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Nagarjuna birthday special: Brahmastra to Naa Saami Ranga, putting the spotlight on veteran actor’s highest grossers
As veteran Telugu star Nagarjuna turns 65, here’s rounding up the highest-grossing films of his illustrious career
Nagarjuna Akkineni turns 65 today! The Telugu acting heavyweight is set to have a significantly more wholesome birthday celebration this year, courtesy of his family having expanded. Earlier this month on August 8, Nagarjuna took to his X handle to formally announce his son, actor Naga Chaitanya’s engagement to fellow actor Sobhita Dhulipala.
Re-navigating the focus to his professional life, here’s capturing the box office highlights of his decades-long career, still going strong.
Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva
We bet you didn’t know that Nagarjuna’s highest-grossing film was not a Telugu blockbuster, but a big-banner Bollywood release! The 2022 Ayan Mukerji fantasy-action flick, with Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead, featured Nagarjuna in the role of an artist, Anish, who also possessed the Nandi Astra. As per an IMDb report, the film minted 430 crores worldwide of which domestic collections came in at 267 crores.
The film received unending brickbats on its release, not living up to its mammoth hype in terms of plot and grip. Nonetheless, Nagarjuna’s highest-grosser now also has to its credit, multiple National Film Award wins. The categories it will be officially honoured in, come October, are Best Male Playback Singer (Arijit Singh for Kesariya), Best Film in AVGC and Best Music Direction (Pritam).
Oopiri
This Vamshi Paidipally directorial released in 2016 and featured Nagarjuna in the role of a quadriplegic billionaire, who hires a convict on parole (played by Karthi) to be his caretaker. The interesting premise makes for one of Nagarjuna’s more intense undertakings, both in terms of script and the demands of the role.
As per an IMDb report, Oopiri minted 97.7 crores worldwide with pre-release business alone raking in 42 crores.
Soggade Chinni Nayana
2016 was a strong year for Nagarjuna as not one, but 2 of his highest-grossers released in the year. Kalyan Krishna’s Soggade Chinni Nayana also interestingly featured Nagarjuna in a double role. The premise involves a woman enlisting the help of her husband’s spirit to keep her son from taking a divorce.
As per an IMDb report, the film minted 82.8 crores worldwide with pre-release business alone accounting for 18 crores of it.
Manam
2014 release Manam, also featured Nagarjuna in a dual role. The Vikram K Kumar film also saw the actor share screen space with his own son Chay. The film dabbled in the themes of generational reincarnation and the ensuing comedy of errors.
As per an IMDb report, Manam minted 67 crores worldwide. Its pre-release business came in at 18 crores.
Bangarraju
If the name already doesn’t sound familiar, 2022 release Bangarraju is the official sequel to film number three on this list, Soggade Chinni Nayana. Nagarjuna reprises his dual role for the sequel. Incidentally, Chay too stars along side his father in the Kalyan Krishna film.
As per an IMDb report, Bangarraju earned 65 crores worldwide of which pre-release business stood at a whopping 36 crores.
Devadas
Sriram Adittya directed Nagarjuna in 2018 film Devadas, in which the actor essays the titular role of Deva along side Nani who played Dr. Das. The premise of the film follows a doctor whose simple routine stands shaken up when a gangster forcefully seeks refuge with him.
As per an IMDb report, of the 48 crores that the film earned worldwide, 37 crores was raked in during its pre-release business.
Damarukam
Among his older releases, the Srinivasa Reddy directed Damarukam was a 2012 release. Nagarjuna essays the role of Malli, short for Mallikarjuna who loses faith in Lord Shiva following a tragedy that befalls his loved ones. The premise follows Malli’s journey back to God amid trying situations.
As per an IMDb report, the film’s worldwide collections came in at 47 crores with pre-release business accounting for 30 crores of the figure.
Naa Saami Ranga
The only period drama on this list, Naa Saami Ranga, directed by Vijay Binni, features Nagarjuna as Kishtayya. The potboiler was slated as among the Sankranti releases this year is an official adaptation of 2019 Malayalam film Porinju Mariam Jose.
As per an IMDb report, the film, which Nagarjuna also incidentally co-produced, closed business at 37.4 crores worldwide. Of this, 18 crores accounted for pre-release business.
We wish Nagarjuna a very Happy Birthday!
