| Sumanth | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sumanth Kumar Yarlagadda February 9, 1975 Hyderabad, India |
| Occupation | Film actor |
| Years active | 1999-present |
Sumanth (Telugu: సుమంత్) born Sumanth Yarlagadda is a Telugu film actor. He is the nephew of actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and grandson of actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao.[1] He is also a partner in Annapurna Studios, a prominent film studio/production house that was established in 1975 by his grandfather.
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Sumanth studied at the Hyderabad Public School, completing his high school in I992. For his undergraduate studies he went to the United States, where he enrolled in an engineering course at Michigan. Realizing that engineering didn't match his career aspirations, he later transferred to Columbia College in Chicago, where he majored in film.[2] During his senior year at university, he was selected to the Dean's list in recognition of his academic excellence.
Sumanth started his acting career in Telugu cinema in 1999 with Ram Gopal Varma's film Prema Katha. Despite moderate commercial success, the film received several Nandi awards.[3] His next film, Yuvakudu, directed by Karunakaran and co-starring then-debutant Bhumika Chawla, did average business at the box office but was critically hailed. His subsequent films, Pelli Sambandham, co-starring his grandfather Akkineni Nageswara Rao and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, and Snehamante Idera, where he co-starred alongside his uncle Akkineni Nagarjuna, also managed only average box office success.
However in late 2003, after a self-imposed hiatus of almost two years, he delivered his first blockbuster, Sathyam. It also happened to be Genelia D'Souza's debut Telugu film.[4] Sathyam, which was produced by Akkineni Nagarjuna, was one of the highest grossing films of that year. Sumanth revealed later that this was one film where he actively involved himself in the production aspects as well. He followed it up with another hit film, Gowri, which confirmed him as a bonafide box office draw.[5] It was a remake of the hit Tamil film Thirumalai, which starred Vijay and Jyothika. Gowri was instrumental in giving him an action image. In 2005, he starred in the flop Dhana 51 and the moderate hit Mahanandi, in which Anushka Shetty co-starred opposite him.
In 2006, Sumanth was chosen to play the lead in Sekhar Kammula's romantic comedy Godavari. It remains one of the most acclaimed films of his career.[6] In addition to receiving rave reviews and box office success, it went on to win multiple Nandi and Filmfare awards.[7] Most prominently, Sekhar Kammula received the best director award. The film was especially successful in giving Sumanth a new urban and Telugu international following. It is widely regarded as a modern day classic.
Sumanth's next film was the average running action/drama Chinnodu (2006). In 2007, he starred in two movies, Madhumasam and Classmates. The former, a romantic comedy that was produced by his uncle D. Ramanaidu, was a hit at the box office, whereas the latter did not fare too well.[8] In early 2008, Sumanth's home production, Pourudu turned out to be a success.[9] His next film, Boni, produced by the music director Ramana Gogula and released in mid-2009, failed at the box office.
After a gap of almost a year, Sumanth starred in Golconda High School, directed by the national award winning Indraganti Mohan Krishna under the Artbeat Capital banner, which previously produced the hit film Ashta Chamma. It is based on the English novel The Man Within and can be safely called Telugu cinema's first true sports genre film.[10] Released on January 15, 2011, it garnered rave reviews and was declared a commercial hit as well. Many reviewers and the public have termed Sumanth's portrayal of a young cricket coach as one of his finest roles to date.[11]
Sumanth's most recent film was Raaj opposite the national award winning actress Priyamani, and Vimala Raman. The film was directed by V.N. Aditya, who earlier directed Manasantha Nuvve, Aata, and Nenunnanu. This film was released in March 2011, but failed at the box office. To the surprise of many, Sumanth openly admitted after release that he wasn't expecting much from this film as it was plagued with several problems during production. It was more or less a "salvage operation" according to him.
Subsequently, Sumanth acted in the film, Daggaragaa Dooramgaa, a romantic thriller under the direction of the National and Nandi award winning writer/director Ravi Kumar Chavali, who earlier made the hit films Bachelors and Samanyudu. It released in August 2011, and did average business at the box office. A lot of people cited the lack of proper promotion as one of the main reasons for its mediocre performance.
At present, Sumanth is working on producing his next feature, which most likely will be under the Annapurna Studios banner.
Sumanth was born in Hyderabad, India on February 9, 1975. He is the only son of Yarlagadda Surendra and the late Akkineni Satyavathi. A few months after his birth, his parents returned to the US where they were residing. Sumanth however remained in India and was subsequently adopted by his maternal grandparents, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Akkineni Annapurna. Sumanth is also closely related to the prominent film producer D. Ramanaidu through his father. Suresh Babu and the famous actor Venkatesh are his cousins. So are fellow actors Naga Chaitanya and Rana Daggubati.
In August 2004, Sumanth married former actress Keerthi Reddy. They were however amicably divorced in 2006.[12]
Sumanth presently resides in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad with his maternal grandparents.