Nani Height, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real name	Ghanta Naveen Babu [1]The Hindu
Profession(s)	Actor, Film Producer, Film Director, and TV Presenter
Name Earned	Natural Star of Tollywood [2]Pinkvilla
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in feet & inches- 5’ 8”
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Debut	Film (Telugu; As an actor): ‘Ashta Chamma’ (2008) as Rambabu/Mahesh Film (Tamil; As an actor): 'Veppam’ (2011) as Karthik Film (Telugu; As a co-producer): ‘D for Dopidi’ (2013)
Awards	Vijay Awards • 2011: Best Debut Actor Tamil film Veppam South Indian International Movie Awards • 2012: Rising Male Hero for Telugu-Tamil film Eega • 2015: Best Actor for Telugu film Bhale Bhale Magadivoy Toronto After Dark • 2012: Best Hero for Telugu-Tamil film Eega Nandi Awards • 2013: Best Actor for Telugu film Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu • 2016: Special Jury Award for Telugu film Gentleman Zee Cinemalu Awards • 2017: Boy Next Door for Telugu film Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha • 2017: Golden Star of the Year for Telugu film Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha Filmfare Awards South • 2016: Critics Award for Best Actor for Telugu film Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015) TSR-TV9 National Film Awards • 2017: Special Jury Award for Telugu film Gentleman Zee Cine Awards Telugu • 2020: Favorite Actor of the Year– Male for Telugu film Jersey Critics Choice Film Awards • 2020: Best Actor- Male for Telugu film Jersey South Indian International Movie Awards • 2021: Best Actor (Critics) for Telugu film Jersey • 2021: Entertainer of the Year for Telugu films Jersey & Gang Leader
Personal Life
Date of Birth	24 February 1984 (Friday)
Age (as of 2024)	40 Years
Birthplace	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana)
Zodiac sign	Pisces
Autograph
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana)
School	• St. Alphonsa’s High School, Hyderabad • Narayana Junior College, Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar, Hyderabad (intermediate)
College/University	Wesley Degree College, Secunderabad, Telangana
Educational Qualification	Graduation [3]Idle Brain
Controversies	• Accused of Sexual Harassment In 2018, irked by not getting an offer to participate in the TV reality show ‘Bigg Boss Telugu 2, the Telugu actress Sri Reddy made an allegation of sexual harassment against the host of the show Nani. In an interview, she said, "He does everything from smoking, drinking and drugs. One day, Nani also brought drug for me but i warned him and asked him to leave the house because it could ruin my career. During this period he made S*xual relationship with me. Nani said to me that he would cast me in his movies. I thought that it would help my career. He was not married that time." She continued, "I did not take legal action against Nani because my fight was against casting couch in the film industry and to revive my career, but it was not meant to harass the family of any celebrity. I came in the contact of Nani when he was struggling to get the movies.” Later, Nani issued a legal notice against her for maligning his image, and through his tweet, he asked Sri Reddy to present some solid proof supporting her allegations. [4]International Business Times On Nani’s tweet, his wife Anjana aka Anju Yelavarthy replied, "This industry has been kind but it troubles me to see that once in a while there comes along someone who puts their publicity ahead of other people's lives. No1 believes those ridiculous statements anyway. It is abt how little they think before degrading themselves to such levels." Sri Reddy commented on Anjana’s tweet, "Hi Misses ..I just found ur post..u r not there in my bed room when ur hus fucked me.. so stop commenting..ur hus is an attention seeker not me..what ever I hv name that's enough..if my husband is very wealthy nd if he has name n fame and If he did wrong,still i wl not take his side..might be I wl not leave him, but compulsory i wl not blame opposite girl..ha ha..i am not a money minded like any other money minded house wives. .i wl try to find how it got happened..just maintain your silence till the end.. My side truth is there..karma is there,your husband has to take the punishment.." During an interview, talking about Sri Reddy, Nani said, "Going by her track record, the whole world has stopped reacting to all the absolute baseless nonsense she comes up with.” • A raid by Income Tax Department His residence was raided by the Income Tax Department in November 2019 for evading taxes. Later, the officials seized the documents and hard disks of the IT returns of Nani. [5] GreatAndhra.com • Controversial Statement In 2021, he created a buzz by making a statement that in the Telugu industry there was a lack of unity. [6]Zoom TV Entertainment Later, during an interview, when he was asked about making such a strong statement, he said, "It came out of pain. It came from a place where I wanted all of them to come together on one stage and express it the way it should be expressed. Even people on the side will understand the real problem here. I wanted them to come together not us. We are all happy but there are thousands of families who are wishing something good happen. I made that statement as I wanted everyone to come together as one voice against the ticket pricing issue in Andhra Pradesh.”
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Anjana Yelavarthy (software engineer and blogger)
Marriage Date	27 October 2012
Marriage Place	A resort in Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam
Family
Wife/Spouse	Anjana Yelavarthy
Children	Son- Arjun Ghanta (born in 2017)
Parents	Father- Rambabu Ghanta (businessman) Mother- Vijayalakshmi Ghanta (pharmacist)
Siblings	Sister- Deepthi Ghanta (film producer)
Favourites
Film Director(s)	Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan
Food	Idli Sambar, Khichdi
Actor(s)	Chiranjeevi, Prabhas, Ravi Teja
Actress(es)	Sridevi, Keerthy Suresh
Film(s)	The Hangover (2009), Life of Pi (2012), Galipatam (2014)
Song	“Bhale Bhale Magadivoy” from the film ‘Maro Charitra’ (1978)
Music Director	Ilaiyaraaja
Sport	Cricket
Colour	White
Fashion Brand	Zara
Travel Destination(s)	Tirumala in India and Australia
Money Factor
Salary/Income (approx.)	Rs 14 crore per film (as of 2021) [7]The Hans India

Some Lesser Known Facts About Nani

• Nani is an Indian actor, film director, TV presenter, and film producer.

• He was born and brought up in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana).
  

  A childhood picture of Nani and his sister

• He started developing an interest in films while he was in college. Nani then assisted his uncle named Anil (film producer) as a clap director.

• He adopted his nickname Nani as his screen name before making his debut in the Telugu film industry. ^[8]The Times of India

• Later, he worked in various Telugu films as an assistant director including ‘Allari Bullodu’ (2005), ‘Astram’ (2006), and ‘Dhee’ (2007). In an interview, he talked about working as an assistant director, he said,
  

  I feel that creativity and talent have to be in you in order to become a good director. Working as an assistant director only helps in understanding technical departments. This technical knowledge will help you to transport the content in your mind onto the celluloid. I learnt about clarity of thinking and storyboarding from Bapu. I learnt how to be cool even in tense situations from K Raghavendra Rao. I want to try my hand at acting now and direction can wait.”

• He then started working on a script. While he was on a break, he met the Indian film director B. V. Nandini Reddy, who asked him to work as a radio jockey for the radio station ‘World Space Satellite’ in Visakhapatnam. Nani agreed to it, and for almost a year he worked as an RJ for the radio show ‘Nonstop Nani.’ His radio show got immense popularity, and later, he received the RJ of the year award.
  

  A photo of Nani while he was working as an RJ

• The Indian film director B. V. Nandini Reddy was once working on a TV commercial. She asked Nani to work in the TV commercial, and he agreed to it.

• Working in the TV commercial turned out to be very favourable for his career. He was spotted by the Indian director Mohan Krishna Indraganti in the TV commercial, and Nani got his debut Telugu film ‘Ashta Chamma’ (2008) as an actor.

• He then acted in Telugu films such as ‘Ride’ (2009), ‘Snehituda…’ (2009), and ‘Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu’ (2010).
  

  ‘Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu’ (2010) film poster

• He gained immense popularity with the Telugu-Tamil ‘Eega’ (2012) which was later dubbed in Malayalam as ‘Eecha’ and dubbed in Hindi as ‘Makkhi.’
  

  A still from ‘Eega’

• Some of his other films as an actor are ‘Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu’ (2012), ‘Bhale Bhale Magadivoy’ (2015), ‘Gentleman’ (2016), ‘Ninnu Kori’ (2017), and ‘Middle Class Abbayi’ (2017).
  

  Gentleman (2016) film poster

• He was invited as a guest contestant in the TV quiz show ‘Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu Season 2’ (2015) and ‘Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu Season 4’ (2018) for one episode each.

• Nani has hosted 2nd IIFA Utsavam in 2017 and Bigg Boss Telugu Season 2 in 2018.
  

  Nani as Bigg Boss 2 (Telugu) host

• While he was travelling in his SUV car in 2018, his car rammed into an electric pole on Jubilee Hills Road No. 45, Hyderabad, at 4:30 am. ^[9]Hindustan Times Later, the local police involved in the case said,
  

  Fortunately, the airbags installed in the car saved their lives and the impact of the crash was reduced. A case has been booked under the Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.”

• In 2019, he acted in the Telugu film ‘Jersey’ which gave a boost to his career. He gained immense popularity with his role as Arjun in the film. In 2022, the Hindi adoption of the film with the same title was released in which the Indian actor Shahid Kapoor played the role of Arjun.
  

  Jersey (2019)

• He dubbed for the character of Simba in the Telugu version of the popular animated film ‘The Lion King.’

• The entertainment journalism platform ‘Film Companion’ listed his name among the “100 Greatest Performances of the Decade” in 2020 for his performance in the Telugu film ‘Jersey’ (2019). ^[10]Film Companion

• Nani then appeared in Telugu films like ‘V’ (2020), ‘Truck Jagadish’ (2021), and ‘Ante Sundaraniki’ (2022).
  

  ‘V’ (2020)

• He has also worked as a producer and co-producer in films like ‘Awe’ (co-producer; 2018), ‘HIT: The First Case’ (producer; 2020), ‘HIT: The Second Case’ (producer; 2022), and ‘Meet Cute’ (2022).

• Nani has also appeared in various TV commercials like Minister White and Sprite.

• He is a dog lover and owns a pet dog named Subbu.
  

  Nani with his pet dog

• He is a religious person and often shares pictures of various spiritual events on his social media accounts.
  

  Nani attending a pooja

• Nani is a big fan of the ace Indian actor Kamal Haasan.
  

  Nani’s tweet about Kamal Haasan

• He has been featured on various magazine covers like You & I, Filmfare, ChAnNel 6, and Wow!
  

  Nani featured on the cover of ChAnNel 6 magazine

• While he is partying or hanging out with his friends, he loves to drink red wine. ^[11]Mirchi9

• Reportedly, Nani is addicted to smoking cigarettes. ^[12]GreatAndhra.com