Deverakonda Vijay Sai (born 9 May 1989), professionally known as Vijay Deverakonda,[1] is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema.[2][3] He is the recipient of a Filmfare Award, a Nandi Award, and a SIIMA Award.[4] Since 2018, he has featured in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list.

Deverakonda made his debut with Nuvvila (2011) and received praise for his role in the coming-of-age drama Yevade Subramanyam (2015). He established himself as a leading film actor with the blockbusters Pelli Choopulu (2016) and Arjun Reddy (2017), winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the latter. He gained further success by starring in Mahanati (2018), Geetha Govindam (2018), and Taxiwaala (2018).[5][6]

Deverakonda ventured into production under the banner King of the Hill Entertainment, which notably backed Meeku Maathrame Cheptha (2019) and Pushpaka Vimanam (2021).[7][8] Beyond his film career, Deverakonda endorses many products and designed his own fashion brand Rowdy Wear, which premiered on Myntra in 2020.[9] In January 2023, he became the co-owner of the premiere volleyball team, Hyderabad Black Hawks, in the RuPay Prime Volleyball League.

Deverakonda made his debut with Ravi Babu-directed romantic comedy Nuvvila (2011).[18] He later appeared in Sekhar Kammula's Life is Beautiful (2012) in a minor role.[19] 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.[20] 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, and Swapna Dutt signed him onto her company.

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.[23][24] 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.[25] 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.[26][27] In 2019, Film Companion ranked Deverakonda's performance in Arjun Reddy in "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade".[28]

Following Arjun Reddy he starred in Ye Mantram Vesave, which was supposed to release in 2013 but released on 2018. He then starred in Mahanati, a biographical film revolving around the life of actress Savitri. Deverakonda's next release in 2018 was Geetha Arts' romantic comedy Geetha Govindam, in which he starred as an innocent and nervous college professor. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews upon release, and proved to be a major commercial success at the box office. Deverakonda his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the film. His next film was the Tamil political thriller NOTA, directed by Anand Shankar, which performed poorly at the box office.[29] His next project was UV Creations' supernatural comedy thriller Taxiwaala.[30]

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.[31] In 2020, he acted in Kranthi Madhav's romantic drama World Famous Lover opposite Raashi Khanna, Catherine Tresa, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Izabelle Leite which opened to negative reviews.[32] 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.[33][34] He is currently acting in Kushi which is directed by Shiva Nirvana and is scheduled to release on 23 December 2022.