Allu Arjun

Personal life

Allu Arjun was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to producer Allu Aravind and Nirmala. His paternal grandfather was comedian Allu Rama Lingaiah while his paternal aunt is married to Chiranjeevi.

On 6 March 2011 Arjun married Sneha Reddy in Hyderabad. He has a son named Ayaan and a daughter named Arha. In 2016, Allu Arjun started a nightclub named 800 Jubilee in collaboration with M Kitchens and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Career beginnings (2001–2008)

After playing child artist in Vijetha and as a dancer in Daddy, Arjun made his adult debut in Gangotri.

Arjun then appeared in Sukumar's comedy Arya. His role in Arya was his breakthrough, earning a first Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Award nomination and he won a Special Jury award at the Nandi Awards ceremony, two CineMAA Awards for Best Actor and Best Actor Jury and the film was a critical and commercial success.

He next starred in V. V. Vinayak's Bunny playing the role of Bunny, a college student. Critics praised his efforts, mannerisms and dancing. His next film was A. Karunakaran's musical love story Happy. He then starred in Puri Jagannadh's action film Desamuduruin which he played the role of Bala Govindam, a fearless journalist who falls with a woman with a darker past.

Further success and experimentation of genres (2008–2013)

His next film was Bhaskar's Parugu where he played the role of Krishna, a happy go lucky guy from Hyderabad who helps his friend to elope with his love, only to experience the wrath of the woman's father and the emotional struggle he felt. idlebrain.com wrote "Allu Arjun is pretty excellent in the first half as the characterization in the first half is vibrant and needs loads of energy. He carried the entire first half on his shoulders. He excelled in the emotional scenes in the second half."

After playing a guest role in Shankar Dada Zindabad, he starred in Sukumar's psychological love story Arya 2. He played the role of Arya, an orphan who is behaviorally sick in that he is consumed with possessiveness for his friend Ajay, who never accepts him. Sify wrote "Allu Arjun is full of energy as the guy caught in the powerful current of love. Though he plays the part with negative shades, his characterization could evoke a lot of sympathy from the audiences. His dances are mind-blowing and he excels in emotional scenes." idlebrain.com wrote "Allu Arjun is perfect as Arya. His character in the movie has the qualities of a psychotic and he portrayed the character flawlessly. He shined in emotional scenes in the second half of the movie. Allu Arjun is probably the best dancer of current era in Tollywood. That is the reason why he made hugely difficult dances appear fluid and effortless in the first four songs of the movie."

Arjun starred in two experimental films in 2010. The first was Gunasekhar's Varudu . Rediff wrote "Allu Arjun has put in a competent performance, subdued when necessary and volatile when needed." While Rediff stated, "He's a good dancer and does justice to his role." His next film was Krish's Vedam.

His next release was V. V. Vinayak's action film Badrinath. He played the role of Badri, a warrior who is assigned to protect the shrine of Badrinath by his Guru, to whom he is very loyal. idlebrain.com wrote "Allu Arjun has taken tremendous pain in traveling to Vietnam to learn south-east-Asian martial arts for this movie. All his hard work shows up in the movie where he appears more like a warrior from south-east-Asian regions (Chinese or Japanese) with a pony tail and leather gear (chest belt and shoes). He is amazing with fluid movements in the dances. He is good with fights." The movie completed a 50-day run in 187 centers.

After Badrinath, Arjun appeared in the film Julayi, a heist drama which released in 2012. Arjun played the role of Ravindra Narayan, a street-smart yet spoilt brat whose life takes a drastic turn after he becomes the witness of a huge bank robbery. The Times of India wrote "Allu Arjun puts in a confident performance as the loveable rogue. It's a role that is right up his alley and he carries it off with a characteristic panache. He lights up the screen with his dancing in particular, pulling off some pretty challenging dance moves." He was nominated for SIIMA Award for Best Actor. He later starred in Puri Jagannadh's romantic love story Iddarammayilatho playing the role of Sanju Reddy, a guitarist with a dark past. The Times of India wrote "True to his tag of 'stylish star', Allu Arjun looks trendier than ever before. His character of a guitarist, who is a street performer in Barcelona, was at its best sketchy, and looks completely different from his previous films. He once again proves that he is a good actor and probably because of the action director's meticulous planning, he makes perfect expressions in all the fight scenes."

2014–present

In 2014, he appeared in a cameo in Vamsi Paidipally's Yevadu. The Hindu wrote "Allu Arjun shows what an actor can do even in a short role, in the few minutes he packs his experience, internalises the character and makes an impressive exit even as he loses his identity." His next film was Surender Reddy's Race Gurram in which he played the role of a carefree guy. The Deccan Chronicle wrote "Allu Arjun definitely steals the show with his energetic performance. He is good with his comedy timing and has also improved a lot as an actor. He actually carries the film on his shoulders. His dancing skills are utilised well too" He won third time Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Award.

Arjun produced and acted in a short film I Am That Change (2014) to spread awareness on individual social responsibility. The movie was directed by Sukumar which was screened in theatres across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on 15 August 2014. He acted in Trivikram Srinivas's S/O Satyamurthy which was released on 9 April 2015. Later he acted in Guna Sekhar's Rudhramadevi which is the first Indian 3D historical film. For Rudhramadevi, he won Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu and became the only actor to win both Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor - Telugu. Later, he acted in Sarainodu directed by Boyapati Srinu. In 2016, he collaborated with producer Dil Raju for 3rd time for Duvvada Jagannadham.In June,2017 he started shooting for 'Naa Peru Surya - Naa Illu India' under the direction of writer turned director 'Vakkantham Vamsi'. Vakkantham Vamsi provided story for Allu Arjun's 2014 Blockbuster 'Racegurram'. 'Naa Peru Surya - Naa Illu India' is slated for a release on Sankranthi, 2018.

Trivia

Allu Arjun is the only South Indian celebrity, who has 1.25 crore followers on Facebook. The Times of India praised Allu Arjun's dancing skills stating that he is the best dancer not only in Tollywood but also in India. He has been honoured with "Pravasi Ratna Puraskaram"(PRP) by the Popular Malayalam TV channel Asianet. He is the first Telugu star of this generation to receive an award for work in the neighbouring film industry. By this award, Bunny created a new record in Tollywood industry . Allu Arjun was the most googled Tollywood star in 2016. Allu Arjun was ranked 80th in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List in 2014, 42nd in 2015 and 43rd in 2016 in earnings and 59th in fame.