Raksha Bandhan special: Six talented brother-sister duos of Tollywood

The festival of Raksha Bandhan celebrates the eternal bond between a brother and his sister. When it comes to reel life, Telugu cinema has its own way of showcasing this unbreakable relationship in an emotional and heart touching manner. Over the years, several films like ‘Rakta Sambandham’, ‘Chelleli Kapuram’, ‘Muddula Mavayya’, ‘Hitler’, ‘Puttintiki Ra Chelli’ and ‘Arjun’ have beautifully portrayed the sibling bond.

In real life too, several brother-sister duos from the Telugu film fraternity have made it big in the showbiz world. Though most of them hail from influential families in T-town, gaining fame and recognition among the viewers couldn’t have been possible without having the necessary acting chops. On Raksha Bandhan, let's take a look at six talented sibling pairs of Tollywood.

Born to popular actor-cum-producer Nagendra Babu, Varun Tej and Niharika are one among the few brother-sister duos to have played lead roles in Tollywood. After bagging successive superhits with ‘Fidaa’ and ‘Tholi Prema’, Varun fell short of a hat-trick with the failure of Sankalp Reddy’s space-adventure ‘Antariksham 9000 KMPH’. However, the 29-year-old Konidela scion was quick to grab the lost momentum with the massive success of F2: Fun & Frustration.

Meanwhile, after appearing in a web-series and anchoring for a dance reality show, Niharika Konidela made her Telugu film debut with ‘Oka Manasu’ in 2016. The 25-year-old actress is also playing a pivotal role in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.

Manjula Swaroop is the elder sister of Superstar Mahesh Babu and one among the three daughters born to Krishna Ghattamaneni and Indira Devi. While Mahesh started his film career as a child artist and went on to become one among the leading stars of Tollywood, Manjula suffered a huge setback before her big break. The beautiful actress who wished to carry her father's legacy forward was roped in opposite Balakrishna for SV Krishna Reddy directorial.

Sadly, due to severe backlash from Krishna’s fans, she had to back down. However, after portraying a cameo in 1999 film ‘Rajasthan’, Manjula acquired immense fame by featuring in and producing the National Award winning film ‘Show’ in 2002. She also owns Indira Productions that bankrolled blockbuster films like ‘Pokiri’ and 'Ye Maaya Chesave'.

All three children of ‘Dialogue King’ Mohan Babu happen to become successful actors in the Telugu film industry. Before her film debut with ‘Anaganaga O Dheerudu’ in 2011, Manchu Lakshmi appeared in several American TV shows and few commercials. The 41-year-old multifaceted lady bagged the Nandi Award (Best Villain) for her maiden film followed by back-to-back Filmfare awards in 2013 and 2014.

Manchu Vishnu is an actor, producer and entrepreneur. Along with acting and film production, the 37-year-old heads a queue of international schools in Hyderabad. Younger brother Manchu Manoj made his on-screen debut as a hero with ‘Donga Dongadi’ in 2004 after playing several roles as a child artist. The 36-year-old bagged the Nandi Special Jury Award for ‘Bindaas’ in 2010.

Sumanth and Supriya are also one among Tollywood's most talented sibling duos. Born to popular producer Surendra Yarlagadda and the eldest daughter of Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sumanth kicked-off his acting career with Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Prema Katha’ and delivered his first box-office hit with ‘Satyam’ in 2003. It was Sekhar Kammula’s rom-com ‘Godavari’ that brought incredible accolades to the 44-year-old actor.

Meanwhile, Sumanth’s sister Supriya made her on-screen debut with ‘Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi’ which also introduced Pawan Kalyan as the protagonist. After a long gap of 22 years, she returned to the silver screen with 2018 spy-thriller ‘Goodachari’ and depicted the complex role of Nadiya Qureshi with ease.

Gorgeous actress Rakul Preet Singh is going great runs in her professional space with back-to-back big-ticket films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. The Delhi-born beauty is also one among the few Indian heroines to juggle between multiple film industries including Bollywood. Meanwhile, the debut Telugu film of her brother Aman was launched in February at the prestigious Annapurna Studios and according to reports, the shooting got wrapped up recently. The makers have christened the film as ‘Ninne Pelladatha’ and Nagarjuna Akkineni launched its title poster.

One can spot Rishi, Shamili and Shalini as the three child actors who featured in Chiranjeevi’s 1990 blockbuster ‘Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari’. All three siblings went on to play lead roles later in their careers in the South film industry. After 12 films as the leading lady, Shalini married Tamil superstar ‘Thala’ Ajith Kumar in 2000 and retired as an actress.

Richard Rishi is a busy actor in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Before entering films, the 41-year-old established himself as a successful entrepreneur. Popularly known as Baby Shamili, the ‘Anjali’ actress made her lead debut with the Telugu film ‘Oye’ in 2009. After nine years, the 32-year-old actress returned to Tollywood for Naga Shaurya’s ‘Ammammagarillu’.