Venkatesh (actor)
Daggubati Venkatesh (born 13 December 1960), also known as Victory Venkatesh, is an Indian actor and producer known for his work predominantly in Telugu cinema and a few Hindi films. Venkatesh has a prolific career spanning over 37 years and is known for portraying a variety of challenging characters. He has received many accolades including six Filmfare Awards and five Nandi Awards.
Venkatesh | |
|---|---|
Venkatesh at the opening ceremony of the 2013 Celebrity Cricket League season | |
| Born | Daggubati Venkatesh 13 December 1960 Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India |
| Other names | Venky |
| Alma mater | Loyola College, Chennai Monterey Institute of International Studies (MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor producer |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse |
Neeraja (m. 1985) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent |
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| Relatives | D. Suresh Babu (brother) Rana Daggubati (nephew) Naga Chaitanya (nephew) |
| Family | see Daggubati–Akkineni family |
Venkatesh made his debut in 1986 with the commercially successful Kaliyuga Pandavulu. He achieved stardom with box-office hits such as Srinivasa Kalyanam (1987), Brahma Puthrudu (1988), Prema (1989), Dhruva Nakshatram (1989), Bobbili Raja (1990), and Kshana Kshanam (1991), the latter of which featured at the Fribourg Festival and went on to gather a cult following.
Venkatesh received further acclaim for his notable performances as a painter in Swarnakamalam (1988), which featured in the Indian panorama section of the 12th IFFI, an attorney in both Sathruvu (1991) and Dharma Chakram (1996), a coolie in Coolie No. 1 (1991), an eccentric cop in both Surya IPS (1991) and Gharshana (2004), an autistic villager in Chanti (1992), in the romances Pavitra Bandham (1996), Preminchukundam Raa (1997), Premante Idera (1998), Raja (1999), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), Vasantam (2003), Malliswari (2004) and Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule (2007), in the family dramas Suryavamsam (1998), Sankranti (2005) and Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), a journalist in Ganesh (1998), in the action dramas Jayam Manadera (2000), Lakshmi (2006), Tulasi (2007) and Venky Mama (2021), in the comedies Chintakayala Ravi (2008), Namo Venkatesa (2010), F2 (2019) and F3 (2022), in the crime thrillers Eenaadu (2009), Drushyam (2014) and Drushyam 2 (2021), an atheist in Gopala Gopala (2015), a boxing coach in Guru (2017), and a farmer in Narappa (2021).
Venkatesh also starred in Hindi language works such as Anari (1993), Taqdeerwala (1995), Rana Naidu (2023), and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023). In addition to acting, he co-owns Suresh Productions, one of the largest film production companies in India, under which he acted in several films. He is also the mentor of the Telugu Warriors, representing Tollywood in the Celebrity Cricket League.