Sumanth

Sumanth Kumar Yarlagadda (born 9 February 1975), known mononymously as Sumanth, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is the eldest grandson of Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He is also a partner in Annapurna Studios.

Sumanth's most notable films are ''Prema Katha'' (1999), ''Yuvakudu'' (2000), '' Satyam''(2003),''Gowri'' (2004), ''Godavari'' (2006), ''Madhumasam'' (2008), ''Golconda High School'' (2011), ''Malli Raava'' (2017), and ''Sita Ramam'' (2022).

Background and early life

Sumanth was born in Hyderabad, India, on 9 February 1975. He is the only son of Surendra Yarlagadda and Satyavathi Akkineni. He is the eldest grandchild of the Telugu film actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. A few months after his birth, Sumanth's parents returned to the US where they were residing. Sumanth, however, remained in India on the request of his grandfather Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who was then on a hiatus from films after a major heart surgery. The latter had often said that his busy acting career prevented him from fully experiencing fatherhood with his own children, so he wished to raise his first grandchild himself. Subsequently, Sumanth was adopted by his maternal grandparents.

Family

Sumanth's father, Surendra Yarlagadda, is a former film producer, noted for several hit films such as '' Muchataga Mugguru'' (1985), '' Collector Gari Abbayi'' (1987), ''Rao Gari Illu'' (1988), '' Siva'' (1989), and ''Gaayam'' (1993). Sumanth has one younger sister Supriya Yarlagadda , who is the executive director of Annapurna Studios. Actor Nagarjuna Akkineni is his maternal uncle and producer D. Ramanaidu is his uncle from his paternal side. Producer Daggubati Suresh Babu and actors Venkatesh Daggubati, Rana Daggubati, Naga Chaitanya, Akhil Akkineni, and Sushanth are his cousins.

In August 2004, Sumanth married former actress Keerthi Reddy. They, however, were divorced amicably in 2006.

Education

Sumanth studied at the Hyderabad Public School, graduating in 1991. For his undergraduate studies, he enrolled in an engineering course in Michigan. Realising after two years that it wasn't in his best interest, he transferred to Columbia College Chicago, from where he graduated with a B. A. in Film Studies in 1997.

Career

1999–2004

Sumanth debuted in Ram Gopal Varma's ''Prema Katha'', which released on 15 April 1999. Despite the film's commercial failure, Sumanth's performance was well appreciated, and it won critical acclaim and several Nandi Awards. His next film ''Yuvakudu'' (2000), directed by Karunakaran and co-starring debutant Bhumika Chawla, did positive business at the box office and was critically hailed as well. His third film ''Pelli Sambandham'' (2000) gave him the opportunity to act beside his grandfather Akkineni Nageswara Rao under the direction of K. Raghavendra Rao. The film however managed only average business at the box office. The same was the case with ''Snehamante Idera'' (2001), where he was cast alongside his uncle Nagarjuna.

In 2003, he starred in his first blockbuster '' Satyam''. It also was Genelia D'Souza's debut Telugu film. Produced by his uncle Nagarjuna, it was one of the highest grossing films of 2003–2004. Sumanth revealed later that he was actively involved in the production and creative input for this film besides acting. Shifting genres, he followed it up with another hit film ''Gowri'' (2004), which gave him an action image.

2005–2017

After the flop '' Dhana 51'' (2005), and the above average running ''Mahanandi'' (2005) alongside Anushka Shetty, Sumanth changed his path in 2006, starring in Sekhar Kammula's romantic comedy drama ''Godavari''. It remains one of the most acclaimed films in his career. In addition to receiving rave reviews and box office success, it went on to win multiple Nandi and Filmfare awards. ''Godavari'' was responsible in giving Sumanth an urban and NRI following, and is widely considered 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 drama alongside Sneha, produced by D. Ramanaidu and directed by Chandra Siddhartha, was a hit, whereas the latter did not fare too well despite good reviews. In early 2008, Sumanth's home production, the action drama ''Pourudu'' co-starring Kajal Aggarwal turned out to be a moderate success. It was especially lauded for its action sequences. His next film, the action/romance '' Boni'' alongside Kriti Kharbanda released in mid 2009, and failed at the box office.

In 2011, after a gap of almost a year, Sumanth took a rather bold turn by starring in ''Golconda High School''. Directed by the national award-winning Indraganti Mohan Krishna, and based on the English novel ''The Men Within'' written by ex-cricketer Harimohan Paruvu, it is regarded to be one of the first sports dramas in Telugu cinema. Released on 15 January 2011, it garnered excellent critical acclaim and was declared a commercial hit as well. The critics as well as audience praised Sumanth's portrayal of a cricket coach, calling it one of his finest roles.

Sumanth's next was the romantic drama '' Raaj'', which released in March 2011, and failed miserably at the box office. Sumanth candidly admitted later that he wasn't expecting much from this film as it was plagued with several problems during production. Following this, he starred in '' Daggaraga Dooranga'' (2011), a romance/ thriller that was another failure. Later, Sumanth teamed up again with director Chandra Siddhartha for the romantic comedy ''Emo Gurram Egaravachu''. It released on 25 January 2014 to a lukewarm response from the audience. Sumanth's foray into the comedy genre however received fairly positive reviews from the critics. Next came the romantic comedy ''Naruda Donoruda'', the remake of the Hindi hit ''Vicky Donor''. It released in November 2016, but this too did not fare well. Economic demonetization, which came into effect a few days after its release, was deemed one of the reasons for its box office failure.

2017–present

After a series of disappointments, Sumanth made a strong comeback with the romantic drama ''Malli Raava'', under the direction of Gowtam Tinnanuri. Released on 8 December 2017, it received positive reviews, and was a box office hit. Some critics even went to the extent of calling it his best film to date. Sumanth's performance too was praised, and he won the best actor award from the Telugu Chamber of Film/Commerce. The film also won in the best film and best director categories.

Sumanth's next was a supernatural mystery/thriller '' Subrahmanyapuram'', directed by debutant Santhossh Jagarlapudi. Released on 7 December 2018, it received mixed reviews and turned out to be an above par grosser. This was followed by the drama/thriller ''Idam Jagath'' (2018), which didn't fare too well. He was then seen donning the role of his grandfather Akkineni Nageswara Rao in the N. T. Rama Rao biopic '' NTR: Kathanayakudu'', directed by Krish Jagarlamudi. This film opened on 9 January 2019 to critical acclaim but was deemed a box office failure. Sumanth's portrayal in his first supporting role however drew unanimous appreciation from all quarters. He next starred in the mystery drama ''Kapatadhaari'', which released on 19 February 2021 to some positive critical acclaim. Sumanth's performance as a traffic cop in this film was generally applauded.

His most recent film as a lead was '' Malli Modalaindi,'' a romantic comedy directed by Keerthi Kumar TG and produced by ED Entertainments released in February 2022 directly on the Zee5 streaming service. Despite receiving mostly unfavorable critical reviews, it was surprisingly declared a hit.

Sumanth was most recently seen in a key supporting role in ''Sita Ramam'' (2022), a war romance drama starring Dulquer Salmaan. Directed by Hanu Raghavapudi and produced by Swapna Dutt, this film was a critical success and a commercial blockbuster, and Sumanth's performance drew a lot of praise.

Switching modes, Sumanth has completed shoot for an action comedy titled Anaganaga Oka Rowdy in which he is playing the lead. Directed by Manu Yagnaa, it is due for release soon. He is also starring in a drama thriller titled ''Aham Reboot'' that is written and directed by Prashant Sagar Atluri.
His latest film, a mystery thriller titled Vaaraahi, is also under production at present.

Sumanth has expressed an interest to diversify into playing author backed supporting and negative roles in the future, while parallelly doing lead roles.

Filmography

As actor

As dubbing artist

* ''83'' (2021) for Ranveer Singh (Telugu dubbed version)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumanth
Living people
Indian male film actors
1975 births
Columbia College Chicago alumni
20th-century Indian male actors
Male actors from Hyderabad, India
Male actors in Telugu cinema
Telugu male actors
21st-century Indian male actors