Nani filmography

Nani is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter who works predominantly in Telugu cinema and appears in a few Tamil language films. He made his acting debut with Mohana Krishna Indraganti's 2008 comedy film Ashta Chamma, an Indian adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest.^[1] After Ashta Chamma's commercial success,^[2] Nani played the lead roles in three Telugu films in the next two years: Ride (2009), Snehituda (2009) and Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu (2010). In 2011, Nani collaborated with B. V. Nandini Reddy on the romantic comedy film Ala Modalaindi which was profitable.^[3] The same year, he made his Tamil cinema debut with Anjana Ali Khan's Veppam, a crime drama set in the backdrop of North Chennai.^[4] The following year, Nani collaborated with S. S. Rajamouli and Gautham Vasudev Menon on the Telugu-Tamil bilingual Eega and the romance film Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu respectively. The former, which was about a murdered man reincarnating as a housefly and avenging his death, earned Nani an award in the Best Hero category at the 2013 Toronto After Dark Film Festival.^[5] He received the Nandi Award for Best Actor for his performance in Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu.^[6]

Nani ventured into film production in 2013 as a co-producer for the film D for Dopidi.^[7] He faced three box office failures in the upcoming years: Paisa (2013), Aaha Kalyanam (2014) and Janda Pai Kapiraju (2015). Nani termed it a "low phase" in his career and worked on the "planning of films and the timing of their release".^[8] He then played the lead role in Nag Ashwin's Yevade Subramanyam (2015), a film focusing on a businessperson's journey to the Himalayas seeking self exploration.^[9] Nani later starred in Maruthi's comedy film Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015), in which he played an absent minded scientist easily prone to distraction.^[10] It was the actor's first blockbuster success,^[11] and earned him the Critics Award for Best Actor – South at the 63rd Filmfare Awards South ceremony.^[12] With his subsequent releases, the profitable ventures Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha (2016) and Gentleman (2016), he gained stardom in Telugu cinema.^[13] Nani later played the lead in the commercially successful Telugu films Majnu (2016), Nenu Local (2017) and Ninnu Kori (2017).^[14] In 2018, Nani featured as the host of the second season of the Telugu game show Bigg Boss.^[15]