Birthday blast: 20 facts about Telugu star Vijay Deverakonda

A CELEBRATION OF THE ACTOR’S AWARD-WINNING ROLES, CHARITY WORK AND FASHION LINE

by ASJAD NAZIR

TALENTED Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda, who is one of the biggest stars in Indian cinema today, turns a year older on Sunday (9).

The movie icon has had a remarkable rise in a relatively short space of time and got himself a huge fan following, who will all be sending him good wishes on his 32nd birthday.

Eastern Eye decided to join in the celebrations by presenting 20 fun facts about Vijay Deverakonda .

• With a father who directed low-key television serials, Vijay was naturally drawn towards the creative fields while growing up and would often write stories. After completing his education, he joined a theatre group and started auditioning for film roles.
• After a lot of struggle, Vijay made his movie debut with 2011 Telugu romantic Nuvvila, though he had to audition for the part. He also had to do a number of tests for his follow-up films Life Is Beautiful (2012) and Yevade Subramanyam (2015). There were other projects that the actor tried out for in those early days, but he didn’t get roles in any of them.
• The actor finally became a big star after his hugely successful fourth film Pelli Choopulu (2016), which was his debut in a lead role. It won a number of honours including a National as well as a Filmfare award for Best Film in Telugu.

  

• Vijay won a whole host of acting awards for his explosive performance in Arjun Reddy (2017). The Telugu blockbuster was remade in Bollywood as the huge hit Kabir Singh in 2019, with Shahid Kapoor playing the hero. Vijay was originally offered the lead role in the remake but declined as he didn’t want to repeat himself.
• The Telugu superstar made his Tamil film debut with 2018 political thriller NOTA, which was also shot simultaneously in Telugu.
• He made his debut as a producer with the comedy Meeku Maathrame Cheptha (2019) and had a cameo appearance in the movie as himself.
• The big-hearted star does a lot of humanitarian work through his non-profit organisation the Deverakonda Foundation, including donating to worthy causes and helping people in need. According to reports, the foundation has successfully helped more than 17,000 middle-class families during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic with groceries and basic essentials.
• The actor is affectionately known as Rowdy and has launched a popular clothing line of the same name. He said: “I wanted to bring international fashion to people but in an affordable way.”
• Today, money plays no part in Vijay selecting a project, he says, and it is all based on whether he liked the story or not. He explained: “Even if you show me obscene amounts of money I will not do something I don’t like.”
• Vijay reportedly does not have many friends within the industry, but actor Rana Daggubati is one person he has admitted to chilling out with.
• If he was not an actor, Vijay has said he would have loved to be an architect. He admitted to being fascinated by architecture whenever he travels and watching videos on the subject.
• The Bollywood actor Vijay greatly admires is Ranbir Kapoor.
• Vijay directed the short film Madam Meerena, which is available to watch on YouTube. He has no immediate plans to go into directing, preferring to act and produce instead.
• In terms of music, he has been a huge fan of hip hop since he was a teenager.
• The actor cites his parents, books, cinema and life experiences as some of his biggest influences.
• The multi-talented star sang the anthem for his Rowdy fashion brand, which has clocked up nearly four million views on YouTube. He also sang the song What the Life for his movie Geetha Govindam.

• The actor’s forthcoming film Liger initially had the working title Fighter. It is being simultaneously released in Hindi and Telugu, along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages, later this year. Vijay has transformed himself physically for his role as a kickboxer in the film, which also stars Ananya Pandey.
• Liger producer Karan Johar has acquired the Bollywood remake rights to Vijay’s Telugu film Dear Comrade (2019), which also had dubbed versions in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada. A Hindi dubbed version of Dear Comrade was released on YouTube last year.
• To celebrate his birthday, the star once hired three ice-cream trucks that travelled across the city of  Hyderabad to distribute the sweet treat to fans and those struggling in the heat.
• Today, a lot of decisions that Vijay makes, including donating large sums of money to those in need, are informed by his days of struggle. It is that humility and big-hearted nature that has connected him to fans around the world.