Some people know what they have to do from early on while some people follow the traditional education route before pursuing their passion. When it comes to South Indian actors, the story isn’t much different. While Dhanush was launched into acting before he could even complete his schooling, Rajinikanth served as coolie and bus conductor before making a career in acting, and Karthi did his masters from a foreign university before becoming an actor. Whatever be the case, we looked into the educational qualifications of famous South Indian actors.
Educational qualifications of famous South Indian actors
1. Allu Arjun
Allu Arjun, the most Googled Tollywood actor of 2021, completed his school education at St. Patrick School, Chennai. He then went on to do his bachelors and holds a Bachelor degree in Business Administration (BBA) from MSR College, Hyderabad.
2. Mahesh Babu
Mahesh Babu is an actor, producer, media personality, and philanthropist. He is popularly referred to as the Prince of Tollywood and is one of the most popular and influential actors of Telugu Cinema. He completed his secondary education at St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chennai, and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Loyola College, Chennai. After graduating, he took further training in acting for three-four months.
3. Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu is famously known by his stage name Dhanush. Born to a popular Tamil filmmaker Kasthuri Raja, he himself is an actor, producer, director, writer, lyricist, dancer and playback singer predominantly working in Tamil cinemas. He couldn’t go to college as he was dragged into films by his father and brother Selvaraghavan, who himself is a famous Tamil actor.
He studied at different schools, like Thai Sathiya Matriculation High School, Saligramam, St. John’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School Alwarthirunagar and JRK Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Vadapalani, Chennai. He couldn’t go to college but did distance education and obtained a Bachelor of Computer Application degree from Madurai Kamaraj University.
4. Rajinikanth
Thalaivar Rajnikanth did his schooling at Gavipuram Government Kannada Model Primary School in Bangalore. His brother enrolled him at a Hindu Monastery called the Ramakrishna Math where he was taught Vedas, tradition and history. That’s where his inclination towards acting started as he participated in plays.
He completed his schooling at Acharya Pathasala Public School. After completing school, he did several jobs like coolie and bus conductor. He then did an acting course in the newly formed Madras Film Institute, that’s where his acting career started.
5. Prabhas
“Baahubali” Prabhas is one of the highest-paid actors of Indian cinema. He did his schooling at DNR School in Bhimavaram. He holds a B.Tech degree from Sri Chaitanya College in Hyderabad. After completing B.Tech he pursued his passion for acting. He is also an alumnus of Satyanand Film Institute, Visakhapatnam.
6. Suriya
Saravanan Sivakumar, famously known as Suriya, is one of the highest-paid actors of Tamil cinema. He did his schooling at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School and St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai. He also has a B.Com degree from Loyola College, Chennai.
7. Chiranjeevi
Chiranjeevi is a famous actor and a former Member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Due to the nature of his father’s work, he studied at different schools. He was an NCC cadet and participated in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi in the early ’70s. He did his Intermediate at C. S. R. Sarma College in Ongole. He holds a degree in commerce from Sri Y N College at Narsapuram. After graduating, he joined the Madras Film Institute in 1976 to pursue a career in acting.
8. Rana Daggubati
Ramanaidu Daggubati, known as Rana Daggubati, rose to prominence as the antagonist, Bhallaldeva, in Baahubali. He did his schooling at Chettinad Vidyashram and Hyderabad Public School. He enrolled in B.Com from St. Mary’s College, Hyderabad but dropped out after two months. He then went to Chennai Film School where he graduated with a degree in Industrial photography.
He worked as a post-effects and VFX producer, before deciding to become an actor. To polish his acting skills, he went to Barry John School of Acting. He is also trained from a stunt academy.
9. Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao, mononymously known as Nagarjuna, is an actor, film producer, television presenter, and entrepreneur. He did his schooling in Hyderabad Public School and intermediate education from Little Flower Junior College, Hyderabad. He completed one year of his Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University in Madras then went on to earn his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
10. Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar, better known by his stage name Karthi, completed his elementary and secondary school education at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan and St. Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chennai. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Crescent Engineering College, Chennai. After completing his graduation, he received a scholarship and went on to study Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Binghamton University, New York.
11. Vijay
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, known as Vijay, is a famous actor, dancer, playback singer and philanthropist. He is one of the highest-paid actors in South India. He started his career when he was 10 and went on to become a big name in the film industry.
He initially studied at Fathima Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Kodambakkam and later on joined Balalok Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Virugambakkam. He pursued a degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College but dropped out as he was more interested in acting.
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