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 There
are very few heroes in the Telugu film industry who
formed an instant chord with the people. Akkineni Nagarjuna,
son of popular Telugu actor Akkineni Nageshwar Rao is
one. Although he started his career with a string of
flops, but once the films started receiving adulation
from the audience there was no turning back for this
handsome actor whose soft looks had earned him the adoration
of female film goers in Tollywood.
'Nag' as he is fondly called made his debut with 'Vikram'-
A remake of Subhash Ghai's hit film 'Hero'. Although
the film received lukewarm response from the audience,
Nag left his mark with his acting and great looks. But
his next film "Majnu" directed by Dasari Narayana
Rao attracted the public's attention and the lover boy
saga began all over again. But the going was by no means
simple. The actor however, just continued to assimilate
the filmi environment and was waiting for the right
break to happen.
 In
1989 Nagarjuna struck gold with 'Gitanjali' and 'Shiva'.
The former was a tragic love story scripted and directed
by ace director Maniratnam. In this, Nagarjuna took
a calculated risk and pulled off a victory against all
odds as a hero who had the guts and inherent talent
to hold his own even in a heroine-oriented subject.
The next one was even bigger. Debutant Director Ramgopal
Verma completely changed the image of Nagarjuna. The
film was a big hit and gave Nagarjuna a new lease of
life in the Tollywood. The movie proved that the soft
looking chocolate-faced hero could breathe fire when
he wanted to. With these two hits Nagarjuna became a
big star and carved a niche for himself in the Telugu
film industry.
But these twin successes had a stunning reversal effect
on Nagarjuna's career graph. The actor assumed that
he could continue experimenting. The result was a string
of flops. An odd success like 'Aakhari Poratam' had
a score of flops like 'Rakshana', 'Varasudu', 'Jaithrayatra'
and some other forgettable films. However, his biggest
honor, as an actor was yet to come. He breathed originality
into the role of the poetic saint 'Annamayya' and lured
audiences from every nook and corner of Andhra Pradesh,
every walk of life, and every age group into the theatres.
Nagarjuna won the awards, accolades and hearts for a
portrayal that took him away from the shadow of his
father forever. Nagarjuna, the versatile actor also
tried his hand in Hindi films like 'Khuda Gawah' with
Amitabh and 'Zakhm' with Ajay Devgan and Pooja Bhatt.
Nagarjuna is married to the actress Amala
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