Daggubati Venkatesh (born 13 December 1960) is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, and few Hindi language films. Early in his career, Venkatesh starred in box-office hits such as the romance film Prema (1989), the action drama Bobbili Raja (1990), and the road movie Kshana Kshanam (1991) featured at the Fribourg Festival, which went on to gather a cult following.
In a career spanning 30 years, Venkatesh fetched critical acclaim for his performances as a painter in Swarnakamalam (1988) featured in the Indian panorama section of the 12th IFFI, the Asia Pacific Film Festival and the Ann Arbor Film Festival; a coolie in Coolie No. 1 (1991), an eccentric cop in Surya IPS (1991) and Gharshana (2004), an autistic villager in the melodrama Chanti (1992), a journalist in the social problem film Ganesh (1998), an attorney in Sathruvu (1991) and Dharma Chakram (1996), a farmer in Narappa (2021), the romantic dramas Preminchukundam Raa (1997), Premante Idera (1998), Raja (1999), Kalisundam Raa (2000), Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), Vasantam (2003), Malliswari (2004), and Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule (2007), the crime thrillers Drushyam (2014); and Drushyam 2 (2001). He is starred in Hindi language works such as Anari (2003), Taqdeerwala (1995), and Rana Naidu (2023).
