Daggubati Venkatesh, credited as Raja and Daggubati Raja, is an Indian actor turned businessman who has acted in
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
and
Telugu language
Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...
films. The actor made his debut in the 1981 Tamil film, ''Paakku Vethalai'', before going on to become a leading actor in the Tamil film industry from 1986 to 2000.
He went on to play second lead roles and supporting characters in several films including
Kamal Haasan
Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
's ''
Sathi Leelavathi'' and
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...
's ''
Mappillai''. He has also acted in few Telugu films like ''Chinnari Sneham'', ''Sankellu'' and ''
Shri Krishnarjuna Vijayam''.
He is a relative of veteran film producer late
D. Ramanaidu and the cousin of his
namesake actor.
Career
A nephew of Telugu film producer
D. Ramanaidu, Daggubati Venkatesh was persuaded by his family to become an actor in Tamil cinema owing to his familiarity with Madras. He subsequently joined
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...
's acting school, where he trained before getting his first major career breakthrough with the director's romantic drama ''
Kadalora Kavithaigal'' (1986).
To differentiate from his
namesake cousin, Venkatesh was given the screen name "Raja". The box office success of ''Kadalora Kavithaigal'' prompted Bharathiraja to cast him again in ''
Vedham Pudhithu
''Vedham Pudhithu'' ( ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and co-written by Bharathiraja. It is based on the play ''Saadhigal Illaiyadi Papa'' by K. Kannan, who wrote the film adaptation's dialogues and became known as ''Vedh ...
'' (1987), and the popular song "Kannukkul Nooru" earned Raja a large female fanbase.
Raja continued portraying supporting roles in films, and was unable to garner much success as a lead actor. His appearance in a negative role in his collaboration with
Manivannan
Manivannan (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, voice artist, playback singer and social activist who worked in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning three decades, he went from being a story and ...
for ''Ini Oru Suthanthiram'' was well received by critics, though his best known work in the late 1980s and early 1990s featured him in supporting roles such as in ''
Mappillai'' (1989) and ''
Pudhu Vasantham'' (1990).
In the early 1990s, he was often typecast in soft, demure characters often portraying a gentle romantic, who regularly lost out to film's lead actor. His most notable films of the period, ''
Sathi Leelavathi'' (1995), ''
Love Birds'' (1996) and ''
Kadhal Kottai'' (1996) all featured him in similar roles. He quickly became disheartened at the films and secondary characters being offered to him, and opted to move into business in 1999.
and currently runs a granite business called "Cosmo Granites" in Chennai.
After nineteen years break from films, Raja returned to acting with a role in
Krish's biopic drama ''
N.T.R: Kathanayakudu'' (2019), where he portrayed the supporting role of
Trivikrama Rao. He made his return to Tamil films through ''
Adithya Varma'' (2019), where he appeared as the father of the titular character played by debutant Dhruv Vikram.
Filmography
Tamil films
Telugu films
Other language films
References
External links
*
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1965 births
20th-century Indian male actors
Indian male film actors
Living people
Male actors in Malayalam cinema
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors in Telugu cinema