Uday Kiran

Uday Kiran (26 June 1980 – 5 January 2014) was a Indian film actor, who primarily worked in the Tollywood. His first three films, Chitram, Nuvvu Nenu and Manasantha Nuvve, were successful hits, earning him the title "Hat-trick Hero".

In 2001, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu for the film Nuvvu Nenu, and became the youngest winner of the Filmfare best actor award after Tamil actor Kamal Haasan. He is the only Telugu actor to have his first four films remade into all regional languages. In 2006, he made his Tamil debut with the film Poi, directed by veteran K. Balachander. Subsequently, he starred in romantic films including Nee Sneham and Kalusukovalani. His other performances have been in the films Sreeram, Avunanna Kaadanna, Nuvvekaddunte Nenakkadunta and Jai Sriram.

Early life
Uday Kiran was born on 26 June 1980 to Telugu-speaking Brahmin family of VVK Murthy and Nirmala. He did his schooling from K V Picket, near Jubilee Bus Stand, Hyderabad and graduated in commerce from Wesley Degree College, Secunderabad.

Personal life
Kiran was engaged to Chiranjeevi's daughter Sushmitha in 2003, but the engagement was broken. He married Vishitha on 24 October 2012.

Career
Kiran started modelling while he was in college. He made his film debut in the Hinglish film Mysterious Girl in 1999. In 2000, Kiran made his Tollywood debut under his mentor, cinematographer turned film director Teja with the film Chitram, in which he played the 17-year-old lead character.

This film, followed by two other films, Nuvvu Nenu and Manasantha Nuvve, made him among the very few actors in Telugu cinema to deliver three consecutive successful films. His performance as a hot-blooded youngster in Nuvvu Nenu won him the Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) in the year 2001.

In his fourth film, Kalusukovalani, he displayed his dancing skills through the songs, "Udayinchina" and "Cheliya Cheliya". In his fifth film, Sreeram, he ventured into an action-oriented story of a youngster aspiring to become a top cop. 2002 saw him in Nee Sneham, another blockbuster movie of that year for which he was nominated for Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) for the second time.

In 2005, he ventured into Tamil with the film Poi directed by K. Balachander. He then did two more films, Vambu Sandai and Pen Singam in Tamil, the latter being the story penned by M. Karunanidhi, which did moderately well at the box office.

Death
Uday Kiran died by suicide on 5 January 2014. In the film industry that renowned actor Uday's engagement with Chiranjeevi's daughter had been called off earlier. After breakup, he tried in Tamil cinema with his own production. Kiran had suffered from depression due to financial crisis for almost a year.

On 6 January 2014, Uday Kiran's body was kept at the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce and several film personalities including Dasari Narayana Rao, D. Ramanaidu, Venkatesh, D Suresh Babu, Srikanth, Shivaji, Tanikella Bharani, Chalapathi Rao, Tammareddy Bharadwaja, (ex) MLA Jaya Sudha, Paruchuri Gopala Krishna, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao, Shivaji Raja, Anup Rubens, Samadra, Kadambari Kiran, Sunil and Anita were among those who paid their last respects to the actor, before being taken to the cremation grounds. According to Andhra Pradesh Police, a young fan of Uday Kiran allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at Komatapalli junction in Bobbili sub-division in Vizianagaram.

Awards

 * Filmfare Awards South
 * 2001 – Best Actor – Nuvvu Nenu – Won
 * 2002 – Best Actor – Nee Sneham – Nominated