Vijay Deverakonda

Deverakonda Vijay Sai (born 9 May 1989), widely known as Vijay Deverakonda, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Telugu films. Vijay is the recipient of a Filmfare Award, a Nandi Award and three SIIMA Awards.

Deverakonda made his debut with Nuvvila (2011) and received praise for his supporting role in the coming-of-age drama Yevade Subramanyam (2015). He rose to prominence as a leading film actor by starring in Pelli Choopulu (2016) and Arjun Reddy (2017), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance as a volatile surgeon in the latter. He further established himself with commercially successful films such as Mahanati (2018), Geetha Govindam (2018), and Taxiwaala (2018). This success was followed by a series of poorly received films.

In 2019, Deverakonda launched his own production house King of the Hill Entertainment, which produced Meeku Maathrame Cheptha (2019) and Pushpaka Vimanam (2021). Beyond his film career, Deverakonda has designed his own fashion brand Rowdy Wear, which launched on Myntra in 2020, and is the co-owner of the volleyball team Hyderabad Black Hawks. Deverakonda is also a celebrity endorser for numerous products and supports various humanitarian causes. He is married to actress Rashmika Mandanna.

Early and personal life Deverakonda Vijay Sai was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (present-day Telangana) to Govardhan Rao and Madhavi. His family hails from Thummanpeta village of erstwhile Mahbubnagar district (present day Nagarkurnool). After that he completed his 12th Class at the Little Flower Junior College, Hyderabad. He holds a BCom Degree from Badruka College of Commerce & Arts. His younger brother, Anand Deverakonda, is also an actor in Telugu cinema.

Vijay Deverakonda and his family lived in Saroornagar, Hyderabad before he entered the Telugu film industry.

On 26 February 2026, Deverakonda married actress Rashmika Mandanna in a private ceremony held in Udaipur, Rajasthan in traditional Telugu Hindu and Kodava ceremonies. The wedding was referred to as “The Wedding of VIROSH”.

Career Early career (2011–2015) Deverakonda made his debut with Ravi Babu-directed romantic comedy Nuvvila (2011). He later appeared in Sekhar Kammula's Life is Beautiful (2012) in a minor role. He was introduced to Nag Ashwin, who later cast him in a supporting role for the 2015 coming-of-age drama Yevade Subramanyam alongside actor Nani. The film was produced by the daughters of Ashwini Dutt, a producer in the Telugu film industry; Priyanka Dutt backed him and once shooting started, Swapna Dutt signed him onto her company.

Breakthrough (2016–2018)

Deverakonda's first lead role was in Pelli Choopulu, a coming-of-age romance film directed by Tharun Bhascker. The film became commercially successful and won the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu and the Best Feature Film in Telugu at the 64th National Film Awards. He starred in the masala film Dwaraka in 2017. He next starred in the romantic drama Arjun Reddy which received both praise and criticism for being bold and radical. However, his portrayal of a self-destructive, short-tempered, and alcoholic surgeon received widespread critical acclaim, and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. In 2019, Film Companion ranked Deverakonda's performance in Arjun Reddy in "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade".

Deverakonda starred in multiple films in 2018, the first of which was the delayed Ye Mantram Vesave, which was initially supposed to release in 2013. He played a pivotal role in the notable biographical film Mahanati, based on the life of actress Savitri. Deverakonda's most successful release of 2018 was Geetha Arts' romantic comedy Geetha Govindam, in which he played a naive and nervous college professor alongside Rashmika Mandanna. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews upon release, and proved to his highest-grossing release grossing 130 crore worldwide. He next appeared in the Tamil political thriller NOTA, directed by Anand Shankar, which performed poorly at the box office. His final film in 2018 was UV Creations' supernatural comedy thriller Taxiwaala, which garnered good box office returns.

Career decline (2019–present)

In 2019, Deverakonda was seen in Bharat Kamma's Dear Comrade, a romantic action drama, alongside Rashmika Mandanna. He later signed Hero, directed by Anand Annamalai co-starring Malavika Mohanan but the film was reportedly shelved after beginning production. In 2020, he acted in Kranthi Madhav's romantic drama World Famous Lover opposite Raashii Khanna, Catherine Tresa, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Izabelle Leite which opened to negative reviews. In 2022, he acted in the Hindi–Telugu bilingual film Liger which was directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Karan Johar which also opened to highly negative reviews. He then starred in Kushi which was directed by Shiva Nirvana and it opened to mixed reviews. The film was an average grosser at the box office. In 2024, Deverakonda starred in The Family Star, which was a box-office bomb. Late that year, he was seen in a cameo appearance as the warrior Arjuna in Nag Ashwin's science-fiction epic Kalki 2898 AD. /. In 2025, he starred in Gowtham Tinnanuri's film, Kingdom (2025 film), which was an average grosser. In 2026, he has two releases: Ranabaali, directed by Rahul Sankrityan, is releasing on 11 Sep 2026, while Rowdy Janardhana, directed by Ravikiran Kola, is releasing in December 2026

Other work Deverakonda was the brand ambassador of food delivery app Zomato. On 15 October 2018, he launched his fashion brand Rowdy Wear.

Deverakonda has donated to relief funds, including a donation to families of victims in the 2019 Pulwama attack.

Deverakonda conceptualised and founded The Deverakonda Foundation, a nonprofit organisation in April 2019. In early 2020, he donated ₹24,000 through the Foundation to help Ganesh Ambari, a kickboxer who won the Vaco Indian Open International Kick-boxing Championship Title 2020.

An initiative was started to battle COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The foundation has successfully aided 17,000 middle-class families with their groceries and basic essentials, spending ₹1.7 crores, with the help of his Middle Class Fund (MCF). More than 8,500 volunteers donated over ₹1.5 crores to join his community effort. Organisers decided to end the initiative on 2 June 2020. Devarkonda opened his first multiplex theatre in Mahbubnagar in 2021.

In the media

Deverakonda says his family used to call him a rowdy every time he did something that they did not approve of. Over time, he started using this term for himself and his fans. Deverakonda is known to express his real, honest, and unfiltered opinions on stage or during interviews, for which he has gathered a lot of popularity and criticism, as seen during his speech at the audio launch of Arjun Reddy, in 2017.

Deverakonda placed 72nd in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list of 2018. He was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Men at No. 4 in 2018, at No. 3 in 2019, at No. 2 in 2020. He was additionally featured by Forbes India in their 30 Under 30 list, and became the most-searched South Indian actor according to Google's annual report. As of August 2024, he is one of the most-followed Telugu actors on Instagram.

Controversies In June 2025, a case under the SC/ST Act was filed against him for his alleged comments against the tribal community following the Pahalgam terror attack.

On 11 November 2025, Deverakonda, and Prakash Raj were questioned by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in connection with an ongoing investigation into the alleged promotion of online betting apps. As of November 2025, the case is still under investigation.

Filmography

As an actor All films are in Telugu, otherwise noted

As a producer YearTitleNotesRef.2019Meeku Maathrame Cheptha

Television + Year Title Role Network Notes Ref. 2022 Dance Ikon Guest aha As part of Liger promotions

Music video Year SongLanguage(s) Artist 2018"Nee Venakale Nadichi" Telugu Chinmayi Sripada 2024"Sahiba" Hindi Jasleen Royal feat. Stebin Ben

Awards and nominations