Rajendra Prasad

Gadde Rajendra Prasad (born 19 July 1954) is an Indian film actor who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. In 1991, he received Andhra Pradesh state's Nandi Award for Best Actor for Erra Mandaram and after almost 15 years, he received his second Nandi Award for Best Actor for Aa Naluguru, additionally, he has also received an Honorary doctorate from Andhra University. In 2012, he starred in the medical thriller Dream, for which he won the Royal Reel Award along with director K. Bhavani Shankar at the Canada International Film Festival

He has been honoured with the title "Hasya Kireeti" by the Telugu Alliances of Canada, held at Mississauga. He was also honoured to walk the green carpet at the IIFA film festival held in 2009, marking his performance in the Hollywood film, Quick Gun Murugun. The film was also screened at the London Film Festival, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, the New York Asian Film Festival and in The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

He was elected president of MAA for two years in April 2015.

Prasad was born into a middle-class family to Gadde Venkata Narayana and Manikyamba from Nimmakuru, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a teacher. Prasad completed his graduation with a diploma in Ceramic Engineering before entering the film industry. He joined a company, but had to resign from the job because he was too young. After witnessing the shooting of the film, Tatamma Kala, he had an ambition to join the industry, and with the suggestion of N.T.R and N. Trivikrama Rao he joined an acting school.

Prasad made his debut as an actor on the silver screen with the film Sneham (1977), directed by Bapu. Initially he worked as a dubbing artist and played many supporting roles. He played a supporting role in the film Ramarajyamlo Bheemaraju, starring Krishna, which fetched him a chance in 14 films.

He was identified by director Vamsy to play a lead role in his film, Preminchu Pelladu. He rose to fame with Vamsy's Ladies Tailor. He continued to act in supporting roles while also playing lead roles. In a career of over 35 years, he acted in more than 200 Telugu films and few Tamil films. Prasad has been called a great comedy actor and is fondly called the King of Comedy and Natakireeti in Andhra Pradesh.

His collaboration with director Jandhyala in Aha Naa Pellanta established him as a overnight star. He also made successful collaboration with directors Vamsy, E. V. V. Satyanarayana, S. V. Krishna Reddy and Relangi Narasimha Rao. Notably, Relangi made 32 films (out of 70 as director) with Prasad. One major role which garnered him a lot of accolades was in the movie Aa Naluguru, for which he has won the State Nandi Award for the second time in his career. Critically acclaimed films such as Mee Sreyobhilashi and Onamalu made him one of the most promising actors in Telugu film industry. He acted as Lord Hanuman in the blockbuster multi-starrer film Devullu.

He played remarkable characters as supporting artist in films such as Julai, Aagadu, S/O Satyamurthy, Srimanthudu and Nannaku Prematho as well as elderly characters in films like Dagudumoota Dandakore.

Telugu people emigrated abroad would take Prasad's movies along with them, such was the popularity and impact of his films on at least two generations of Telugu people. The then prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao too was a huge fan of Prasad.

He was elected as a President of Movie Artist Association (MAA) during the year 2015, with a majority of 85 votes against actress Jayasudha while Sivaji Raja was elected as a General Secretary of MAA during the same period.

Nandi Awards

• Nandi Award for Best Actor (1991) for Erra Mandaram
• Nandi Special Jury Award (1994) for Madam
• Nandi Award for Best Actor (2004) for Aa Naluguru
• Nandi Award for Best Character Actor (2014) for Tommy

South Indian International Movie Awards

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role (2013) for Julai
• Best Actor In A Supporting Role (2016) for Srimanthudu
• Best Actor In A Supporting Role (2019) for Mahanati

CineMAA Awards

• CineMAA Award for Best Outstanding Actor – Onamalu (2013)