Actor, writer and director · Telugu cinema
J. D. Chakravarthy
J. D. Chakravarthy movies: 38 Telugu films on file (37 as actor, 5 as writer, 4 as director), 1989–2026. Earliest on file: Siva (1989). Latest release: Gaayapadda Simham (1 May 2026). Next: Haindava (27 November 2026).
- Films on file
- 38 (37 as actor, 5 as writer, 4 as director)
- Years on file
- 1989–2026
- Born
- 16 April 1972 · April birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Anaganaga Oka Roju, Gulabi, Nakshatram
- Record
- Q6105225 on Wikidata
J. D. Chakravarthy (born Nagulapati Srinivasa Chakravarthy) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter and musician who works mainly in Telugu cinema, along with Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam films. He made his screen debut in Ram Gopal Varma‘s blockbuster Siva (1989), and starred in Varma’s Hindi crime film Satya (1998), which CNN-IBN listed among the 100 greatest Indian films. He has acted in more than seventy films.
Early life
Chakravarthy was born in Hyderabad to the Carnatic singer Prof. Dr. Kovela Shantha and Nagulapati Suryanarayana Rao. His elder sister, Vijayanthi, lives in the United States. He went to St. George’s Grammar School in Hyderabad and earned a B.E. from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology.
Siva and early films
In Siva, Varma’s first film, he played one of the student leaders, J.D. The film was shown at the 12th IFFI. The same year he had a supporting role in the Malayalam film Ennodu Ishtam Koodamo, and he made his Hindi debut in the 1990 remake, Shiva. He then committed himself to films made under his mentor Varma’s production.
Telugu hits
He worked with many leading Telugu directors of the time, including Krishna Vamsi, S. V. Krishna Reddy, K. Raghavendra Rao, Kodi Ramakrishna, E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Gunasekhar and Vamsy. His box office hits include Neti Siddhartha (1990), Money (1993), Money Money (1994), Gulabi (1995), Bombay Priyudu (1996), Anaganaga Oka Roju (1997), Egire Paavurama (1997), Premaku Velayara (1999), Pape Naa Pranam (2000) and Madhyanam Hathya (2004). Gulabi won him a Nandi Special Jury Award.
Satya and Hindi films
Satya, his first Hindi film as a lead, was critically acclaimed, a commercial blockbuster and part of the Indian Panorama at the 29th IFFI; it won him a Screen Award Special Jury Award. He also acted in Hindi films such as Vaastu Shastra, Aag and Bhoot Returns, and in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film Kannathil Muthamittal (2002) he played the Eelam fighter Dileepan.
Director and later roles
His directorial debut was the Hindi film Darwaaza Bandh Rakho, and he contributed to the anthology Darna Zaroori Hai. He returned to Telugu in 2008 with Homam, which he directed and acted in, and then directed Siddham. He appeared in the Tamil film Sarvam with Trisha, and in the Malayalam film Bhaskar the Rascal (2016) opposite Nayanthara. More recently he won a Best Supporting Actor award at the Eko International Film Festival for Dahini: The Witch (2022), and appeared in Dayaa (2023).
Career on file
J. D. Chakravarthy has 38 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1989 to 2026: 37 films as actor, five films as writer and four films as director. The earliest of them is Siva (1989), and the most recent release is Gaayapadda Simham (2026). One more film, Haindava (2026), is dated for later. Measured by how many Wikipedia language editions cover them, the best-known titles here are Anaganaga Oka Roju (1995), Gulabi (1995) and Nakshatram (2017). Other recent releases on file are Hippi (2019), Dynamite (2015) and Ice Cream 2 (2014).
Brahmanandam is the most frequent co-star, sharing 17 films with J. D. Chakravarthy, followed by Kota Srinivasa Rao (9) and Chandra Mohan (5). Among directors, Ram Gopal Varma cast J. D. Chakravarthy most often, in five films; next are S. V. Krishna Reddy (4) and Shiva Nageswara Rao (3). M. M. Keeravani, S. V. Krishna Reddy and Sri Kommineni each scored four of them, more than any other music director; next are Amar Mohile (2) and Koti (2). Varma Creations produced three of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 23 different directors, 27 music directors and 83 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 22 of them; they average 139 minutes, and the longest is Josh at 169 minutes. Three of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1980s (1), 1990s (17), 2000s (12), 2010s (6) and 2020s (2).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.
Upcoming movies (1)
All upcoming Telugu movies · Dates are those on record and can change.