Kireeti Damaraju – Engineer Actor of Telugu cinema

Kireeti Damaraju is a popular Telugu film actor, best known for supporting roles. He entered film scene with 2013 movie, Second Hand, followed by Uyyala Jampala, and since then played some of the memorable roles on Telugu screen. Meeku Meere Maku Meme, Vunnadhi Okate Zindagi, Taxiwaala, Vijeta, Chal Mohan Ranga, Mental Madhilo, Bham Bolenath, Pressure Cooker, Yevade Subramanyam etc are some of his character roles on screen. He is a theatre artist turned film actor, and also an engineer by profession. He was a contestant of Bigg Boss Telugu – Season 2.

He started off his acting career with short films before promoting to full-length films

Kireeti Damaraju hails from Guntur of Andhra Pradesh, and he grew up in Hyderabad. He grew up watching movies. Yet it was only after his engineering studies, he wanted to do something related to films. He concentrated on theater and worked with an MNC five days a week in Bangalore. As a learning process he developed a habit to watch movies at weekends. His acting dreams were initially opposed by his orthodox family.

He marked his acting debut with the short film Ontiganta in 2011, followed by Anukokunda. It was selected for Cannes film festival, which earned him recognition as well as the first full-length movie, Second Hand, where he portrayed “Subbarao”. His role as Murli in his third release, Uyyala Jampala gave him an early breakthrough. Since then he is regular in Telugu cinema, and a popular face. He is also an engineer by profession who works in a multinational company, and plays supporting roles on big screen.

Kireeti Damaraju – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He is equally interested in acting and engineering career, and carries both professions hand in hand. When acting roles come in, he never leaves them ‘empty handed’.

2. He holds Bachelors of Technology (EEE) degree from MVSR Engineering College, Hyderabad.

3. As an engineer and tester he worked for Electronic Arts, an American video game company with a branch in Hyderabad. He later worked as a user experience researcher.

4. He is an avid gamer interested in Japanese anime and manga.

5. His second short film Anukokunda was selected for Cannes film festival. It’s the first ever Telugu short film to be showcased at Cannes.

6. He has been a theatre artist before joining films and worked with with Adishakti group, where he learnt theatre professionally. He learnt eye movements and also Kalaripayattu, a form of martial arts during his stint with the theater group.

7. He played lead role in Many Happy Returns, a sitcom directed by Gunnam Gangaraju. But the TV series was not so popular.

8. He scripted, directed and hosted ‘Healthy & Organic food in Hyderabad’, a web series based on food and travel.

9. He participated in Bigg Boss Telugu – Season 2 who later turned to be a mysterious contestant which resulted in his eviction.