Akhil Akkineni

Akhil Akkineni (born 8 April 1994) is an American actor of Indian origin who predominantly works in Telugu cinema.

Akhil was born in San Jose, California, and was raised in Hyderabad, India.

Akhil debuted into films as a child artist in the children's film Sisindri (1994), for which he won a Filmfare Special Award.

He is also the captain of Telugu Warriors cricket team that competes in Celebrity Cricket League.

Akhil Akkineni was born on April 8, 1994 in San Jose, California, U.S. to actors Nagarjuna and Amala.

He is of Telugu descent from his father's side, and has Bengali ancestry from his mother's side.

He is the grandson of actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and half-brother of Naga Chaitanya.

Akkineni studied at Chaitanya Vidyalaya, later headed to Australia for two years.

He returned to complete his studies at Oakridge International School, Hyderabad.

He pursued acting as a career at age 16 and enrolled in an acting course at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.

He also holds a BBA from the University of South Florida.

As an infant, Akhil debuted in his father's production, Shiva Nageswara Rao's comedy, Sisindri (1995), an Indian adaptation of Baby's Day Out (1994).

Later in his teens, he pursued cricket and became a member in his father's Nag Kings team, in the 2010 celebrity Tollywood Trophy, which was a fundraiser for the Movie Artistes' Association.

His match-winning half-century in the final against Venkatesh's Venky Warriors, saw him secure the man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series awards.

His performance saw him get called up to play for the Telugu Warriors in the inaugural Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) in 2011.

In 2014, Akhil appeared in a brief cameo appearance in the much loved family drama, Manam (2014), directed by Vikram Kumar.

It featured three generations of actors from the Akkineni family.

His cameo in the climax of the film was an instant rage with the audience.

He described his shoot for the film alongside his grandfather, father and half-brother, as "nervous and exciting".

Manam went on to become as one of the most profitable Telugu films of 2014, whilst also considered to be as one of the greatest Telugu films of all-time.

Critics dubbed the film as a "classic" en-route to it winning several awards, including Best Film at the Filmfare Awards.

He subsequently went on to make appearances in several commercials, notably for Karbonn, Mountain Dew, and Titan.

The film began production in December 2014 and featured him alongside fellow debutante, Sayesha Saigal.

The film opened to a poor response, and despite high expectations, it was a disaster at the box-office.

Following this, he went onto a two-year hiatus.

His first leading role as an adult came in the box office flop Akhil (2015), although it won him the Filmfare Best Male Debut.

His first commercial success occurred in Most Eligible Bachelor (2021).

Akhil is the son of Indian actors Nagarjuna and Amala.

Akkineni's debut film, as a full-fledged lead, was in Akhil (2015), directed by V. V. Vinayak.

It was produced by Nithiin and his family In order to prepare for the role, he enrolled in a stunt workshop with his personal trainer, Kicha, and attended workshops in Thailand, for two months.

Since then he has regularly participated in the CCL tournament, winning the 2016 edition as captain of his team.

In 2017, his second film, Hello (2017), was directed by Vikram Kumar.

It released along with Middle Class Abbayi and turned out to be a below-average grosser at the box-office, despite garnering generally positive reviews.

Following that, Akhil's third film, Mr. Majnu (2019), was directed by Venky Atluri and co-starred Niddhi Agerwal.

Despite a great pre-release buzz and successful album, it opened to mixed reviews upon release.

It eventually failed, becoming Akhil's third consecutive failure.

In October 2021, his fourth film, the rom com, Most Eligible Bachelor was released.

It co-starred Pooja Hegde and was directed by Bommarillu and Parugu fame, Bhaskar.

It was produced by Bunny Vas and Vasu Varma, under GA2.

It became a hit and gave Akhil a long-awaited box office success.