Priyadarshi Pulikonda (born 25 August 1989) is an Indian actor and comedian who works in

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 ...

films. He gained recognition for his role in ''

Pelli Choopulu ''Pelli Choopulu'' () is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Tharun Bhascker and produced by Raj Kandukuri and Yash Rangineni. It features Vijay Deverakonda and Ritu Varma in the lead roles. Partly based ...

'' (2016). In addition to supporting roles, Priyadarshi played the lead in films such as '' Mallesham'' (2019), ''Mithai'' (2019), and ''Mail'' (2021). His performance in '' Mallesham'' (2019) appeared in the "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade" by ''

Film Companion Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...

.''

Early life

Priyadarshi was born on 26 August 1989 in a

-speaking

family in

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

, India. His father Pulikonda Subbachary is a professor and his mother's name is Jayalakshmi. Priyadarshi's parents shifted to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

when he was 2 years old since then they have been living in Hyderabad. They lived in the Old City until he was 10, later moved to

Gachibowli Gachibowli is a suburb of Hyderabad, Telangana, India, located in the Serilingampally mandal of the Rangareddy district. It is situated about 5 km away from HITEC City, another IT hub. Gachibowli is home to numerous tech companies and res ...

and now lives in

Chandanagar Chanda Nagar is a suburb of Hyderabad and is located close to Lingampally and Miyapur. It is administered as Ward No. 110 of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. It has a mixture of commercial and residential properties with shopping ma ...

. He did his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Statistics from MNR Degree & PG College and has a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication from the

University of Hyderabad The University of Hyderabad (IAST: ''Hydarāvād visvavidyālayamu'') is a top ranking public central research university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Founded in 1974, this mostly residential campus has more than 5,000 students a ...

Personal life

Priyadarshi married writer Richa Sharma in 2018, who was his senior at the University of Hyderabad.

Career

Priyadarshi played the role of a terrorist in the 2016 film '' Terror'', which was met with critical acclaim. However, his rise was through the character of Kaushik in the successful 2016 romantic comedy ''

''. The film was praised for story line, performances and clean humour. Priyadarshi was praised for pulling off the

Telangana Baasha Telangana Telugu, (Telangana slang or Telangana yaasa) often referred to as Hyderabadi Telugu () is a dialect of, the Telugu language. It has its own history, spoken mostly in the Indian state of Telangana, as well as neighbouring districts in Ka ...

with ease. He has acted in a web series Loser, where he played the role of a rifle shooter. His performance was appreciated by critics. In an interview with ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', he said he was inspired to become an actor after watching ''

Sagara Sangamam ''Sagara Sangamam'' () is a 1983 Indian Telugu-language dance film written and directed by K. Viswanath and produced by Edida Nageswara Rao. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jaya Prada, Sarath Babu, S. P. Sailaja and Chakri Toleti. Upon release, ...

'', calling it a "paradigm shift". He is a fan of actors Kamal Haasan and

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...

, and directors

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (born 19 February 1930) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South ...

, and

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

. Besides working in several short films, he has appeared in ''

Jai Lava Kusa ''Jai Lava Kusa'' is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by K. S. Ravindra and produced by Nandamuri Kalyan Ram under his banner N. T. R. Arts. The film stars Jr. NTR in a triple role, alongside Raashi Khanna and ...

'', which stars

NTR Jr. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), also known as Jr. N.T.R. or Tarak, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Rama Rao Jr. has won several accolades, including two Fil ...

Nivetha Thomas Nivetha Thomas (born 2 November 1995) is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil language films. She made her film debut as a child artist in the 2008 Malayalam film '' Veruthe Oru Bharya'', for which she won the Kerala Sta ...

and

Raashi Khanna Raashii Khanna (born 30 November 1990) is an Indian actress and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil film industries. She made her acting debut in a supporting role with the Hindi film ''Madras Cafe'' (2013) and subseq ...

. He also appeared in the

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality, and philanthropist who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 25 films, and won several accolades including, eight Nandi Awar ...

starrer ''

Spyder The SPYDER ("Surface-to-air Python and Derby") is an Israeli short and medium range mobile air defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with assistance from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Rafael is the prime contractor a ...

'', directed by AR Murugadoss.

Filmography

Film

Acting roles

Voice artist

*''

Gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

'' ''(D)'' for

RJ Balaji Balaji Patturaj (born 20 June 1985), popularly known as RJ Balaji, is an Indian actor, radio jockey, television presenter, comedian and film director in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is best known as the host of the 92.7 Big FM shows ''The Night Sho ...

*''

Frozen 2 ''Frozen 2'' (stylized as ''Frozen II'') is a 2019 American computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 58th animated film produced by the st ...

'' ''(D)'' for

Olaf Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" a ...

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Priyadarshi Living people Telugu male actors Telugu comedians 1989 births Indian male film actors Male actors in Telugu cinema Indian male comedians Male actors from Telangana People from Khammam Zee Cine Awards Telugu winners