Venkatesh (actor)

Daggubati Venkatesh (born 13 December 1960) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work predominantly in Telugu cinema. Venkatesh has a prolific career spanning over 37 years and is known for portraying a variety of characters. He has received many accolades including six Filmfare Awards and five Nandi Awards. Venkatesh made his debut in 1986 with the commercially successful Kaliyuga Pandavulu. He achieved stardom with box-office hits such as Srinivasa Kalyanam (1987), Brahma Puthrudu (1988), Prema (1989), Dhruva Nakshatram (1989), Bobbili Raja (1990), and Kshana Kshanam (1991), the latter of which featured at the Fribourg Festival and went on to gather a cult following. Venkatesh received further acclaim for his notable performances as a painter in Swarnakamalam (1988), which featured in the Indian panorama section of the 12th IFFI, an attorney in both Sathruvu (1991) and Dharma Chakram (1996), a coolie in Coolie No. 1 (1991), an eccentric cop in both Surya IPS (1991) and Gharshana (2004), an autistic villager in Chanti (1992), in the romantic dramas: Pavitra Bandham (1996), Preminchukundam Raa (1997), Premante Idera (1998), Raja (1999), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), Vasantam (2003), Malliswari (2004), Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule (2007), and Bodyguard (2012), in the family dramas: Suryavamsam (1998), Sankranti (2005) and Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), a journalist in Ganesh (1998), in the action dramas: Jayam Manadera (2000), Lakshmi (2006), Tulasi (2007) and Venky Mama (2021), in the comedies: Chintakayala Ravi (2008), Namo Venkatesa (2010), F2 (2019), F3 (2022), and Sankranthiki Vasthunam (2025), in the crime thrillers Eenaadu (2009), Drushyam (2014) and Drushyam 2 (2021), an atheist in Gopala Gopala (2015), a boxing coach in Guru (2017), and a farmer in Narappa (2021). Venkatesh also starred in Hindi language works such as Anari (1993), Taqdeerwala (1995), and Rana Naidu (2023). In addition to acting, he co-owns Suresh Productions, one of the largest film production companies in India, under which he acted in several films. He is also the mentor of the Telugu Warriors, representing Tollywood in the Celebrity Cricket League.