Nikhil Siddhartha

Nikhil Siddhartha (formerly credited as Nikhil Siddharth; born 1 June 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He played supporting roles in various films before being cast in Happy Days (2007) as one of the four male leads. The film was successful and became his breakthrough role. He later went onto play the lead in hit films such as Yuvatha (2008), Swamy Ra Ra (2013), Karthikeya (2014), Surya vs Surya (2015), Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada (2016), Kesava (2017), Arjun Suravaram (2019), and Karthikeya 2 (2022).^[2][3]

Nikhil Siddhartha
Nikhil Siddhartha in 2024
Born	(1985-06-01) 1 June 1985 (age 39)[1] Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Alma mater	Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2003–present
Spouse	Pallavi Varma ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	1

Early life

Nikhil Siddhartha was born in Begumpet, a neighbourhood of Hyderabad of present-day Telangana, India, into a Yadava family.^[1] His father, Kavali Shyam Siddhartha, hails from Mahbubnagar in Telangana.^[4] Nikhil completed his schooling from Hyderabad Public School, where he was classmates with Rana Daggubati, Ram Charan, and Sharwanand. He later graduated from Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology.^[5] His father suffered from a rare disease, corticobasal degeneration, for eight years before passing away on 28 April 2022.^[6]

Career

Nikhil started out as an assistant director for the film Hyderabad Nawabs (2006). He played minor roles in various films before being cast in Happy Days (2007). Directed by Sekhar Kammula, Nikhil played one of the four leads in the film. He was paid a remuneration of ₹25,00,000 for his role in the film and he still keeps the check with him.^[7] Happy Days was one among the few low-budget films made in 2007 that became one of the most successful movies in that year.^[8]

His first film as a solo lead was Ankit, Pallavi & Friends (2008). He next appeared in films like Yuvatha (2008), Kalavar King (2010), Aalasyam Amrutam (2010), and Veedu Theda (2011).^[9]

His 2013 film Swamy Ra Ra became a commercial success and marked a new phase in his career where he started picking distinct scripts rather than run-of-the-mill commercial films. His next film, titled Karthikeya (2014) was a critical and commercial success. Made on a budget of ₹4–6 crore, it collected more than ₹20 crore at the box office.^[10]

In 2017, Nikhil once again teamed up with Swamy Ra Ra Director Sudheer Varma for Keshava which is a revenge drama where Nikhil plays a character with a rare congenital disorder Dextrocardia, who wants to avenge the death of his family. The film released on 19 May 2017 and received positive reviews for Nikhil's performance, musical score, visuals, and backdrop of the plot.^[11][12]

His next film Kirrak Party (2018), a remake of Kannada Kirik Party (2016) opposite Samyuktha Hegde and Simran Pareenja, was a college campus film directed by Sharan Koppisetty. The film underperformed at the box office. The film's screenplay was written by Sudheer Varma and dialogues were penned by Chandoo Mondeti.^{[13][14][15][16]} His next film Arjun Suravaram released in 2019 and was successful. With the 2022 film Karthikeya 2, Nikhil entered the 100 Crore Club.

Personal life

Nikhil married Pallavi Varma on 14 May 2020.^[17] They have one child.^[18][19]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

• All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.

List of Nikhil Siddhartha film credits

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Ref.
2003	Sambaram	Car driver	Uncredited	[20]
2006	Hyderabad Nawabs	College Boy	Deccani film Minor role; Also assistant director	[21]
2007	Happy Days	Rajesh	Debut as lead actor	[22]
2008	Ankit, Pallavi & Friends	Ankit		[23]
	Yuvatha	Babu		[24]
2010	Om Shanti	Teja		[25]
	Kalavar King	Rajesh		[26]
	Aalasyam Amrutam	Ram		[27]
2011	Veedu Theda	'Katthi' Seenu		[28]
2012	Disco	Disco		[29]
2013	Swamy Ra Ra	Surya		[30]
2014	Karthikeya	Karthik		[31]
2015	Surya vs Surya	Surya		[32]
	Sankarabharanam	Gautham		[33]
2016	Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada	Arjun		[34]
2017	Keshava	Keshava		[35]
2018	Kirrak Party	Krishna		[36]
2019	Arjun Suravaram	Arjun Lenin Suravaram		[37]
2022	Karthikeya 2	Karthik		[38]
	18 Pages	Siddhu		[39]
2023	Spy	Jai Vardhan		[40]
2024	Appudo Ippudo Eppudo	Rishi		[41]
2025	Swayambhu †	TBA	Filming	[42]
TBA	The India House †	TBA	Filming	[43]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations received by Nikhil Siddhartha

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2017	49th Cinegoers Awards	Youth Magical Star Of the Year	Keshava	Won
2023	Iconic Gold Awards	Best Actor Popular	Karthikeya 2	Won	[44]
	11th South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Actor – Telugu		Nominated	[45]
		Sensation of the Year		Won
	Gama Awards	Best Actor		Won
	OTT Play Awards	Trailblazer Of The Year		Won