Akhil Akkineni

Akhil Akkineni (born 8 April 1994) is an American actor of Indian descent known for his works in Telugu cinema. Akhil was born in San Jose, California, and was raised in Hyderabad, India. Akhil debuted into films as a child artist in the children's film Sisindri (1994), for which he won a Filmfare Special Award. He is also the captain of Telugu Warriors cricket team that competes in Celebrity Cricket League.

Akhil Akkineni
Akkineni in 2017
Born (1994-04-08) 8 April 1994[1]
San Jose, California, U.S.[2][3]
Alma materUniversity of South Florida
Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute
OccupationActor
Years active1994; 2015–present
Parents
FamilySee Daggubati–Akkineni family

His first leading role as an adult came in the box office flop Akhil (2015), although it won him the Filmfare Best Male Debut. His first commercial success occurred in Most Eligible Bachelor (2021). Akhil is the son of Indian actors Nagarjuna and Amala.

Early life

Akhil Akkineni was born on 8 April 1994 in San Jose, California, U.S.[1][3] to actors Nagarjuna and Amala. He is of Telugu descent from his father's side, and has Bengali and Irish ancestry from his mother's side.[4] He is the grandson of actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and half-brother of Naga Chaitanya.

Akkineni studied at Chaitanya Vidyalaya, later headed to Australia for two years. He returned to complete his studies at Oakridge International School, Hyderabad. He pursued acting as a career at age 16 and enrolled in an acting course at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.[5] He also holds a BBA from the University of South Florida.[2]

Later in his teens, he pursued cricket and became a member in his father's Nag Kings team, in the 2010 celebrity Tollywood Trophy, which was a fundraiser for the Movie Artistes' Association. His match-winning half-century in the final against Venkatesh's Venky Warriors, saw him secure the man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards.[6] His performance saw him get called up to play for the Telugu Warriors in the inaugural Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) in 2011. Since then he has regularly participated in the CCL tournament, winning the 2016 edition as captain of his team.[7]

Career

As an infant, Akhil debuted in his father's production, Shiva Nageswara Rao's comedy, Sisindri (1995), an Indian adaptation of Baby's Day Out (1994).[8]

In 2014, Akhil appeared in a brief cameo appearance in the much loved family drama, Manam (2014), directed by Vikram Kumar. It featured three generations of actors from the Akkineni family. His cameo in the climax of the film was an instant rage with the audience.[9] He described his shoot for the film alongside his grandfather, father and half-brother, as "nervous and exciting".[10] Manam went on to become as one of the most profitable Telugu films of 2014, whilst also considered to be as one of the greatest Telugu films of all-time. Critics dubbed the film as a "classic" en-route to it winning several awards, including Best Film at the Filmfare Awards.[11][12] He subsequently went on to make appearances in several commercials, notably for Karbonn, Mountain Dew, and Titan.[13]

Akkineni's debut film, as a full-fledged lead, was in Akhil (2015), directed by V. V. Vinayak. It was produced by Nithiin and his family[14] In order to prepare for the role, he enrolled in a stunt workshop with his personal trainer, Kicha, and attended workshops in Thailand, for two months.[5] The film began production in December 2014 and featured him alongside fellow debutante, Sayesha Saigal.[15] The film opened to a poor response, and despite high expectations, it was a disaster at the box-office. Following this, he went onto a two-year hiatus.

In 2017, his second film, Hello (2017), was directed by Vikram Kumar. It released along with Middle Class Abbayi and turned out to be a below-average grosser at the box-office, despite garnering generally positive reviews.[16] Following that, Akhil's third film, Mr. Majnu (2019), was directed by Venky Atluri and co-starred Niddhi Agerwal.[17] Despite a great pre-release buzz and successful album, it opened to mixed reviews upon release. It eventually failed, becoming Akhil's third consecutive failure.

In October 2021, his fourth film, the rom com, Most Eligible Bachelor was released. It co-starred Pooja Hegde and was directed by Bommarillu and Parugu fame, Bhaskar. It was produced by Bunny Vas and Vasu Varma, under GA2.[18] It became a hit and gave Akhil a long-awaited box office success.[19]

Akhil's next film, Agent, directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Anil Sunkara, released on 28 April 2023. It was made on a huge budget of 80 crores. However, upon release, it received highly negative reviews from both the critics and audience, alike. It had an extremely low opening and was a commercial disaster.[20]

Personal life

In 2016, Akhil was engaged to Shriya Bhupal, grand-daughter of the business tycoon, G. V. Krishna Reddy. Their wedding was planned in 2017, however, it was later called-off, for undisclosed reasons.[21][22]

Filmography
Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
List of films and roles
Year Title Role(s) Notes Ref.
1995 Sisindri Sisindri Child artist [8]
2014 Manam Akhil Cameo appearance [23]
2015 Akhil Akhil Debut as lead role [14]
2016 Aatadukundam Raa Himself Special appearance in title song [24]
2017 Hello Avinash / Seenu Also singer for "Yevevo" [25]
2019 Mr. Majnu Vikram 'Vicky' Krishna [17]
2021 Most Eligible Bachelor Harsha [18]
2023 Agent Ramakrishna 'Ricky'/"Wild Saala" [26]

Awards and nominations
Akhil Akkineni awards and nominations
Totals[lower-alpha 1]
Wins6
Nominations6
Note
  1. Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They recognize several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
List of awards and nominations
Year Award Category Film Result Ref.
1995 43rd Filmfare Awards South Special Award (Child actor) Sisindri Won [27]
2016 63rd Filmfare Awards South Best Male Debut – South Akhil Won [28]
5th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Male Debut – Telugu Won [29]
CineMAA Awards 2016 Best Male Debut Won [30]
14th Santosham Film Awards Best Debut Actor Won [31]
2019 TSR – TV9 National Film Awards Special Jury Award Hello Won [32]

References
  1. "Tollywood's rising stars under 30". The Times of India. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. Hooli, Sekhar H. (17 February 2015). "VV Vinayak Treats Akhil Akkineni Like Prince on Sets of his Debut Movie?". IB Times.
  3. Vemuri Radhakrishna and Nagarjuna (24 July 2019). Akkineni Nagarjuna Open Heart With RK Full Episode | Nagarjuna Reveals About Remake Of Gundamma Katha (in Telugu). ABN Andhra Jyothi. Akhil was born in the U.S.
  4. "Amala Akkineni can't speak Bengali". The Times of India. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  5. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo (15 November 2015). "Akhil Akkineni: There's no guarantee for success". The Hindu.
  6. "Nag Kings lift Tollywood trophy". The Hindu. 14 June 2010. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  7. "Akhil to play in CCL matches". indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
  8. "Mama's boy". The Hindu. 5 December 2009. ISSN 0971-751X.
  9. Kamal, S. S (25 November 2013). "Samantha's tweet has Nag fuming". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  10. "Akhil Akkineni Interview, Akhil Akkineni interview about manam, Akhil Akkineni interview on manam I felt very nervous that day: Akhil Akkineni". timesofap.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  11. "Small was big for southern cinema (IANS Special: 2014 In Retrospect)". Sify. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015.
  12. "Winners: 62nd Britannia Filmfare Awards (South)". The Times of India. 16 January 2017.
  13. Rajamani, Radhika (25 December 2014). "Nagarjuna's son Akhil Akkineni to make his debut". Rediff. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  14. Afreen, Sama (15 January 2017). "I was mobbed by girls a few times: Akhil". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  15. "Nagarjuna's son Akhil's debut film launched". The Hindu. 17 December 2014 – via Inter Asian News Service.
  16. "Hello movie review". Times of India.
  17. kavirayani, suresh (26 January 2019). "Mr Majnu movie review: Akhil steals the show!". Deccan Chronicle.
  18. "Akhil Akkineni-Pooja Hegde's Most Eligible Bachelor to hit screens on October 8". Cinema Express. 28 August 2021.
  19. "Most Eligible Bachelor hits half century at box office". Times of India. 2 November 2021.
  20. "Agent movie review and box office collection LIVE updates: Akhil Akkineni's film opens to disappointing box office results". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  21. "Akhil Akkineni-Shriya Bhupal wedding called off: Is this the reason?". India Today. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  22. "Real reason why Nagarjuna's son Akhil Akkineni, Shriya Bhupal called off wedding?". The Indian Express. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  23. "Nagarjuna's son Akhil Akkineni debuts in 'Manam'". Deccan Chronicle. 25 May 2014.
  24. "Akhil Cameo Role Teaser – Aatadukundam Raa Movie – Sushanth, Sonam Bajwa". ap7am.com. 18 August 2016. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  25. "Hello movie review: Akhil Akkineni and Kalyani Priyadarshan starrer leave us with a heart full of good feelings". The Indian Express. 23 December 2017.
  26. "Akhil Akkineni's 'Agent' gets new release date. Check details here". The Economic Times. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  27. "Sisindri Awards: List of Awards won by Telugu movie Sisindri", The Times of India, retrieved 12 February 2021
  28. "Winners of 63rd Britannia Filmfare Awards South 2016 (Telugu)". The Times of India. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  29. "SIIMA 2016 Telugu movie nominations revealed; 'Baahubali,' 'Srimanthudu' lead the list5". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016.
  30. "List of Winners CineMAA Awards 2016 – Complete Details". Scooptimes. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  31. "List of Winners Santosham Awards 2016 – Complete Details". Scooptimes. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  32. "Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and Keerthy Suresh among TSR-TV9 film award winners". The News Minute. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
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