India at Oscars: From his debut film Simhadri to RRR, how Jr NTR rose to fame

Jr NTR is on cloud 9 as his film RRR's song Naatu Naatu has been nominated in the category of Best Original Song. Apart from him, the film also stars Ram Charan, Shriya Saran, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt in big roles. 

Directed by SS Rajamouli, the period drama was a massive hit globally and won many awards in the west. Now, Before Jr NTR makes an appearance on the Oscars red carpet, take a glance at his journey so far.

About Jr NTR's childhood

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr aka Jr NTR was born in 1983 in a Telugu family of actors and politicians. His grandfather NT Rama Rao Sr was a veteran actor and also the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Jr NTR, who is also a trained Kuchipudi dancer, completed his studies in Hyderabad. 

Jr NTR's debut in films

The actor made his debut as a child artist with films, Brahmarshi Viswamitra (1991), and Ramayanam (1997). The latter was written by his grandfather and went on to win a National Film Award for Best Children's Film. His performance was also praised by the critics. 

Years later, after starring in a few projects, Jr NTR bagged SS Rajamouli's debut directorial Student No. 1. The film became very successful at the box office. Post this, Jr NTR never looked back. He collaborated with SS Rajamouli once again in Simhadri (2003) and the film got commercial and critical success at the box office. It became the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time. 

Apart from that, Jr NTR's performance in socio-fantasy film Yamadonga gathered him praises from all over. He underwent a fitness transformation for this film which was also directed by SS Rajamouli. He had shed 20 kgs and went down to 74 kilos from 94 kilos to play the role of Raja. 

Jr NTR in politics

In the year 2009, the actor took a year's break to campaign for Telugu Desam Party (TDP) during the general elections.

Jr NTR's success in films 

By this time in his career, Jr NTR had already established himself as a popular actor in Tollywood. However, films including sleeper success like Baadshah became commercial hits which took the actor to new heights. Later, he gave multiple successful movies like Nannaku Prematho (2016), Janatha Garage (2016), Jai Lava Kusa (2017), Aravinda Sametha (2018).

Post all these films, Jr NTR went on to work with SS Rajamouli once again in his film RRR. The film became a worldwide success and gained global attention for its story, direction and music. The actor essayed the role of 20th century freedom fighter Komaram Bheem.

RRR won big in the west and put Telugu cinema on the global map. Now, the actor is prepping to be a part of Oscars to support his film's track Naatu Naatu.