Vijay Deverakonda

Deverakonda Vijay Sai (born 9 May 1989) is an Indian actor and producer who predominantly works in Telugu language films. He debuted in 2011 in Ravi Babu’s romantic comedy Nuvvila, and gained recognition for his supporting role in Yevade Subramanyam (2015). Deverakonda became more famous after his lead role in the 2016 romantic comedy Pelli Choopulu, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu and the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu.

Deverakonda has established himself as a leading actor of Telugu cinema by starring in lead roles in critical and commercial successes such as Arjun Reddy (2017), Mahanati (2018), Geetha Govindam (2018), and Taxiwaala (2018). His performance in Arjun Reddy won him several accolades, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. In 2019, he won the South Indian International Movie Critics Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his work in Geetha Govindam. He owns King of the Hill Entertainment, a film production company, which produced its maiden film Meeku Maathrame Cheptha in 2019.

Deverakonda was featured by Forbes India in their 30 Under 30 list of 2019. According to Google’s annual report, he was the most searched South Indian actor in 2019.

Early life

Deverakonda was born in Achampet of present-day Telangana, India, to Govardhan Rao and Madhavi. His father is a television serial and ad film director while his mother a soft skills tutor. He attended Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, Anantapur, and Little Flower Junior College, Hyderabad. He graduated from Badruka College of Commerce, Hyderabad. He has a younger brother, Anand Deverakonda 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. Both films were decently successful but failed to give Deverakonda much recognition. He was introduced to Nag Ashwin, who later cast him in a supporting role for the 2015 movie 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 shooting started, and Swapna Dutt signed him onto her company. The film became a critical and commercial success, and Deverakonda won high praise for his diction, energy, and role in the movie.

Breakthrough and success (2015–present)

Deverakonda’s first lead role was in Pelli Choopulu, a romantic coming-of-age film directed by Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam. 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 alike for being very bold and radical. Vijay’s portrayal as a self-destructive, short-tempered, and alcoholic surgeon received critical acclaim, and won him 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”.

Following Arjun Reddy was Ye Mantram Vesave, which was supposed to release in 2013 but released on 2018. He then starred in Mahanati, a biographical film around the life of actress Savitri. Deverakonda’s next release in 2018 was Geetha Arts’ romantic comedy Geetha Govindam, in which he starred as an innocent and nervous college professor. His next film, released on 5 October, was the Tamil political thriller NOTA, directed by Anand Shankar, which performed poorly at the box office. His next project was UV Creations’ supernatural comedy thriller Taxiwala.

In 2019, Deverakonda was seen in Bharat Kamma’s Dear Comrade, a romantic action drama, alongside Rashmika Mandanna. He later signed Hero, directed by Anand Annamalai co-starring Malavika Mohanan. But the film was reportedly shelved after beginning its production. In 2020, he acted in Kranthi Madhav’s romantic drama World Famous Lover opposite Rashi Khanna, Catherine Tresa, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Izabelle Leite.

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

Brands and endorsements

He was the brand ambassador of food delivery app Zomato. On 11 February 2020, Deverakonda launched his fashion brand Rowdy Wear on Myntra.

Humanitarian efforts

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

The Deverakonda Foundation

Deverakonda conceptualised and founded The Deverakonda Foundation, a nonprofit organisation 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 COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The foundation has successfully aided 17,000 middle-class families with their groceries and basic 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. Organisers decided to end the initiative on 2 June 2020.

Public Image

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

Deverakonda is known to express his real opinions on stage or interviews and has gathered a lot of popularity, like his speech at the Arjun Reddy audio launch in 2017. He compelled the youth to chant the profanities that were censored in the movie, and asked them to do the same in the theatres when his voice is muted.

Deverakonda placed 72nd in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list of 2018.

Filmography

Key

	Denotes films that have not yet been released

• All films are in Telugu unless otherwise noted.

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Ref.
2011	Nuvvila	Vishnu	Debut film
2012	Life Is Beautiful	Ajay
2015	Yevade Subramanyam	Rishi
2016	Pelli Choopulu	Prashanth	Debut film in a lead role
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
	NOTA	Varun Subramanyam	Tamil film debut
	Ee Nagaraniki Emaindhi	Himself	Cameo appearance
	Taxiwaala	Shiva
2019	Dear Comrade	Chaitanya ”Bobby” Krishnan
	Meeku Maathrame Cheptha	Himself	Cameo appearance; Also producer
2020	World Famous Lover	Gautham / Seenayya “Srinu”
2021	Jathi Ratnalu	Blue shirt guy	Cameo appearance
	Liger	TBA	Simultaneously shot in Hindi

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Ref.
2015	Nandi Awards	Nandi Special Jury Award	Yevade Subramanyam	Won
2017	Zee Telugu Golden Awards	Best Actor	Arjun Reddy	Won
2018	Filmfare Awards South	Best Actor – Telugu		Won
2018	South Indian International Movie Awards	SIIMA Best Actor		Nominated
2018	Behindwoods Gold Medal	The South Indian Sensation		Won
2019	South Indian International Movie Awards	SIIMA Best Actor	Geetha Govindam	Nominated
		Critics Best Actor – Telugu		Won
2019	Filmfare Awards South	Best Actor – Telugu		Nominated
2019	Behindwoods Gold Medal	Best Actor in a Lead Role	Dear Comrade	Won