Recognise This Tamil Actor? Hint: He Made His Debut In 1981

A recent photo of a popular Tamil actor has captured the attention of netizens, raising speculation and curiosity. He used to rule the Tamil film industry from 1986 to 2000. The snapshot that went viral is from the 1987 movie Vedham Pudhithu. In the photo, the actor is seen posing with the actress, who is laying her head on his shoulder.

Can you guess the actor? Yes, you guessed it right. It’s none other than Daggubati Venkatesh, who is popularly known as Raja. The actor has not only worked in the Tamil entertainment industry but has also been part of a few Malayalam and Telugu language films. The actor made his debut in 1981 with the Tamil film Paakku Vethalai.

However, his snap that went viral is from the movie Vedham Pudhithu, written and directed by Bharathiraja. It is based on the play Saadhigal Illaiyadi Papa, written by K. Kannan, who, after this film, came to be known as Vedham Pudhithu Kannan. Apart from Raja, the film also featured Sathyaraj, Saritha, and Amala in the lead roles, along with Nizhalgal Ravi, Janagaraj, and Master Dasarathi in supporting roles.

The movie revolves around an atheist whose son falls in love with a Brahmin woman in the same village, leading to catastrophic consequences. The film was a huge commercial success and also bagged three Filmfare Awards, including South: Best Film (Tamil), Best Director (Tamil), and Best Actor (Tamil).

Raja has acted in several popular movies, like Ithu Engal Neethi, Vaazhkai Chakkaram, Ente Sooryaputhrikku, Sukham Sukhakaram, and Kannukku Kannaga, to name a few.

However, he was recently seen in the Telugu-language action film Skanda. It was directed by Boyapati Srinu and produced by Srinivasaa Chitturi under the banner of Srinivasaa Silver Screen, in collaboration with Zee Studios. The film features Ram Pothineni in a dual role, with Sreeleela, Saiee Manjrekar, Srikanth, Sharath Lohithaswa, Ajay Purkar, Daggubati Raja, and Prince Cecil playing the supporting roles.

The music for the film was composed by Thaman S, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Santosh Detake and Tammiraju, respectively. Skanda was released on September 28 and received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. The film grossed Rs 59.20 crore against the budget of Rs 50 crore and became a box-office bomb.