How Allu Arjun Continues to Dominate the South Indian Film Industry

Allu Arjun is an Indian actor. He is popular for his work in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest paid actors in India. He is also popular for his dancing skills. He owns several awards like one National Film Award, six Filmfare Awards & three Nandi Awards. He has appeared in Forbs India’s Celebrity 100 list since 2014.

He is referred as ‘stylish star’.

In 2003, he made his debut with Gangotri. He earned a Nandi Special jury for Arya in 2004. Lated he acted in action films like Bunny and Desamuduru. In 2008, he starred in a romantic drama named Parugu. He won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor-Telugu for that movie.

His notable films are such as Arya, Vedam, Julayi, S/O Satyamurthy, Rudhramadevi, JU: Duvvada Jagannadham, Pushpa: The Rise etc. Among them his performance in Vedam won him two Filmfare Awards for Best Actor-Telugu.

He also received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Rudhramadevi. His movie Pushpa: The Rise was the the highest grossing Indian film in 2021 & ranked among the highest – grossing Telugu film of all time. The movie earned him his first National Film Award for Best Actor and fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu.

He endorses a number of brands & products. He is also a celebrity brand ambassador for the pro Kabaddi League & the streaming service Aha. He became the brand ambassador of Sri Chaitanya Educational Institute in 2021.

Brief overview of Allu Arjun’s background and entry into the film industry

Allu Arjun was born on 8 April 1982 in a Telugu family in Madras to film producer Allu Aravind and Nirmala. His paternal grandfather was the noted film comedian Allu Ramalingaiah who appeared in over 1000 films. He grew up in Chennai before their family moved to Hyderabad in his 20s.

He is the second of three children. His elder brother Venkatesh is a businessman while his younger brother Sirish is also an actor. He is the first cousin of actor Ram Charan.

On 6 March 2011, Allu Arjun married Sneha Reddy in Hyderabad. The couple have two children—a son, Ayaan and a daughter. His daughter Allu Arha is set to make her debut in the upcoming film Shaakuntalam in the role of Prince Bharata. He started a nightclub named 800 Jubilee in collaboration with M Kitchens and Buffalo Wild Wings in 2019.

In the same year he celebrated Sankranthi in his native town Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh and announced ₹20 lakhs for the development and renovation works of the Ksheera Ramalingeswara Temple, one of the five Pancharama Kshetras.

The temple management has constructed Rathasala, Vahanasala, Gosala and renovated the temple chariot with the funds provided. He also campaigned for his uncle Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party in Palakollu during the 2019 general elections.

Allu Arjun’s debut and initial roles in Telugu cinema

After playing as a child artist in Vijetha and as a dancer in Dadd, he made his adult debut in Gangotri. Then appeared in Sukumar’s Arya. The film proved to be his breakthrough, earning a first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and won the Nandi Special Jury Award and the CineMAA Award for Best Actor (Critics).

The film was dubbed and released in Malayalam in Kerala in 2006. Owing to the film’s success, he received major acclaim across the region and the Malayali people.

Later he starred in V. V. Vinayak’s Bunny playing the eponymous lead, a college student. His next film was A. Karunakaran’s musical love story Happy.

2007–2010

He starred in Puri Jagannadh’s action film Desamuduru.  The film was a commercial success, fetching him a Santosham Film Award, a CineMAA Award and his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu.

The same year, he made his second cameo appearance alongside Chiranjeevi, in the song “Jagadeka Veerudiki” from the film Shankar Dada Zindabad.

His next film was Bhaskar’s Parugu. Allu Arjun won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and his second Nandi Special Jury Award.

He then starred in Sukumar’s action comedy Arya 2. A spiritual sequel to the romantic action film Arya. He received his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the film.

In 2010, he acted in Varudu & Vedam. He achieved his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for the performance in the film.

2011–2013

In 2011 he appeared in Badrinath. After Badrinath, he signed Trivikram Srinivas’s action comedy film Julayi. It was released in 2012. He was nominated for the SIIMA Award for Best Actor (Telugu), for his performance in the film.

The next year, he starred in Puri Jagannadh’s action thriller Iddarammayilatho. The film marks his second and last collaboration with Puri Jagannadh after Desamuduru.

2014–2018

In 2014, Allu Arjun appeared in a cameo role in Vamsi Paidipally’s action thriller film Yevadu, alongside Kajal Aggarwal. His next film was Surender Reddy’s Race Gurram.

He joined the production of the film in May 2013. The film was successful at the box office, with the film being Allu’s first ₹100 crores grosser. For his performance, he won his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and was nominated for the SIIMA Award for Best Actor (Telugu) for the second time after Julayi.

Allu Arjun produced and acted in a short film named I Am That Change in August 2014. It was screened in theaters across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Allu Arjun next appeared in S/O Satyamurthy in 2015.

His performance in the film earned him his seventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. Following the film, he next played Rudhramadevi in2015. For Rudhramadevi, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu and became the only actor to win both the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu.

He also won three other awards for his performance, including Nandi Award for Best Character Actor.
In 2016, he acted in Sarrainodu, it was a major commercial success at the box office, grossing over ₹127.6 crore.

Allu Arjun called it as a “landmark film” in his career. The same year, in June, he announced his next film with producer Dil Raju for the third time for DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham. The next year, in May, he appeared in Vamsi, Naa Peru Surya, Naa Illu India.

2019–present

In December 2018, his next project Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo was announced, with Trivikram Srinivas as the director. Pooja Hegde was selected to play the female lead role. The film his career’s highest grosser and stands among the highest-grossing Telugu films.

Allu Arjun’s dance performance in the song “Butta Bomma” received wide response. In 2021, he re-united with Sukumar, after nearly a decade, for Pushpa: The Rise.

The film proved to be a major commercial success, grossing over ₹3.5 billion and emerged as the highest grossing Indian film in 2021. He won his fourth Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the film. A sequel titled Pushpa: The Rule is also in production.

Other work and media image

His popularity was documented in two Telugu music videos. The first one is a rap song, composed by S. Thaman and performed by Roll Rida and Harika Narayan.

The music video titled “Allu Arjun Rap Song” was released in January 2021. The other one is titled “Thaggedhe Le”.

It was performed and written by Roll Rida. It was released in April 2021 with the title being adapted from Allu Arjun’s popular dialogue from his film Pushpa: The Rise.

Allu Arjun’s accolades and recognition in the film industry

Allu Arjun was featured in the GQ in their listing of the most influential young Indians of 2020. In 2020, he was the ‘Most Searched Male Celebrity’ in 2020 on Yahoo! India.

Even Allu Arjun was the most searched Telugu film actor on Google Search, for several times. During mid-year 2022, Allu Arjun became the 19th most searched Asian on Google.
He is referred to as “Icon Star”, or as “Bunny”, in the media.Even, the media in Kerala, mostly refers him with the same name.

In 2021, the Kerala Police used few scenes featuring him from the film Race Gurram, in their advertisement, to raise awareness about SOS and promote their newly launched app.

Allu Arjun is the celebrity endorser for a number of brands and products like Hero MotoCorp, RedBus, Hotstar, Frooti, OLX, Colgate, 7 Up, Coca-Cola, Joyalukkas and Lot Mobiles.

He has been as a celebrity ambassador for India’s premier Kabaddi Tournament Pro Kabaddi League. He is also an active promoter and a celebrity brand ambassador for his father Allu Aravind-founded over-the-top media service, Aha.

In 2021, he played the role of Guru in the Dream Vault Media-produced advertising campaign video, for Rapido.

Following the release of the ad film, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation sent a legal notice to both the actor and the Rapido company, for showing TSRTC in a bad-light. Soon after, the company has edited the video (ad film).

He started a campaign against the smoking of tobacco, in 2021. In 2021, Allu Arjun became the brand ambassador of Sri Chaitanya Educational Institutions.

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