Dr. Rajasekhar
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Rajasekhar Varadharajan (born 4 February 1962) is an Indian actor known for his works primarily in
Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...
. In a career spanning more than thirty-eight years, he has acted in over eighty films in a variety of roles. He starred in several notable films, including ''Talambralu'', '' Sruthilayalu'', ''Aahuti'', ''
Ankusam ''Ankusam'' is 1989 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna and produced by Shyam Prasad Reddy. The film stars Dr. Rajashekar and his wife Jeevitha, while Rami Reddy and M. S. Reddy play supporting roles. The film is a ...
'', '' Magaadu'', ''
Allari Priyudu ''Allari Priyudu'' () is a 1993 Indian Telugu-language musical romantic comedy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Rajasekhar, Ramya Krishna and Madhu Bala. The film was premiered at the 1994 International Film Festival of Indi ...
'', ''
Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...
'', ''
Omkaram ''Omkaram'' is a 1997 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Upendra making his directorial debut in Telugu. The film stars Dr. Rajasekhar, Prema and Bhagyashree. The film was a remake of director's own 1995 Kannada film '' Om'' with ...
'', ''
Suryudu ''Suryudu'' (), also spelled as ''Sooryudu'', is a 1998 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. The film stars Rajasekhar, Soundarya, Charan Raj and Srihari, with Annapoorna, Ali, Narra Venkateswara Rao, Jeeva, V ...
'', ''
Sivayya ''Sivayya'' () is a 1998 Indian Telugu action drama film directed by Suresh Varma. The film stars Rajasekhar, Sanghavi, Monica Bedi and Srihari. The film was released on 27 March 1998. It was later dubbed in Tamil as ''Thalaiva''. It was also ...
'', ''
Manasunna Maaraju ''Manasunna Maaraju'' is a 2000 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. The film stars Dr. Rajasekhar and Laya in the lead roles. It was a remake of the Malayalam film '' Kottaram Veettile Apputtan'' (1998). Cast * D ...
'', '' Maa Annayya'', ''
Simharasi '' Simharasi '' is a 2001 Telugu-language film directed by V. Samudra and produced by R. B. Choudary. It stars Rajasekhar and Sakshi Shivanand. It is a remake of the Tamil film ''Maayi''. Plot Narasimharaju is a well-respected, do-gooder in a ...
'', ''
Evadaithe Nakenti ''Evadaithe Nakenti'' is a 2007 Telugu film directed by V. Samudra and Jeevitha. Rajasekhar plays the lead role. The film was released on 9 February 2007. This film has been dubbed in Tamil with the title ''Udambu Eppadi Irukku''. The film is a ...
'', '' Gorintaku'', and ''
PSV Garuda Vega ''PSV Garuda Vega'' is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action spy thriller film written and directed by Praveen Sattaru. The film is produced by M. Koteswara Raju and stars Rajasekhar, Pooja Kumar, Adith Arun, Shraddha Das, and Kishore, while ...
''. Rajasekhar won two Filmfare Best Actor Awards - Telugu for the ''Magaadu'' and ''Anna''. The Nature Waldorf School is owned by Rajasekhar and
Jeevitha Jeevitha or popularly known as Jeevitha Rajasekhar is an Indian actress, who has primarily worked in the Southern film industry (featuring in predominantly Tamil and Telugu language movies) of the Indian film industry. She was a prominent lead ...
, to whom he is married. The school is affiliated to Dr. Rajasekhar Charitable Trust and started its operations in July 2010. The mission of the school is to impart non-commercialised education to students.


Early life

Rajasekhar was born on 4 February 1962, in Lakshmipuram, Theni district of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. While some sources reported that his mother tongue is
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
, Rajasekher identifies himself as
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...
. His father, Varadharajan Gopal, who hailed from
Chittoor district Chittoor district () is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The district headquarters is located at Chittoor. It has a population of 4,170,468 according to 2011 census of India. It lies in ...
, worked as
Sub Inspector of Police Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police, is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which is primarily based on the UK police ranks, British model. It was formerly used in m ...
in
Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...
where his mother Andalu is from. They migrated to Tamil Nadu and later returned to
Andhra Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. His brother
Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...
has also appeared in Tamil films as a lead actor. Before joining films, he studied
M.B.B.S. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...
and practiced in Aminjikarai,
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. Rajasekhar is a practicing
Saiva ''Saiva'' is a genus of Asian planthoppers, family Fulgoridae. They are colourful insects, marked boldly in red, blue, white and black, with a prominent slender stalk like structure arising on the head that points upwards or forward. The known ...
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, after undergoing a transformative personal experience during his formative years.


Personal life

He married erstwhile actress
Jeevitha Jeevitha or popularly known as Jeevitha Rajasekhar is an Indian actress, who has primarily worked in the Southern film industry (featuring in predominantly Tamil and Telugu language movies) of the Indian film industry. She was a prominent lead ...
and has two daughters. Their elder daughter
Shivani ''Gaura Pant'' (17 October 1923 – 21 March 2003), better known as Shivani, was a Hindi writer of the 20th century and a pioneer in writing Indian women-centric fiction. She was awarded the Padma Shri for her contribution to Hindi literature ...
debuted with movie '' Adbhutham'' while their younger daughter Shivatmika debuted with
Dorasaani ''Dorasaani'' () is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film directed by KVR Mahendra and starring debutants Anand Devarakonda and Shivatmika Rajashekar. Plot Shankaranna, a naxalite, gets released from jail after 30 years of fa ...
. Recently, Jeevitha was named as one of the nine members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), with
Pahlaj Nihalani Pahlaj Nihalani is an Indian film producer. He was the former Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He was also the President of the Association of Pictures and TV Programme P ...
as chairman.


Career

Rajashekhar made his acting debut in Tamil with '' Pudhumai Penn'' (1984) and also had a character role in '' Puthiya Theerpu'' (1985) with
Vijaykanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Le ...
. His Telugu film debut was in 1985 with ''
Vande Mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the ...
''. Since then, he has acted in variety of films such as ''
Pratighatana ''Pratighatana'' () is a 1985 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by T. Krishna. The film is produced by Ramoji Rao under Ushakiran Movies. The plot follows a woman's fight against corruption and criminalization of pol ...
'', ''Repati Pourulu'', ''Station Master'', '' Sruthilayalu'', ''Kashmora'', ''Aradhana'', ''Talambralu'', ''Aruna Kiranam'', ''Mamatala Kovela'' and ''Akka Mogudu''. Movies from which he rose to fame and created an image of an Angry Young Man of Tollywood are ''Ahuti'', ''Aartanaadam'' ''Nyayam Kosam'',
Ankusam ''Ankusam'' is 1989 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna and produced by Shyam Prasad Reddy. The film stars Dr. Rajashekar and his wife Jeevitha, while Rami Reddy and M. S. Reddy play supporting roles. The film is a ...
, ''Magadu'', ''Rowdyism Nasinchali'', ''Morotodu Na Mogudu'', ''
Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...
'', ''Papa Kosam'', ''
Balarama Krishnulu ''Balarama Krishnulu'' is a 1992 Telugu-language drama film, produced by Sunkara Madhu Murali under the Vineela Art Productions banner, presented by Sri Sravanthi Movies and directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty. The film stars Shobhan Babu, Rajashek ...
'', ''Agraham'', ''Sivayya,'' and ''
Evadaithe Nakenti ''Evadaithe Nakenti'' is a 2007 Telugu film directed by V. Samudra and Jeevitha. Rajasekhar plays the lead role. The film was released on 9 February 2007. This film has been dubbed in Tamil with the title ''Udambu Eppadi Irukku''. The film is a ...
''. He has acted in more than 75 movies though he is mocked for his diction. His voice for most of his Telugu movies was dubbed by Telugu actor Saikumar till 1996 and then was taken over by Srinivasa Moorthy who started dubbing for him in 1997, when he won his first Nandi award for the movie Sivayya. Except for the 2003 film ''Villain'', where Sai's younger brother
P. Ravi Shankar Pudipeddi Ravi Shankar (born 28 November 1966), also known as Sai Ravi, is an Indian actor, dubbing artist, director and writer. He predominantly appears in Kannada films, in addition to Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil films. ...
dubbed for both Rajasekhar and
Vijayan Vijayan is a South Indian name and may refer to: Given name *Pinarayi Vijayan (born 1944), Indian politician * Vijayan (actor) (1944–2007), Tamil & Malayalam film actor *Vijayan (stunt coordinator), action choreographer for South Indian films *Vi ...
, respectively. Later, he also gained fame for his family drama films such as ''Maa Aayana Bangaram'', ''
Suryudu ''Suryudu'' (), also spelled as ''Sooryudu'', is a 1998 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. The film stars Rajasekhar, Soundarya, Charan Raj and Srihari, with Annapoorna, Ali, Narra Venkateswara Rao, Jeeva, V ...
'', ''
Simharasi '' Simharasi '' is a 2001 Telugu-language film directed by V. Samudra and produced by R. B. Choudary. It stars Rajasekhar and Sakshi Shivanand. It is a remake of the Tamil film ''Maayi''. Plot Narasimharaju is a well-respected, do-gooder in a ...
'', '' Maa Annayya'', Deergha Sumangali Bhava,
Manasunna Maaraju ''Manasunna Maaraju'' is a 2000 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. The film stars Dr. Rajasekhar and Laya in the lead roles. It was a remake of the Malayalam film '' Kottaram Veettile Apputtan'' (1998). Cast * D ...
and ''Gorintaku''. He was also applauded for his performance in the romance film
Allari Priyudu ''Allari Priyudu'' () is a 1993 Indian Telugu-language musical romantic comedy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Rajasekhar, Ramya Krishna and Madhu Bala. The film was premiered at the 1994 International Film Festival of Indi ...
. He is considered a versatile actor. His performance in ''Omkaram'' is a classic example of that, which was directed by Kannada director Upendra. His electrifying performance in the movie ''Sheshu'' was applauded critically. His biggest hit of the career came in the year 2007 with ''Avadaithe Nakenti'' and his last genuine hit was ''Gorintaku'' in the year 2008. Since then, he has had no hits. His last film was a hit; ''
PSV Garuda Vega ''PSV Garuda Vega'' is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action spy thriller film written and directed by Praveen Sattaru. The film is produced by M. Koteswara Raju and stars Rajasekhar, Pooja Kumar, Adith Arun, Shraddha Das, and Kishore, while ...
'' in 2017. ''
Ithu Thaanda Police ''Ithu Thaanda Police'' () is a 2016 Indian Malayalam cinema, Malayalam-language Comedy film, comedy Drama (film and television), drama film directed by debutant director Manoj Palodan. It stars Asif Ali (actor), Asif Ali in the lead role along ...
'', the Tamil dub of ''Ankusam'' was a huge hit. He has since been offered more movies in Tamil, and his Telugu films were dubbed in Tamil such as ''Magaadu'' as ''Meesaikaran''.


Filmography

*''All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.''


Awards

*
Nandi Award for Best Villain The Nandi Award for Best Villain winners since 1985: See also * Nandi Awards * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh References {{DEFAULTSORT:Nandi Award For Best Villain Villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine fo ...
- ''Talambralu'' (1986) *
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, an ...
- '' Magaadu'' (1990) *
Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, an ...
- ''
Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...
'' (1994)https://archive.org/download/42ndannualFilmfareTeluguWinnersbestactorbestactress/42nd_filmfare_telugu_winners%5B1%5D.jpg


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajasekhar Indian male film actors Living people Tamil people Nandi Award winners Filmfare Awards South winners Male actors from Tamil Nadu Tamil male actors 20th-century Indian male actors Male actors in Tamil cinema People from Theni district Male actors in Telugu cinema 21st-century Indian male actors 1962 births