Adivi Sesh (born 17 December 1985) is an Indian actor, director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the few actors in the Telugu Film Industry to consistently write the stories and screenplays of his own films, creating a unique actor-writer identity. Known for his work in action and suspense thrillers, he has received various awards including an IIFA Award Telugu, a SIIMA Award, and a Nandi Award He also won the first Gaddar Awards for his role in Major.

Sesh was born in Hyderabad and was raised in Berkeley, California. He made his film debut in 2002 in a small role for Sontham movie which starred Aryan Rajesh and Namitha and in 2010 as a lead actor and director with the romance Karma and gained recognition as an antagonist in Panjaa (2011), Balupu (2013), and Baahubali: The Beginning (2015).

Sesh then established himself as a leading man by writing and starring in successful action films such as Kshanam (2016), Goodachari (2018), Evaru (2019), Major (2022), HIT: The Second Case (2022) and Dacoit: A Love Story (2026).

Early life Adivi Sesh Sunny Chandra was born 17 December 1985 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now in Telangana), India to Chandra Adivi, a doctor, and Bhavana Adivi. He studied at Padma Seshadri in Chennai, Tamil Nadu for a few years. He was raised in Berkeley, California, United States, where he attended Berkeley High School and started his undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University but eventually dropped out.; Event occurs from 7:33 to 8:21

Sesh has a younger sister, who is a doctor in the US. His cousin, Sai Kiran Adivi, is a film director. Sesh is a vegetarian. He appealed to the Committee for Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA) to take action against animal testing at research facilities.

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 stars Jade Tailor and Sher Ali. Sesh's portrayal of Dev, a person who can foresee 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 won the attention from the audience and industry. After Kshanam, he rejected more than fifty 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. In 2026, he starred in Dacoit: A Love Story along with Mrunal Thakur, Anurag Kashyap, Atul Kulkarni and Zayn Marie Khan. Directed by Shaneil Deo, it was released on 10 April 2026.

Filmography

As an actor Year Title Role Notes 2002 Sontham Venkat Debut film; minor role 2010 Karma Dev Debut as lead actor; also writer and director 2011 Panjaa Munna 2013 Balupu Rohit Kiss Sunny Also writer and director 2014 Run Raja Run SI Nayeem Basha 2015 Ladies & Gentlemen Rahul Baahubali: The Beginning Bhadrudu / Bhadra Simultaneously shot in Tamil Dongaata Venkat Size Zero Sekhar Simultaneously shot in Tamil; cameo appearance2016Kshanam Rishi Also writer Oopiri Abhinav Cameo appearance2017 Ami Thumi Ananth 2018Goodachari M. Gopi / M. Arjun Kumar Also writer2019 Oh! Baby Savitri's husband Cameo appearance Evaru SI Vikram Vasudev / Adarsh Varma 2022 MajorMajor Sandeep UnnikrishnanSimultaneously shot in Hindi; also writer HIT: The Second CaseSP Krishna Dev IPS "KD" 2025 HIT: The Third Case Cameo appearanceBaahubali: The EpicBhadruduCombined re-release version of The Beginning and The Conclusion2026 Dacoit: A Love Story Haridas "Hari" Simultaneously shot in Hindi; also co-writer 2027 M. Gopi / M. Arjun Kumar alias Agent Gopi 116Also writer; Filming

Other crew positions Year Title Director WriterNotes 2010 Karma Dialogues also 2013 Kiss 2016Kshanam Screenplay also 2018 Goodachari 2022 Major 2026Dacoit: A Love Story Screenplay also 2027G2

Awards and nominations Work Award Category Result RefKiss3rd SIIMA Awards Best Male Debut – Telugu KshanamNandi Awards of 2016 Best Screenplay Writer2nd IIFA UtsavamBest Screenplay Best StoryMajor11th SIIMA AwardsCritics Best Actor – Telugu68th Filmfare Awards SouthBest Actor – Telugu21st Santosham Film AwardsBest ActorGaddar Telangana Film AwardsBest Feature Film

Other honours Award Category Result RefPinkvilla Style Icons AwardsStylish Game Changer - Male

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