Daggupati Venkatesh, Venky for his fans and Victory Venkatesh for the box office, needs no prologue. Venkatesh, brainy and brawny, graduated with MBA degree from Montery University, USA. Though lucky in terms of resources, Venkatesh made it to the top with his own style of acting.After his return to India, he wanted to get into production. But destiny has something else in store for him. He became an actor. For a debut actor, he has all the resources that one can dream of. His father, Dr. D. Ramanaidu and his brother D.Sureshbabu successfully run one of the most prestigious banner in Indian Cinema, Suresh Productions.Venkatesh debuted through Kaliyuga Pandavulu in the year 1986. He is launched like any other hero. The movie was not only a hit but also got him his first Nandi award, which is a rare accomplishment for a debutante actor. Venkatesh started out as an action hero. Srinivasa kalyanam was his first film that portrayed Venkatesh in a soft role. Brahmaputrudu and Rakthatilakam followed his action hero streak.K.Viswanath is considered a great and classical director. He is known to cast people for the story rather than providing story tailor-made. Venkatesh got to work with him in the early phase of his career itself. Just two years old as an actor, Venkatesh skillfully fitted himself in Swarnakamalam directed by K.Viswanath. The movie got him his second Nandi.Varasudochadu released in the same year, proved another feather in his cap. With two blockbusters and great performances in 88, Venkatesh progressed into 89 With full of positive energy flowing. He teamed up with Sureshkrishna and Revathy for a great lovestory Prema. Ilayaraja composed the tunes and they are still rated the best songs. Prema, a musical blockbuster, added another Nandi to his list of achievements. In the first four years of his career, Venkatesh won three Nandi awards.After a few movies, that didnot do that good to his career, he got a break in the form of Bobbiliraja. Added to the name and performance of Venkatesh was delightful Divyabharathi, good comedy and melodious music. Bobbiliraja is a musical hit and also entertained audience from all sections because of it's ingredients.
An action film followed Bobbiliraja. Sathuruvu portrayed Venkatesh in a different dimension. An angry young man, lawyer by profession, who takes law into his hands after failing to fight the corruption through the court. Music by Ilayaraja was amazing and nothing could stop it from blasting off the counters at box office.
Venkatesh has a palate for good music. This is very evident from the kind of music his movies are packed with. Surya IPS, though did not prove great at box office, is a musical hit. A bizzare thing in his career was for no apparent reason, a superbly made film Kshana Kshanam managed average at the box office. Directed by technincal wizard Ramgopal Varma, relishing music by keeravani and added glamour of Sridevi - what possibly could go wrong? Nothing. But still it just ran average. However, kshana kshanam is the favorite of every Telugu movie lover. The movie got recognition in other languages too.
Chanti, a remake of Tamil chinna Tambi, happened in 1991. Chanti was definitely a challenging role for Venkatesh. An innocent, mentally not grown kind of a role. Chanti was a super duper hit. This also changed his career for ever. Starting from Chanti, he went for continuous remakes - Chinarayudu, Sundarakanda, Anari, Kondapalli Raja, Abbaigaru, Pokiriraja, Takdhirwala - that got him branded as a remake hero.
Anari was the remake of Chanti in Hindi. Sundarakanda, gave a classic image to Venkatesh. Colorful formals, with a tie and glasses, in a soft role, put him in a different image altogether. Though the movie started out with split talk, it went on to create wonders at the box office. Soft image started garnering for him at this point. He started becoming a family hero and turned out a huge fan following among women.
Movie career is not always a sucess story. Failure and Success run parallel. Venkatesh, though always cautious with the storylines, is no exception. Following Sundarkanda in 92, his career went through a rough phase until Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu in 1996. When critics were about to write him off, he shot the box office with Intlo Illau Vantintlo Priyuralu. Poised back, Venkatesh gave a phenomenal performance in Dharmachakram. He dished out a very balanced performance as a lawyer in agony caused by the seperation of his love by his father. He fights against his father in that rage. Though commercially it failed, critically it was very well acclaimed and he gets another Nandi added to the stand of his accomplishments.
Suryavamsam, another remake, is a change from the lover boy role that he did in the blockbuster of the year, Preminchukundam Raa. He introduced a new director Tirupati Swamy to direct Ganesh - another angry young man role who fights against corruption. This time against the health system and corruption related to it. What else can you expect? Another Nandi added to his list. This time, his message was well received by the audience too.
Raja and Kalisundam Raa followed. Kalisundam Raa, directed by a debutante director Udayshankar, won national award as the best regional film. A clean family entertainer that not only got him a Nandi award but took his image to peak with lady audience. A much hyped Deviputrudu, for the graphics, produced by M.S.Raju followed but could not stand up to the expectations.
Nuvvu Naaku Nachavu, a delightful entertainer, released in 2001. NNN started out with a average talk and turned into one of the biggest hits of the year. Thanks to the dialogues by Trivikram. Venkatesh should be applauded for taking up such a role. It's a non-image character rarely done by a star of his image. He proved that he is not bound by an image and could do any role with ease.
Venky made a conscious balance in his roles. He worked equally on action and mass films, soft-love stories and performance oriented roles. As experienced as he is, he still learnt from each of his movies and made himself a better actor with each movie. He is considered a calm and non-controversial hero in tollywood. All the movies aforementioned and several other movies prove Venky as a hero and a versatile actor. Not to mention he is the only hero to have acheived most number of Nandi Awards.
Started out in 1986 with Kaliyuga Pandavulu, Venkatesh acted in a total of 51 films by 2002. Venkatesh entertained his fans with atleast one hit per year from the beginning of his career. Exceptions are 95 and 2002. Venkatesh with his good looks, a different style and selection of stories is one the top stars in the Telugu film industry.
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