Cinesprint Magazine January_2020 Cinesprint Magazine January_2020 | Page 59

Naga Chaitanya Akkineni is the son of actor Nagarjuna who is making his impact in Telugu cin- ema. He debuted in the 2009 film Josh, directed by newcomer Vasu Varma and produced by Dil Raju. Josh was an average grosser. Prior to the release of his first film, he signed his second film with Indira Productions, directed by Gautham Menon. This film Ye Maaya Chesave co-starring Sa- mantha Akkineni released in 2010, and was a critical and commercial success. His next film Sukumar's 100% Love, co-starring Taman- naah was a super success. This was soon followed by the flop Dhada, co-starring Kajal Aggarwal and Bejawada. Chaitanya also appeared in the movie Autonagar Surya. 2014 saw him in the blockbuster Manam. In 2016, he starred in two films, the hit romance dramaPremam, co- starring Shruti Haasan, and the average running thriller Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo. Subsequently, in 2017, he starred in Rarandoi Veduka Chudham, which became his highest grosser. In 2018, he starred in the films Shailaja Reddy Alludu, which was an average grosser, and the thriller Savyasa- chi, which was a flop. His recent outing Majili is doing some out- standing business at the box-office. This will be their fourth film togeth- er. Majili is the biggest hit in the career of Naga Chaitanya till date. Chaitanya was born in Chennai, Tamilnadu. His parents are the actor and entrepreneur Akkineni Nagarjuna, the son of actor Ak- kineni Nageswara Rao and Lak- shmi Daggubati, the daughter of producer D. Ramanaidu. While Nagarjuna married former actress Amala Mukherjee, Lakshmi mar- ried Sharath Vijayaraghavan, a corporate executive at Sundaram Motors. Chaitanya has one half- brother Akhil Akkineni, born to his father and step-mother. In 2019, Majili which is due to be released on 5 April, directed by Shiva Nirvana, which features his wife Samantha Akkineni, they both previously worked together in Ye Maaya Chesave, Manam and Autonagar Surya. This will be their first collaboration after mar- riage. After the film ended up as a smashing hit, he tested his luck again with Venky Mama along with his uncle Venkatesh. The film directed by Bobby ended up as a decent hit. JANUARY- 2020 | WWW.CINESPRINT.COM 59