Nagarjuna Akkineni has a rich career, with the actor playing key roles in over a 100 films in various languages. Throughout his career, Nagarjuna has bagged nine Nandi Awards, three Filmfare Award South and has a Special Mention at the National Film Awards. In 2013, the actor even represented Cinema of South India at the Delhi Film Festival’s 100 years of Cinema celebration, with Ramesh Sippy and Vishal Bharadwaj representing Bollywood. King Nag is also one of those rare actors who’s a favourite of both the mass and classy film buffs. With many fans awaiting the release of his upcoming films Wild Dog, in Telugu and Brahmastra, in Hindi, here’s a cheat sheet of five
classic films
of the star for Millennials and Gen Z to catch up on or revisit:
Geetanjali (1989) Mani Ratnam, Nagarjuna and Girija Shettar proved to be a dream combo for this beautiful love story of two terminally ill patients. Not only did Nagarjuna star in this story way before Fault in Our Stars was even written, can anyone even forget the songs by Ilaiyaraaja even today? Songs like Oh Priya Priya, Jallanta Kavvinta, Om Namaha and Oh Paapaa Laali still remain iconic and the dreamy locales are an added bonus.
Siva (1989) One of the most iconic films in Telugu cinema and a complete game-changer, RGV made this Nag starrer about exploitation of students by anti-social elements way before its time. Nagarjuna was cast for this film because RGV felt he was the only one who understood his sensibilities. The two apparently also bonded over astronomy on the sets of the film that also starred Nag’s wife Amala.
Govinda Govinda
(1993)
A thief steals the crown off the idol of Lord Balaji in Tirupati and an innocent watchman is blamed for the crime. A young boy who witnessed the crime, a taxi driver and an NRI woman looking to find her roots find themselves embroiled in the mystery. What’s not to love?
Criminal
(1994)
In one of his most underrated bi-lingual films that was shot in both Telugu and Hindi, Nagarjuna played the role of a successful doctor who is accused of murdering his beloved wife. MM Keeravani’s music from the film still remains iconic, who can even forget Telusa Manasa.
Ninne Pelladata
(1996)
This romantic drama was so good; it received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu that year. Sandeep Chowta’s music, the dreamy combo of Nag and Tabu, plus iconic songs like Greeku Veerudu and Kannullo Nee Roopame makes this an unforgettable film.