Nikhil Siddhartha

Nikhil Siddhartha
Nikhil Siddhartha at an interview in 2017
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

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 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]

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 ₹25,000 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.

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

• All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.

• Nikhil Siddharth at IMDb