# Adivi Sesh

Adivi Sesh Sunny Chandra (born 17 December 1984) is an Indian actor, director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. Known for his work in action and suspense thrillers, he's received various awards including an IIFA Award Telugu, a SIIMA Award, and a Nandi Award.
Sesh was born in Hyderabad and was raised in Berkeley, California. He made his film debut in 2010 as a lead actor and director with the romance Karma and gained recognition for his antagonistic roles in Panjaa (2011), Balupu (2013), and Baahubali: The Beginning (2015). Sesh then established himself as a leading man by starring in commercial and critical successes such as Dongaata (2015), Kshanam (2016), Ami Thumi (2017), Goodachari (2018), Evaru (2019), Major (2022), and HIT: The Second Case (2022).

## Early life

Adivi Sesh Sunny Chandra was born 17 December 1984 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now in Telangana), India. He was raised in Berkeley, California, United States, where he attended Berkeley High School and did his undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University.
Sesh has a younger sister, who is a doctor in the US. His cousin, Sai Kiran Adivi, is a film director. Sesh's grand uncle, Adivi Baapiraju, was a novelist, playwright, and freedom fighter. Sesh is a vegetarian.

## Career

Sesh debuted as an actor in the film Sontham (2002) in a small guest appearance. He debuted as a director and writer in the 2010 film Karma, which also starred Jade Tailor and Sher Ali. Sesh's portrayal of Dev, a person who can fore-see events mere seconds before they happen, was well appreciated. Rediff praised his performance stating "As far as acting goes, Sesh Adivi does a good job. With an 'angelic' face he is an apt choice to play enigmatic Dev. His scripting skills also deserve mention. He may have chosen an unconventional path and a novel theme but he has tried to infuse something new in Telugu cinema."
In 2011, Sesh appeared in Vishnuvardhan's Panjaa. In this film, Sesh portrayed the role of Munna, an NRI who is a wealthy spoiled brat and a dangerous person to those around him. This also marked his debut as a villain. His performance was highly appreciated by critics. Rediff said of his performance, "Sesh Adivi is worth watching for his 'maniacal' performance which is just the opposite of what he did in Karma, his directorial and acting debut." CineGoer.com also praised his performance, saying "Sesh's Karma changes for the good with this film and he is quite a revelation." After this, he acted in the movie Balupu as a villain. Following this, he starred in and directed the film Kiss, the only critical flop in his career up to that point. He then did a supporting role in the hit Run Raja Run. After this, he played lead again in Ladies & Gentlemen and Dongaata in 2015. He then appeared in a supporting role in S. S. Rajamouli's epic drama Baahubali: The Beginning.
In 2016, Sesh starred in Kshanam, the story and screenplay of which was written by him along with Ravikanth Perepu, the director of the film. With this film, Sesh got the attention from the audience and industry. After Kshanam, he rejected more than 50 scripts that offered him the lead role. He then appeared in a cameo role in Size Zero and the Karthi starrer Oopiri. Around then, he appeared in Ami Thumi, a comedy film directed by Mohanakrishna Indraganti. His next film, Goodachari, an action thriller released on 3 August 2018 to positive reviews and became a super hit, and closed on 6 September at the box office 33 days after release. The film was written by him and directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka. He next did a special appearance in Oh! Baby, starring Samantha Akkineni. Following this was the suspense thriller Evaru, written and directed by Venkat Ramji. It released on 15 August 2019 to positive reviews, and went on to become a hit running for more than 4 weeks in theatres.
His next film Major, a biopic of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan released on 3 June 2022, and received several accolades along with becoming a commercial hit. In April 2020, Sesh confirmed that he's begun scripting Goodachari 2, a sequel to his 2018 spy thriller Goodachari. Sesh then featured as lead in the investigative drama HIT: The Second Case. This film too went on to become a critical as well as box office success.

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |

### As an actor

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Sontham | Venkat | |
| 2010 | Karma | Dev | |
| 2011 | Panjaa | Munna | |
| 2013 | Balupu | Rohit | |
| 2013 | Kiss | Sunny | |
| 2014 | Run Raja Run | Nayeem Basha | |
| 2015 | Ladies & Gentlemen | Rahul | |
| 2015 | Baahubali: The Beginning | Bhadrudu / Bhadra | |
| 2015 | Dongaata | Venkat | |
| 2015 | Size Zero | Shekar | Cameo appearance |
| 2016 | Kshanam | Rishi | |
| 2016 | Oopiri | Abhinav | Cameo appearance |
| 2017 | Ami Thumi | Ananth | |
| 2018 | Goodachari | M. Gopi / M. Arjun Kumar | |
| 2019 | Oh! Baby | Savitri's Husband | Cameo appearance |
| 2019 | Evaru | Vikram Vasudev (Fake) / Adarsh Varma | |
| 2022 | Major | Sandeep Unnikrishnan | Simultaneously shot in Hindi |
| 2022 | HIT: The Second Case | Krishna Dev "KD" | |
| TBA | G2 † | M. Gopi / M. Arjun Kumar | Filming |
| TBA | Dacoit: A Love Story † | | Filming; also writer; simultaneously shot in Hindi |

### Other crew positions

| Year | Title | Writer | Director |
| 2010 | Karma | Yes | Yes |
| 2013 | Kiss | Yes | Yes |
| 2016 | Kshanam | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Goodachari | Yes | No |
| 2022 | Major | Yes | No |
| TBA | G2 † | Yes | No |
| TBA | Dacoit: A Love Story † | Yes | No |

## Awards and nominations

| Work | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
| Kiss | 3rd SIIMA Awards | Best Male Debut – Telugu | Nominated | |
| Kshanam | Nandi Awards of 2016 | Best Screenplay Writer | Won | |
| Kshanam | 2nd IIFA Utsavam | Best Screenplay | Won | [47] [48] |
| Kshanam | 2nd IIFA Utsavam | Best Story | Nominated | [47] [48] |
| Major | 11th SIIMA Awards | Critics Best Actor – Telugu | Won | |
| Major | 68th Filmfare Awards South | Best Actor – Telugu | Nominated | |
| Major | 21st Santosham Film Awards | Best Actor | Won | |

### Other honors

| Award | Category | Result | Ref |
| Pinkvilla Style Icons Awards | Stylish Game Changer - Male | Won | |