Uday Kiran, who committed suicide on Sunday, hit the silver screen in 2000 with the blockbuster film Chitram and after two back-to-back hits Nuvvu Nenu and Manasantha Nuvve in 2001, he became a big star earning the moniker ‘hat trick hero’. Hailing from a middle-class family, Uday Kiran had no godfathers in the film industry, yet worked hard and succeeded. But his professional life was a roller coaster ride with moments of glory and failures.
After the legendary Kamal Hassan, he is the youngest winner of the Filmfare Best Actor award for Nuvvu Nenu in 2001. Born on June 26, 1980, he graduated in commerce from a city college in Secunderabad.
He won accolades for his performance in Kalusukovalani , action film Sreeram in 2002, Nee Sneham and Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu in 2003. He was engaged to actor Chiranjeevi’s elder daughter Sushmita in the same year, but the engagement was broken due to some unknown reasons.
Tamil films After failures such as Jodi No. 1 and Love Today in 2004, he also acted in veteran director K. Balchander’s Tamil film Poi in 2005. He went on to do two more Tamil films Vambu Sandai and Pen Singam . The latter was said to have been penned by M. Karunanidhi.
But in Telugu, he could not taste success as before and after a long gap, his film Nuvvekaddunte Nennakkadunta hit the screens in 2012, which did not do well at the box office.
He married Vishitha the same year and his last film Jai Sriram was released in 2013. In all, he acted in 19 films.
Film director Teja, who introduced him to the industry, said, “Uday Kiran was a good person and had bravely faced lot of complications.”
Music Director R.P. Patnaik, who scored music for most of his hit films, said “After his mother’s demise, he was disturbed and was looking for success. One hit could have changed his life.”
Popular actors Srikkanth, Raja and others also paid tributes to the actor at his residence in Srinagar Colony. Information, Public Relations and Cinematography Minister D.K. Aruna expressed shock and grief over the suicide of Uday Kiran and said he had won the hearts of film viewers with his performances on the screen, said a press release.
