Vijay Sai Deverakonda (born 9 May 1989), known by his stage name Vijay Deverakonda, is an Indian film actor who appears in Telugu films. He is from Telangana, India, and won Filmfare Award South for the film Arjun Reddy. After completing his education from the Vignan Institute of Technology and Science and the Badruka College of Commerce, he had a brief stint in theater. He made his acting debut in 2011 by playing a famous cricketer in Ravi Babu\'s romantic comedy, Nuvvila. Vijay then received national recognition for his supporting role in the coming-of-age drama Yevade Subramanyam (2015), in which he played an energetic and highly spiritual youth. This film made him a known face in Telugu films and opened his path to star in lead roles. Vijay rose to prominence with leading roles in critically and commercially successful films such as urban rom-com Pelli Choopulu (2016), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu and the Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu, Arjun Reddy (2017), and the biopic Mahanati (2018), some of which rank among the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time. Vijay\'s acclaimed portrayals as a lazy chef in Pelli Choopulu and as a short tempered alcoholic surgeon in Arjun Reddy established him as one of the leading stars in the Telugu film industry. For Arjun Reddy, he won several accolades, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu. He affectionately refers to his fans as Rowdies.