Rajasekhar (actor)

Template:Indian nameRajasekhar Varadharajan (born 4 February 1962) is an Indian actor known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. In a career spanning more than 38 years, he has acted in over 80 Telugu films in a variety of roles. He starred in several notable films, including Talambralu, Sruthilayalu, Aahuti, Ankusam, Magaadu, Allari Priyudu, Anna, Omkaram, Suryudu, Sivayya, Manasunna Maaraju, Maa Annayya, Simharasi, Evadaithe Nakenti, Gorintaku, and PSV Garuda Vega. Rajasekhar won two Filmfare Best Actor Awards - Telugu for Magaadu and Anna.

The Nature Waldorf School is owned by Rajasekhar and Jeevitha, to whom he is married. The school is affiliated to Dr. Rajasekhar Charitable Trust and started its operations in July 2010. The mission of the school is to impart non-commercialised education to students.

Early life

Rajasekhar was born on 4 February 1962 in Lakshmipuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu. He identifies Telugu as his mother tongue. His father, Varadharajan Gopal, originally from Chittoor district, worked as a Sub-Inspector of Police in Guntur district, where his mother, Andalu, also hails from. According to Rajasekhar, the family migrated to Tamil Nadu and later returned to Andhra Pradesh. His brother, Selva, has acted in Tamil films as a lead actor. Before entering the film industry, Rajasekhar studied medicine (M.B.B.S.) and practiced in Aminjikarai, Chennai.

Rajasekhar is a practicing Saiva Hindu, after undergoing a transformative personal experience during his formative years.

Personal life

He married erstwhile actress Jeevitha and has two daughters. Their younger daughter Shivathmika debuted with Dorasaani, in 2019 while their elder daughter Shivani debuted with Adbhutham, in 2021.

Recently, Jeevitha was named as one of the nine members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), with Pahlaj Nihalani as chairman.

Career

Rajashekhar made his acting debut in Tamil with Pudhumai Penn (1984) and also had a character role in Puthiya Theerpu (1985) with Vijayakanth. His Telugu film debut was in 1985 with Vande Mataram. Since then, he has acted in variety of films such as Pratighatana, Repati Pourulu, Station Master, Sruthilayalu, Kashmora, Aradhana, Talambralu, Aruna Kiranam, Mamatala Kovela and Akka Mogudu.

Movies from which he rose to fame and created an image of an angry young man in Telugu cinema are Aahuthi, Aartanaadam Nyayam Kosam, Ankusam, Magaadu, Rowdyism Nasinchali, Papa Kosam, Moratodu Naa Mogudu, Anna, Balarama Krishnulu, Agraham, Sivayya, and Evadaithe Nakenti.

He has acted in more than 75 movies though he is mocked for his diction. His voice for most of his Telugu movies was dubbed by Telugu actor Saikumar till 1996 and then was taken over by Srinivasa Moorthy who started dubbing for him in 1997, when he won his first Nandi award for the movie Sivayya. Except for the 2003 film Villain, where Sai's younger brother P. Ravi Shankar dubbed for both Rajasekhar and Vijayan, respectively.

Later, he also gained fame for his family drama films such as Maa Aayana Bangaram, Suryudu, Simharasi, Maa Annayya, Deergha Sumangali Bhava, Manasunna Maaraju and Gorintaku. He was also applauded for his performance in the romance film Allari Priyudu.

He is considered a versatile actor. His performance in Omkaram is a classic example of that, which was directed by Kannada director Upendra. His electrifying performance in the movie Sheshu was applauded critically. His biggest hit of the career came in the year 2007 with Evadaithe Nakenti and his last genuine hit as a lead actor was Gorintaku in the year 2008 until he again tasted success with PSV Garuda Vega in 2017.

Ithu Thaanda Police, the Tamil dub of Ankusam was a hit. His Telugu films were dubbed in Tamil such as Magaadu as Meesaikaran.

Filmography

• All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	Pudhumai Penn	Rajasekhar	Tamil film
1985	Puthiya Theerpu	Bhaskar	Tamil film
	Pratighatana	Prakash
	Vande Mataram	Satyam
1986	Ee Prasnaku Baduledi
	Dora Bidda
	Challani Ramayya Chakkani Sitamma
	Talambralu
	Repati Pourulu
	Aruna Kiranam
	Kashmora	Darkha
	Mr. Bharath	Prakash
1987	America Abbayi
	Prajaswamyam	Ashok
	Aahuti
	Yuga Kartalu
	Idaa Prapancham
	Sruthilayalu	Narayana Murthy
	Aradhana	Lawrence
1988	Nyayam Kosam
	Nava Bharatam
	Annapurnamma Gaari Alludu
	Neeku Naaku Pellanta
	Mr. Hero
	Indra Dhanassu
	Station Master	Rama Rao
	Bava Marudula Saval	Inspector Jai Kumar
1989	Aarta Nadam
	Mamatala Kovela
	Ankusam
	Prajaa Teerpu
	Chennapatnam Chinnollu
	Yamapasam
	Dharma Yuddham
	Manchivaaru Maavaaru
	Vinta Dongalu
1990	Rowdyism Nasinchali
	Silasasanam
	Papa Kosam
	Magaadu
1991	Aagraham
1992	Moratodu Naa Mogudu
	Akka Mogudu
	Ahankari
	Balarama Krishnulu	Krishna Murthy
1993	Amma Koduku
	Allari Priyudu	Raja
1994	Gangmaster	Raja
	Anga Rakshakudu
	Aavesam
	Anna	Komaranna
1995	Raja Simham	Major Raj Kumar / Chinna Raja and Shrimannarayana
	Ghatotkachudu	Karna	Cameo appearance
1996	Vetagadu
1997	Ratha Yatra
	Omkaram	Satya
	Maa Aayana Bangaram
1998	Suryudu	Suryam
	Deergha Sumangali Bhava	Rama Rao
	Sivayya	Sivayya
1999	Neti Gandhi
	Bobbili Vamsam	Raghava Rayudu
	Mechanic Mavayya	Raju/Siva
2000	Ravanna	Ravanna
	Okkadu Chaalu	Surya
	Manasunna Maaraju
	Maa Annayya	Madhu and Gopalam
2001	Simharasi	Narasimharaju
	Subhakaryam
2002	Seshu	Seshu
	Bharatasimha Reddy	Raja / Devudayya
2003	Aayudham	Siddartha
	Villain	Siva and Vishnu
2004	Aaptudu	Bose
2005	Nayakudu	Raju
2006	Rajababu	Rajababu
2007	Evadaithe Nakenti	Major Surya
2008	Gorintaku	Ashok and Sarvarayudu
2009	Satyameva Jayate	DCP Sathya	Also writer
	Naa Style Veru	Sivaram
2010	Maa Annayya Bangaram	Sivaji
2013	Mahankali	ACP Mahankali
2015	Gaddam Gang	Daasu
2017	PSV Garuda Vega	Pullela Chandrashekhar
2019	Kalki	Kalki IPS
2020	Arjuna
2021	Deyyam	Shankar
2022	Shekhar	Sekhar
2023	Extra Ordinary Man	IG Vijay Chakravarthy

Awards

• Nandi Award for Best Villain - Talambralu (1986)
• Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu - Magaadu (1990)
• Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu - Anna (1994)

External links

• Template:Trim/ Rajasekhar at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidata