Daggubati Venkatesh, credited as Raja, is an Indian actor who has acted in

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 ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

and

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fami ...

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 Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

's '' Sathi Leelavathi'' and

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

'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 Daggubati Ramanaidu (6 June 1936 – 18 February 2015) was an Indian film producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. He founded Suresh Productions in 1964 which became of one of the largest film production companies in India. He was placed i ...

Career

A nephew of Telugu film producer

, 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 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 rural life in his films. ...

's acting school, where he trained before getting his first major career breakthrough with the director's romantic drama ''

Kadalora Kavithaigal ''Kadalora Kavithaigal'' () is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Bharathiraja. The film stars Sathyaraj and Rekha, with Raja, Janagaraj and Kamala Kamesh in supporting roles. It is about transformation of a ruffian, w ...

'' (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 written and directed by Bharathiraja. It is based on the play ''Saadhigal Illaiyadi Papa'' written by K. Kannan, who after this film came to be known as ''Vedham Pudhithu'' Kann ...

'' (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 S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a care ...

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 ''Pudhu Vasantham'' () is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language musical drama film, written and directed by Vikraman. The film stars Murali, Anand Babu, Raja, Charle and Sithara. It revolves around a woman who, due to circumstances, ends up cohabitati ...

'' (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 ''Kadhal Kottai'' () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Agathiyan. It stars Ajith Kumar and Devayani, with Heera, Thalaivasal Vijay, and Karan in supporting roles. The film was a major commercial success and also won th ...

'' (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 ''Adithya Varma'' is a 2019 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Gireesaaya in his directorial debut and produced by Mukesh Mehta under E4 Entertainment. The film stars Dhruv Vikram in his acting debut and Banit ...

'' (2019), where he appeared as the father of the titular character played by debutant Dhruv Vikram.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{authority control 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