Sumanth Birthday Special! Unseen photos of Tollywood’s most underrated hero

2020 happens to be the 21st year for Sumanth Kumar in Telugu cinema and the 45-year-old actor is going great guns by picking up unconventional scripts and playing unique protagonists. Despite only a few hits in his kitty, this most-loved grandson of legendary thespian Akkineni Nageswara Rao is still a bankable lead at the box-office courtesy his solid acting chops, handsome looks and natural screen-presence. Adopted by his maternal grandparents after birth, Sumanth spent all of his childhood in Hyderabad before going to the United States for under-graduation.

After obtaining a Degree in Chicago, Sumanth started his acting journey by essaying the lead role in Ram Gopal Varma’s 1999 romantic-drama ‘Prema Katha’. Despite moderate success on the commercial scale, the Akkineni actor was praised for his heart-touching performance and adorable screen-presence. After a series of failures in the last decade, Sumanth bounced back into form with the surprise success of his rom-com ‘Malli Raava’ in 2017. On his 45th birthday, check out some unseen pics of this most underrated Telugu hero.

Sumanth was born to Telugu producer Surendra Yarlagadda and late Satyavathi Akkineni, the eldest daughter of ANR. Though his parents went back to the United States a few months after his birth, Sumanth remained in India on his maternal grandfather’s (ANR) request, who was recovering from a major heart surgery. As his illustrious film career prevented him from fully experiencing fatherhood with his own children, Nageswara Rao wished to raise his first grandchild himself to which everyone obliged. Among all family members, Sumanth is very much attached to his grandparents and couldn’t cope up with their deaths for many years.

The introvert completed his entire childhood education at the Hyderabad Public School. Popular politician YS Jaganmohan Reddy was his classmate and close friend who followed him to the United States to pursue graduation. Enrolled in an engineering course at Michigan, Sumanth realised that the professional study was not his cup of tea after two years. So, he got transferred to the Columbia College in Chicago, from where he was graduated with a BA in Film Studies. Sumanth was also selected to the Dean's List during the final two semesters due to his academic excellence.

Sumanth made his acting debut with Ram Gopal Varma’s 1999 romantic-drama ‘Prema Katha’. Despite moderate success on the commercial scale, the Akkineni actor was praised for his heart-touching performance and adorable screen-presence in the film. His next film ‘Yuvakudu’ opposite Bhumika Chawla was critically hailed. After experiencing a hat-trick of flops, Sumanth took a two-year break and returned to the silver screen with the first blockbuster of his career ‘Satyam’. Starring debutante Genelia D’Souza as the female lead, the romantic entertainer was the highest-grossing film of the year. He acquired yet another super-hit a few years later with Sekhar Kammula’s ‘Godavari’.

Going great places in his film career after ‘Satyam’, Sumanth found his lady love in Keerthi Reddy, the heroine of Pawan Kalyan’s Tholi Prema. With parents’ green signal from both sides, the pair tied the knot in August 2004. However, due to constant differences, their wedding life couldn’t last for more than a year and eventually ended in a divorce. While Keerthi married another guy in the following years and lived happily, Sumanth stayed single along with his grandparents. Despite all of this, both are still good friends and share a cordial relationship.

After a series of failures in the last decade, Sumanth bounced back into form with the surprise success of the rom-com ‘Malli Raava’ in 2017. He excelled in the complex role of Karthik and showcased some wonderful chemistry opposite Aakanksha Singh in the Gowtam Tinnanuri directorial. In the first part of NTR biopic, Sumanth looked like a splitting image of ANR and nearly matched the doyen of Telugu cinema in terms of mannerisms and expressions. On many occasions, he confessed that Superstar Mahesh Babu is his favourite actor. At present, Sumanth is busy shooting for Kapatadhaari, the Telugu remake of Kannada superhit Kavaludaari.