5 Tollywood Bigshots That have proven their Acting Chops
We all know the exclusive industry of tollywood. Fame comes with wealth and family ties, however here are a few actors that have proven their range as a talented Actor and Artist
List activity
283 views
• 2 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
5 people
- Prabhas is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid and highest-grossing actor in Indian cinema. Prabhas is hailed as the "First Pan-Indian Superstar". Prabhas was born in a Telugu family to late U. Suryanarayana Raju and Siva Kumari. His family hails from Mogalthur, Andhra Pradesh. He is the youngest of three children and is the nephew of Telugu actor Uppalapati Krishnam Raju. Prabhas did his schooling at Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chennai, and at DNR High School, Bhimavaram. He then completed his intermediate education from Nalanda College, Hyderabad. He later went on to pursue Bachelor of Technology (BTech) from Sri Chaitanya College, Hyderabad.
Prabhas made his acting debut with drama Eeswar, and later attained his breakthrough with the action romance Varsham. He went on to act in other commercially successful films such as Chatrapathi, Bujjigadu, Billa, Darling, Mr. Perfect, and Mirchi winning the Nandi Award for Best Actor for his performance in the lattermost. He went on to play a dual role in the epic action film Baahubali: The Beginning which received national and international acclaim, and became a record-breaking box office success. He reprised his role in the sequel, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion which rewrote several box office records and emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film at that point, establishing Prabhas as the first pan-Indian star. Commercial success has since varied, with action thrillers Saaho and Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire, both of which rank among the highest-grossing Indian films. He is the first Indian actor ever to have four 100+ crore opening films worldwide, a feat unheard of in Indian cinema.
Prabhas is referred to in the media and by his fandom as the "Rebel Star" and "Darling", he has appeared in over 20 films, and earned numerous accolades. He has been featuring in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2015. He was added to the Forever Desirable list of Hyderabad Times in 2019. He was the most searched actor on Google for the year 2019. He is the only actor from south cinema to feature in the magazine Eastern Eye's 2019 listing of the 10 Sexiest Asian Men. He was also featured in the GQ in their listing of the most influential young Indians of 2017. Prabhas stood alone as the only Indian actor in the "Top 10 Most Used Hashtags on Twitter" list in 2023.Prabhas has been in the industry for many years, first introduced with his iconic muscular build and height, he has done a plethora of commercial films in which he definitely is a delightful screen presence. However it was in Bahubali in which he really took his talent to a whole new level! No wonder Prabhas is one of the only Tollywood actors known by the world. - Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Known for his action star persona, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. , commonly referred to as Tarak or Jr NTR is the grandson of legendary Telugu actor and politician N.T. Rama Rao. Tarak is the most successful star from Nandamuri family working in the Telugu film industry.
Tarak was born on 20th May 1983 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (currently in Telangana), India to Nandamuri Harikrishna and Shalini Rao. Tarak learnt the Kuchipudi dance form in his early childhood and gave many stage performances in India and abroad.
Tarak was selected by acclaimed Telugu director Gunasekhar to star as the mythological character Lord Ram in the children's film Ramayanam (1996), marking his debut in movies. After starring in a few TV serials, he made his adult debut in movies with Ninnu Choodalani (2001) directed by V.R. Pratap. He has since then starred in over thirty movies in leading roles. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, two Nandi awards and four CineMAA awards.Tarak, we've seen him evolve from day one. It is not easy living up to a Legend (NTR), his debut showed an overweight and awkward person, getting into the industry like most, with a famous background. However, he did not coast off this, and it is clear he dedicated his life to his craft, and pushed himself to become the stud of a man he is today. He constantly amazes audiences with his acting, taking on any perona with convictoin, and is one of the biggest stars in the industry today, and is extremely clear why!- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Nagarjuna did his schooling at Hyderabad Public School and later went to Little Flower Junior College to do his intermediate. After that, he went on to do mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI and later got a masters degree in automobile engineering at San Jose State University.Nag, is known as KING for a reason. Despite being one of the seniors in this list, he had to be here! he has has an incredibly long successful career, bettering his craft with every minute. When he first started he was met with great criticism for many years, but now he can make us laugh, cry, and experience every emotion in between, which makes him an extraordinary actor.- Actor
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ghanta Naveen Babu, better known by his stage name Nani is a prominent actor in Telugu cinema who has also made a name for himself as a producer and television presenter. He completed his schooling at St. Alphonso's High School and then attended Narayana Junior College before graduating from Wesley College.
Nani was inspired to join the movie industry as a director by Mani Ratnam. He got his break as a clap director with producer Anil Kumar for the movie Radha Gopalam (2005) in 2005.
He also worked as a director for the movies Allari Bullodu (2005), Asthram (2006), and Dhee (2007). He then took a break from the industry in order to work on a film script. During the time, his friend Bhargavi Mallela who was working for World Space Satellite as an RJ, offered him a job to work as an RJ. Nani accepted the offer and hosted a program named "Non-Stop Nani" for a year.
Later, Nani got noticed by Mohana Krishna Indraganti in a commercial, who offered him an acting role in the movie Ashta Chamma (2008) with which he entered the Telugu movie industry in the year 2008. The movie received critical acclaim and was well received at the box office. His next film, Ride (2009), did exceptionally well at the box office and got him many notable films. After that movie, Nani became a household name and each of his performances got him a lot of positive feedback from critics.
Later, he went on to become a significant part of many famous movies, such as Bheemli Kabadi Jattu (2010), Ala Modalaindi (2011), Pilla Zamindar (2011), Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu (2012), Yevade Subramanyam (2015), Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015), Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha (2016), Gentleman (2016), Majnu (2016), Nenu Local (2017), Ninnu Kori (2017), MCA Middle Class Abbayi (2017), Devadas (2018), Jersey (2019), Shyam Singha Roy (2021), and Ante Sundharaniki (2022). He was cast in S.S. Rajamouli's project Eega (2012). It was also shot in Tamil, featuring renowned actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu. He was also cast in the renowned Telugu-language romantic comedy film Ante Sundharaniki (2022) in 2022, opposite Nazriya Nazim.
He went on to produce the movie D for Dopidi (2013) in 2013- it performed moderately at the box office. He later launched his own film production house, Wall poster Cinema, along with Prashanti Tipirineni, a costume designer. The very first movie released under the banner was Awe! (2018) & was among the best-performed films at the box office and received two awards at the 66th National Film Awards for Best Special Effects and Best Make-Up Artist.
In June 2018, Nani made his debut in the television industry by hosting the reality show Big Boss 2. Afterward, he went on to become the brand ambassador for Otto's Minister White.
Nani's success at the box office was evident- his performances received several accolades from critics. Nani received two Critics Choice Best Actor Male - Tamil, two Nandi Awards, and Best Hero Award at Toronto After Dark Film Festival, four SIIMA Awards.Nani, was a weird one to put on this list, when we think "Bigshot" we generally think of other names, who are part of a famous family, however he has made great strides these past few years making a huge name for himself. Coming into the industry with no backup, and talent alone should prove his worthiness for a spot on this list. He worked many years on his goal to becoming an actor before ever making it on screen, and now it seems like it is impossible for him to make a film that doesn't become wildly successful!- Actor
- Producer
Actor, producer and entrepreneur, Rana Daggubati enjoys a very unique fandom from across the world. Perhaps best known as the vicious antagonist 'Bhallaladeva' from the record-breaking Indian franchise, Baahubali, Rana, however, began his mainstream film career as the producer of the National Award-winning film Bommalata (2004).
In 2005, he set up Spirit Media, a company that specialized in VFX and animation. He thus went on work on over 70 films as a VFX co-coordinator.
In 2010, he marked his acting debut with Leader (2010), which established him as a bankable actor in the Telugu film industry. He then went on to foray into Hindi cinema, or the popular Bollywood, with Dum Maaro Dum (2011). He subsequently acted in several Telugu and Hindi films, before his role as the lead antagonist in the 2015 film, Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), catapulting him to new heights of stardom. The sequel, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), became the first Indian film to hit the 1000-crore mark in box office collections. The phenomenal success of the film wasn't limited to the BO numbers, but has grown into a universe much larger than cinema, with games, manga comics, merchandising and more still in high demand.
On the back of the phenomenal success of the Baahubali franchise, Rana went to earn another first with India's first underwater film, The Ghazi Attack (2017), which was a commercial success and garnered him another prestigious National Award.
Known for his off-beaten-path approach to stories, Rana's repertoire is an interesting mix of everything from playing an upright Naval officer to fantastical villain. Also a dubbing artiste, Rana is the voice behind the super villain Thanos in the Telugu Avengers version.
Hailing from a family of filmmakers and storytellers, Rana Daggubati also oversees the operations of one of South India's leading production houses, Suresh Productions. When he is not busy shooting, Rana Daggubati is a thorough entrepreneur and businessman who has business interests spread across the spectrum of media an entertainment.
In 2018, Rana entered into a joint venture with one of India's leading entertainment agencies, Kwan Entertainment. He also partnered with Anthill Ventures, an investment and scaling platform for early growth stage start-ups, to launch Anthill Studio, a start-up accelerator program focused on technologies such as AI, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Blockchain, Visual Effects (VFX), Cloud Rendering, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data and Analytics. A comic book geek, Rana also bought a stake in the one of India's leading comic book companies, Amar Chitra Katha in 2019.
While his passions, interests and endeavors many seem varied, there is one thread that seems to define everything that drives Rana Daggubati - the power and glory of storytelling - a love that he has confessed to many times.Rana, definitely proves himself as a worthy opponent to Prabhas in Bahubali, which immediately put him on this list. He has made small strides in the industry, but has lately become well known for his talent in acting. Movies which he portrays any character, may it be positive or negative, makes the audience shake! Once he gets into character, not for a single moment does he break!