Debut |
| 2010 | Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa | Himself | Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
Guest appearance |
| Ye Maaya Chesave Ye Maaya Chesave Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Gautham Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions, and features a very successful music soundtrack... |
Karthik | Telugu | Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu | |
| 2011 | 100% Love | Balu | Telugu | |
| Dhada | Vishwa | Telugu | ||
| Bejawada Bejawada (film) Bejawada is an upcoming Telugu film directed by Vivek Krishna and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. The film features Naga Chaitanya and Amala Paul in the lead roles... |
Shiva krishna | Telugu | Releasing on 1 Dec'11 | |
| 2012 | Autonagar Surya Autonagar Surya Autonagar Surya is a forthcoming Telugu film directed by Deva Katta. It stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha in the lead.-Production:This is a political satire starring Naga Chaitanya in the lead... |
Surya | Telugu | Filming |
| Gouravam | Telugu | Filming |