Sharwanand

Myneni Sharwanand (born 6 March 1984), known mononymously as Sharwanand, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Telugu films alongside a few Tamil films. He made his acting debut in 2004 with the film Aidho Tareekhu. He is the grandson of Myneni Hariprasada Rao.

For Engeyum Eppothum (2011), he received SIIMA Award for Best Male Debut - Tamil, he has also won Nandi Special Jury Award for Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju (2015).

Sharwanand initially acted in films including Prasthanam, Engaeyum Eppothum, Run Raja Run and Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju. He then starred in notable films including Express Raja, Shathamanam Bhavati and Mahanubhavudu.

Early and personal life Sharwanand Myneni was born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh to Myneni Vasundhara Devi and Myneni Ratnagiri Vara Prasad Rao, and brought up in Hyderabad, Telangana. He did his schooling from The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, where he was classmates with Ram Charan and Rana Daggubati. He then completed his B.Com from Wesley Degree College, Secunderabad. His family originally hails from Edlalanka near Avanigadda in Diviseema.

Sharwanand got engaged to Rakshita Reddy, a US-based techie and daughter of the Andhra Pradesh High Court lawyer, Pasunoor Madhusudhan Reddy, on 26 January 2023. They married on 3 June 2023 in The Leela Palace, in Jaipur.

Career

Early career and supporting roles (2003–⁠2005) Sharwanand first came to media attention in a Thums Up advertisement with Chiranjeevi. He later made his acting debut in Telugu with Aidho Tareeku in 2003 and proceeded to share screen space with Chiranjeevi in Shankar Dada M.B.B.S. and with Venkatesh in Sankranthi and Lakshmi in supporting roles.

Critical acclaim and forays into Tamil cinema (2005–⁠2013) Sharwanand rose to stardom with Vennela (2005) and Amma Cheppindi (2006), the latter of which earned him critical acclaim. He then acted in films like Gamyam (2008) and Andari Bandhuvaya (2010) which, despite being sleeper hits, earned Nandi Awards. Prasthanam was a cult classic. These films won him accolades.

Sharwanand then forayed into Tamil cinema with films such as Kadhalna Summa Illai (2009) before making his full fledged debut through Naalai Namadhe (2009). However, it was only through Engeyum Eppodhum (2011) that he gained recognition. In 2012, Sharwanand made his debut as a producer with his film, Ko Ante Koti, which was produced under Sarvaa Arts.

Commercial breakthrough and success (2014–⁠present) Sharwanand got his commercial breakthrough with the film, Run Raja Run, which was one of the blockbusters of the year 2014. This film, produced by UV Creations, was the second venture after their first blockbuster film, Mirchi. Sharwanand's portrayal of the lead, Raja, won him accolades. Sharwanand new look in the film with bright and colourful outfits is an added boost for his character's portrayal. Sharwanand's next film was Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju, with Nithya Menen, directed by Kranthi Madhav, which received positive applause from critics and ran as a decent movie. Sharwanand's following film was Express Raja, which was a hit at the box office.

Cheran's Tamil directorial venture JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai, which was also released in Telugu in 2016 with Nithya Menen was below average at the box office.

Sharwanand's movie Sathamanam Bhavati collected almost 50 crores, produced by Dil Raju and directed by Satish Vegesna.

Sharwanand released his 25th film titled Radha, which was produced by the noted producer B. V. S. N. Prasad under his production banner SVCC cinema, but to mixed reviews. Sharwanand then starred in Mahanubhavudu, which released on 29 September 2017, directed by Maruthi and gained critical and commercial success.

Sharwanand's last movie was released on 7 February 2020, titled as Jaanu. It was directed by C. Prem Kumar which is a remake of his own Tamil film '96.

After that, he starred in Maha Samudram, with Siddharth, which was directed by Ajay Bhupathi of RX100 fame. It was produced by Anil Sunkara. However, it released to negative reviews and turned out to be a huge flop. He then starred in the science fiction time travel bilingual, Oke Oka Jeevitham, with Amala Akkineni, Ritu Varma, Vennela Kishore, and Priyadarshi Pullikonda. It was directed by Shree Karthick and produced by Dream Warrior Pictures. It released to generally positive reviews; after series of flops, it was a decent hit for him.

A political thriller directed by Krishna Chaitanya and bankrolled by People Media Factory, was launched with Sharwanand, Raashii Khanna, and Priyamani. However, due to undisclosed reasons, the film never started shooting and was eventually shelved. Sithara Entertainments decided to bankroll the film and launched it with Vishwak Sen and Anjali as Gangs of Godavari (2024). People Media Factory instead backed and launched a romantic drama with Sriram Adittya and Sharwanand, Manamey (2024), set in London. Upon release, it received mixed reviews from both the audience and critics, alike. However, it emerged as a minimal commercial success.

He also announced the birth of his daughter, Leela Devi Myneni, on the same day.

His next release after Manamey was Nari Nari Naduma Murari, which released on Sankranthi 2026, to generally positive reviews. His next theatrical outing titled Bhogi directed by Sampath Nandi is set to release on 28th Aug.

Filmography

Note: All films are in Telugu unless noted otherwise

As actor Year Title RoleNotes 2004 Aidho Tareekhu Sharwanand Gowri Krishna Shankar Dada M.B.B.S. Vijay Yuvasena Aravind 2005 Sankranthi Vamsi Vennela Ritesh 2006 Lakshmi Lakshmi Narayana's step-brother Amma Cheppindi Bose Veedhi Surya 2007 Classmates Murali 2008 Gamyam Abhirampartially remade in Tamil as Kadhalna Summa Illai 2009 Naalai Namadhe Raju Tamil film Raju Maharaju Kalyan 2010 Andari Banduvaya Nandu Also playback singer for "Jama Chattuki Jamakayalu" Prasthanam Mitra 2011 Engeyum Eppodhum Gautham Tamil film; dubbed in Telugu as Journey

As producer

Voice actor + Year Title Actor 2009 Katha Adith Arun

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Film Result Ref.20121st South Indian International Movie AwardsBest Male Debut - TamilEngaeyum Eppothum 201562nd Filmfare Awards SouthBest Actor – TeluguRun Raja Run Nandi AwardsNandi Special Jury AwardMalli Malli Idi Rani Roju