Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy, known professionally as J. D. Chakravarthy, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and musician known for his work primarily with Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam films. Chakravarthy made his screen debut with the Telugu film, Siva, an action blockbuster directed by Ram Gopal Varma, featured at the 12th IFFI. He subsequently made his Bollywood debut with the remake of the same film titled Shiva (1990). He then starred in the blockbuster Satya, featured in the Indian panorama section at the 29th IFFI, and was listed among CNN-IBN's 100 greatest Indian films of all time.
Chakravarthy starred in more than seventy feature films in a variety of roles predominantly in Telugu, Hindi and a few Tamil, and Malayalam films. He is best known for his performances in box office hits like Neti Siddhartha (1990), Money (1993), One by Two (1993), Money Money (1994), Gulabi (1995), Bombay Priyudu (1996), Anaganaga Oka Roju (1997), Egire Paavurama (1997), Nenu Premisthunnanu (1997), Premaku Velayara (1999), Pape Naa Pranam (2000), Madhyanam Hathya (2004), and Dayaa (2023). He won the Nandi Special Jury Award, Screen Award Special Jury Award and Best Supporting Actor Award at the Eko International Film Festival for Gulabi (1995), Satya, (1998), and Dahini: The Witch (2022) respectively.
Early life Chakravarthy was born into a Telugu speaking family of carnatic singer Prof. Dr. Kovela Shantha, and father Nagulapati Suryanarayana Rao. He was born in Hyderabad, India. His elder sister Vijayanthi is settled in the United States. He did his schooling in St. George's Grammar School (Hyderabad), and completed B. E. from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology.
Career He debuted in 1989 through Ram Gopal Verma's debut Telugu film, Siva as J.D., as one of the student leaders, and in the same year appeared in a supporting role in the Malayalam film Ennodu Ishtam Koodamo before devoting all his time to films under his mentor's Ram Gopal Varma 's production.
He has worked in many Telugu films directed by ace film makers of the time like Mani Ratnam, Krishna Vamsi, S. V. Krishna Reddy, K. Raghavendra Rao, Kodi Ramakrishna, E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Siva Nageswara Rao, Gunasekhar, and Vamsy. His first Hindi film in a lead role, Satya, was critically acclaimed and became a commercial blockbuster. In 2002, he played a role of Sri Lankan Tamil Eelam fighter Dileepan, in Mani Ratnam's Tamil film, Kannathil Muthamittal.
He also starred in Hindi films like Vaastu Shastra, and Aag alongside Sushmita Sen, and Bhoot Returns alongside Manisha Koirala. He made his film directing debut, with Darwaaza Bandh Rakho and anthology film Darna Zaroori Hai got archived at the New York Institute of Technology, New York, America as part of the film course
He has returned to Telugu film industry with Homam as a director and actor in the year 2008.Eenadu daily, eenadu cinema, page 10, 29 June 2012 He then went on to direct Siddham. He had a role in director Vishnuvardhan's Tamil film Sarvam, starring Arya and Trisha. In 2016, he has appeared in the Malayalam film Bhaskar the Rascal pairing with Nayanthara also starring Mammootty. Then he played a young army officer in another Malayalam film Shikhamani, and made his Kannada film debut with the unreleased Raavani alongside Pooja Gandhi.
Filmography + Year Title Role Language Notes 1989 Shiva J. Durga Rao / JD Telugu 1990 Neti Siddhartha Chakravarthy Shiva Jagadish Dave / JDHindi 1991 Srivari Chindhulu Telugu Atiradhudu VenkyPrem Qaidi Prabhavati's sonHindi 1992 Ennodishtam Koodamo Renjith LalMalayalam Lathi Ramana Telugu Akka Chellillu 1993 Rakshana Adarsham Prem Prathap Vimal Raj Tamil Inspector Ashwini Telugu Money Chakri One By Two Balaji 1994 Money Money Chakri Also playback singer 1995 Gulabi Chandu 1996 Mrugam Deyyam Narsing Bombay Priyudu Chitti Babu / J. D. Anaganaga Oka Roju Chakri 1997 Egire Paavurama Siva Nenu Premisthunnanu Chakri Wife of V. Varaprasad Thyagaraju 1998 Satya SatyaHindiScreen Award Special Jury Award Pape Naa Pranam Chakri Telugu 1999 Harischandraa Harishchandra "Hari" Premaku Velayara Manohar 2000 Akka Bava Ekkada Suryam Maa Pelliki Randi Kumar Soori Soori Kodanda Ramudu Kodanda Ramudu (Ramu) 2001 Navvuthu Bathakalira Ganesh 2002 Premaku Swagatham Balaji Kannathil Muthamittal DileepanTamil Durga DurgaHindi 2003 Golmaal Ameer Khan Telugu 2004 Kaasi Kaasi Madhyanam Hathya Ravi Kumar Vaastu Shastra Virag RaoHindi 2007 Dubai Seenu Chakri Telugu Aag SubbuHindi 2008 Homam Chandrashekhar aka Chandu Telugu 2009 Sarvam Eashwar Tamil Josh Durga Rao Telugu 2010 Kacheri Arambam Sivamani Tamil 2011 Money Money, More Money Chakri Telugu 2012 All the Best Chandu Bhoot Returns Tarun AwasthiHindi 2013 Samar John Frederick Tamil2014 Arima Nambi Rishi Dev Ice Cream 2 Sikka Telugu 2015 Bhaskar the Rascal Sanjay SharmaMalayalam Dynamite Rishi Dev Telugu 2016 Zero Solomon Tamil Shikhamani Anti-terrorist squadron leaderMalayalam 2017 Nakshatram Ramachandra Naidu Telugu 2018 Marainthirunthu Paarkum Marmam Enna Dilip Chakravarthy Tamil2019 Mikhael Muhammad EasaMalayalam Hippi Hippi's boss Telugu 2022 Oppanda ChakriKannada Anek Anjaiah Bellamkonda IPS Hindi Ek Villain Returns ACP V.K. Ganesan Kaari SKR Tamil Dahini: The Witch Pratap Hindi2026Gaayapadda SimhamBrutal DharmaTeluguTBAJhatasya Maranam DhruvamShravan JonnadaTelugu
Other credits YearFilmCredited asLanguageNotes Director Writer Producer1998 Pape Naa Pranam Telugu2000Suri2002Durga Hindi2006Darna Zaroori Hai Anthology film, segment: "A Bride's Revenge"Darwaaza Bandh Rakho2008HomamTelugu2009Sidham2011Money Money, More Money2012All the BestRemake, original story writer not credited
Television Year Title Role Language Network2023 Taaza Khabar Shetty Hindi Disney+Hotstar Dayaa Dayaa Telugu
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