N. T. Rama Rao Jr (born 20 May 1983), also known as NTR Jr., is an Indian actor and television personality who works in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in 31 films and is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards, two Nandi Awards, and two SIIMA Awards.

NTR first appeared as a child artist in the film to play the titular role as god Rama in the 1997 mythological film Ramayanam. Rao made his debut as an adult lead actor in 2001 with the film Ninnu Choodalani. He achieved his breakthrough in the same year with the S. S. Rajamouli's directorial debut, the coming-of-age film Student No: 1.

While Subbu which was released in the same year could not impress the audience, his 2002 action film Aadi was a massive box office success. For the film, Rao received Nandi Special Jury Award presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The two next films Allari Ramudu and Naaga were back-to-back failures. His second collaboration with the director S. S. Rajamouli was the 2003 action film Simhadri, which ended up as one of the biggest blockbusters of that year. In the film, Rao is seen as a kind-hearted man, Simhadri who has a violent past. In 2004, Rao played a dual role for the first time film Andhrawala directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film could not reach the high expectations of the audience and bombed at the box office. Samba which released in the same year had a good response but his subsequent films Naa Alludu, Narasimhudu and Ashok were a string of failures.

In 2006, Rao starred in the film Rakhi. Although the film was an average grosser, his performance as an innocent man turned vigilante, particularly in the climax sequence, was highly praised. In 2007, Rao made his third collaboration with the director S. S. Rajamouli for the socio-fantasy film, Yamadonga. For this film, the actor made a complete body transformation and shed extra kilos. The film was praised for its unique story and performances and became one of the biggest hits of that year. Rao won his first Filmfare Award as Best Actor – Telugu for the film.

In 2010, Rao featured in two films, Adhurs and Brindavanam, both of them were successful ventures and became an integral part of Telugu pop culture. Over the next few years, Rao starred in several films, notably Oosaravelli and Baadshah. His consequent films, Ramayya Vasthavayya and Rabhasa were box office failures which received lukewarm response both audience and his fans alike, for which Rao was deeply disappointed and promised his fans to work harder. In 2015, Rao made his second collaboration with the director Puri Jagannadh in the action film Temper which gave the actor a much needed comeback. In the film, he played a corrupt police officer, whose life changes after stumbling upon a rape case. In his landmark 25th film, Rao featured in the 2016 thriller – drama, Nannaku Prematho written and directed by Sukumar. The film explored emotional relationship between a father and his son spanning the last 30 days of the father's life. Despite being an average grosser domestically, the film performed exceedingly well in the overseas. In the same year, his film Janatha Garage, directed by Koratala Siva and co-starred by Malayalam film superstar Mohanlal, became the highest-grossing Tollywood film of that year collecting nearly 1.40 billion. In 2017, Rao played triple role for the first time in the action film Jai Lava Kusa which also grossed more than 1 billion. In the same year, he featured as the host for the first season of the television series Bigg Boss.

In 2018, the actor teamed up with the director Trivikram for the action drama film, Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava. In the film, Rao played a young man who decides to put an end to the bloodshed between two warring villages. The film received positive feedback, with Rao's performance being well received. In 2021, Rao returned to television as a host for the game show Evaru Meelo Koteeswarulu, the Telugu version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. In his fourth collaboration with the director S. S. Rajamouli, Rao played the role of the Indian revolutionary, Komaram Bheem in the period action film RRR. The film became a global phenomenon, receiving appreciation from India and overseas. The performance of Rao as Komaram Bheem has been lauded by the audience and critics alike. He carefully finalised the script for his first film post RRR, and collaborated with Koratala Siva after Janatha Garage for Devara: Part 1 which opened to mixed reviews but became a huge commercial success. He also made his Hindi cinema debut with War 2, the sequel to War (2019), in which he co-starred with Hrithik Roshan. The film is a part of the YRF Spy Universe. His next film, titled Dragon will be directed by Prashanth Neel.

Film

All films in this list are in Telugu unless otherwise indicated.

+ List of N. T. Rama Rao Jr. film credits as an actorYearTitleRole(s)Notes1991Brahmarshi ViswamitraBharataChild Actor1997RamayanamRama2001Ninnu ChoodalaniVenu ReddyDebut as lead actor Student No: 1Aditya RaoSubbuBala Subramanyam2002AadhiAadhi Kesava ReddyAllari RamuduRamakrishna2003NaagaNagarajuSimhadriSimhadri / Singamalai2004AndhrawalaMunna / Shankar PehelwanSambaSamba Shiva Naidu2005Naa AlluduKarthik "Suryam" / MuruganNarasimhuduKondaveedi Narasimhudu2006AshokAshokRakhiK. Ramakrishna / Rakhi 2007YamadongaRaja / Young Yama Dharma Raja2008KantriKranthi "Kantri"Chintakayala RaviHimselfSpecial appearance in the song "Shaava Shaava"2010AdhursNarasimha / ChariRama Rama Krishna Krishna Narrator Voice roleBrindavanamKrishna "Krish" 2011SakthiSakthi Swaroop / Maha RudraOosaravelliTony2012DammuRamachandra / Raja Vijay Dhwaja Sri Simha2013BaadshahN. T. Rama Rao / BaadshahRamayya VasthavayyaNandu / Ramu 2014RabhasaKarthik2015TemperDaya2016Nannaku PremathoAbhiram25th filmJanatha GarageAnand2017Jai Lava KusaJai Kumar "Raavan" / Lava Kumar / Kusa Kumar2018Aravinda Sametha Veera RaghavaVeera Raghava Reddy2022RRRKomaram Bheem 2024Devara: Part 1Devara / Vara 2025War 2Major Vikram ChelapathiHindi film 2027 Luger / Dragon Filming

Television YearTitleRoleNetworkNotes1996Bhaktha MarkandeyaBhaktha MarkandeyaETVCameo2017Bigg Boss 1HostStar Maa2021Evaru Meelo KoteeswaruluHostGemini TV2024Modern Masters: S. S. RajamouliHimselfNetflixDocumentary filmRRR: Behind and BeyondHimselfDocumentary film

Notes

References

External links N. T. Rama Rao Jr. filmography at IMDb