Priyadarshi Pulikonda

Priyadarshi Pulikonda is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Telugu films. He gained recognition for his role in Pelli Choopulu (2016). In addition to supporting roles, Priyadarshi played the lead in films such as Mallesham (2019), Mithai (2019), and Balagam (2023). His performance in Mallesham (2019) appeared in the "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade" by Film Companion.^[1]

Priyadarshi Pulikonda
Pulikonda in 2019
Born	(1989-08-25) August 25, 1989 (age 35) Khammam, Andhra Pradesh, India (now in Telangana, India)
Alma mater	University of Hyderabad
Occupations	Actor comedian
Years active	2016–⁠present
Spouse	Richa Sharma ​ (m. 2018)​

Early and personal life

Priyadarshi was born in a Telugu family in Khammam, India to Pulikonda Subbachary, a professor, and Jayalakshmi.^[2] Priyadarshi's parents shifted to Hyderabad when he was 2 years old and they have been living there since then. They lived in the Old City until he was 10 and later moved to Gachibowli. He did his Bachelor of Science in Statistics from MNR Degree & PG College and has a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication from the University of Hyderabad.^[3]

Priyadarshi married writer Richa Sharma in 2018, who was his senior at the University of Hyderabad.^[4]

Career

Priyadarshi played the role of a terrorist in the 2016 film Terror which was met with critical acclaim. He gained significance for his portrayal of Kaushik in the successful 2016 romantic comedy Pelli Choopulu.^[5] The film was praised for story line, performances and clean humour and Priyadarshi was praised for his speech in Telangana dialect in the film.^[6] He has acted in a web series Loser in which he played the role of a rifle shooter. His performance was appreciated by critics.^[7]

In an interview with The Hindu, he said he was inspired to become an actor after watching Sagara Sangamam, calling it a "paradigm shift". He is a fan of actors Kamal Haasan and Chiranjeevi, and directors K. Balachander, K. Viswanath, and Singeetam Srinivasa Rao.^[3]

Besides working in several short films, he has appeared in Jai Lava Kusa, which stars NTR Jr., Nivetha Thomas and Raashi Khanna. He also appeared in the Mahesh Babu starrer Spyder, directed by AR Murugadoss.

Filmography

Telugu films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Terror	Terrorist
	Pelli Choopulu	Kaushik
	Bommala Ramaram	Ramanna
2017	Ghazi	Lt. Nilesh Mishra
	Winner
	Arjun Reddy	Vipul
	Keshava	Keshava's friend
	Mister	Doctor
	Babu Baga Busy
	Darsakudu
	Yuddham Sharanam	Alex
	Jai Lava Kusa	Obulesh ‘Obs’
	Spyder	Vinay
	Vunnadhi Okate Zindagi	Sathish
	Egise Tarajuvvalu	Somaraju
	Middle Class Abbayi	Darshi
	Idi Maa Prema Katha
2018	Rangula Ratnam	Vishnu's friend
	Kanam	Sub Inspector Agni
	Tholi Prema	Ravi
	Manasuku Nachindi	Sarath
	Awe	Nala
	Nela Ticket	Lawyer Yadagiri
	W/O Ram	Police Officer Chary
	Padi Padi Leche Manasu	Darshi
2019	F2	Darshi
	Mr. Majnu	Chitti
	Mallesham	Chintakindi Mallesham
	1st Rank Raju	Chintu
	Mithai	Jani
	Brochevarevarura	Rocky
	Gang Leader	Ramakrishna
	Rama Chakkani Seetha	Pushkar
2020	World Famous Lover	Gautham's friend
	Bombhaat	Karun
	Guvva Gorinka	Raghuram
2021	Mail	Hybath
	Naandhi	Radha Prakash	[8]
	Jathi Ratnalu	Jogipet Sekhar
	A1 Express	Darshi
	Ichata Vahanamulu Niluparadu	Puli
	WWW	Ashraf
2022	Radhe Shyam	Subbarao
	Sita Ramam	Journalist Marthandam
	Oke Oka Jeevitham	Chaitanya "Chaitu"
	Gurthunda Seethakalam	Dev's friend
2023	Balagam	Saayilu
	Mangalavaaram	Ravi
	Hi Nanna	Justin	[9]
2024	Thappinchuku Thiruguvadu Dhanyudu Sumathi
	Om Bheem Bush	Vinay Gummadi
	Darling	Raghava	[10]
	35 Chinna Katha Kaadu	Chanakya Varma	[11]
2025	Game Changer	Ram's friend
	Court – State vs a Nobody	Surya Teja	[12]
	28 Degree Celsius
	Sarangapani Jathakam	Sarangapani	[13]

Voice actor

Year	Title	Actor	Notes	Ref.
2018	Gang	RJ Balaji	Telugu dubbed version	[14]
2019	Frozen 2	Olaf		[15]

Other language films

Year	Title	Role	Language
2017	The Ghazi Attack	Lt. Nilesh Mishra	Hindi
	Take Off	Indian in Iraq	Malayalam
	Spyder	Madhu	Tamil
2018	NOTA	Wong
2022	Radhe Shyam	pyaare mohan	Hindi

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Ref.
2020–present	Loser	Suri Yadav	ZEE5	[16]
2020	Story Discussion	DOP	Avanti Cinema
2021	In the Name of God	Aadi	Aha
	Unheard	Badri	Disney+ Hotstar	[17]
2023–present	Save the Tigers	Ghanta Ravi

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2016	2nd IIFA Utsavam	Best Performance In A Comic Role – Telugu	Pelli Choopulu	Won	[18]
2017	7th South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Comedian – Telugu		Won	[19]
2019	Radio City Cine Awards S2	Best Comedian	Tholi Prema	Won	[20]
2020	Zee Cine Awards Telugu	Best Comedian	Brochevarevarura	Won	[21]
	Critics' Choice Film Awards	Best Actor – Male	Mallesham	Nominated	[22]
2021	9th South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Comedian – Telugu	Brochevarevarura	Nominated