Gundu Sudarshan is an Indian comedian and actor, writer, and literature enthusiast from Andhra Pradesh. He acted in more than 350 films. He also has stage experience from the age of 10. He entered the film industry with Mister Pellam in 1993 directed by Bapu He holds a master's degree, and PhD in Civil Engineering from J.N.T.U Hyderabad. He also has a degree in Psychology. He worked as a lecturer in SRKR Engineering college, Bhimavaram before turning into full-time actor.
Early life
He was born to Subbarao and Kanakalatha and brought up in Bhimavaram, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India. His father was an advocate. He used to watch mythological dramas from his childhood. Till seventh standard, he studied in Manchili, his grandfather's village. He had stage experience from the age of 10. He started his acting career in his 7th standard in a stage play called Mondi Guruvu Banda Sishyudu, playing the role of Sishya . He was also involved in the cultural activities in his school. He did his schooling and intermediate in Bhimavaram. Though he occasionally participated in stage plays, he concentrated more on studies. He completed BTech in Civil Engineering from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and his MTech from Regional Engineering College, Allahabad. Later he joined as a faculty in SRKR Engineering College in Bhimavaram. He did his PhD in Water Resources Engineering from J.N.T.U. Hyderabad.
Career
He had a good rapport with writer Sriramana who is famous for his novel Mithunam, and through him, was introduced to Bapu. Bapu offered him a role of Pinni Gari Mogudu in a comedy serial Navvite Navvandi. Another Tollywood comedian, Amanchi Venkata Subrahmanyam, also was introduced to acting with this serial. He played the role of Chandamarkulu, guru of Prahlada in Bhagavatam television serial directed by Bapu and broadcast by ETV. He made his debut as a film actor in the biographic film of a great Telugu poet Srinatha called Srinatha Kavi Sarvabhowmudu, directed by Bapu and starring N. T. Rama Rao. He played the role of Ganapati, the chief cook of Srinatha, in this film. It was a full length role along with N. T. Rama Rao. But the first film released was Mister Pellam in which he played two roles – Narada and Narasaiah. His dialogue Antha Vishnu Maya became popular with audiences. After that he acted in the films Rambantu, Chitram, Ramasakkanodu. He then had to go back to Bhimavaram to work as a lecturer and support his family. He continued acting in movies whenever Bapu offers him a role in his films. He used to travel to Hyderabad, finish his schedule and come back to his native for doing his regular job. After 5 years, he moved to Hyderabad to do PhD from J.N.T.U. This also gave him a chance to concentrate more on films. His second innings started with the film Chitram directed by Teja. He hosted the TV show Chittam Chittam Prayaschittam as Chitragupta telecast by ZeeTV Telugu. He led the show for 40 episodes and also wrote the script for it. He was also one of the guests of the show Bhale Chance le hosted by Suma on MAA TV. He also appeared in the show Nuvvu Nenu, hosted by Udaya Bhanu.
He is a freelance columnist, writer for newspapers, and magazines. Whenever he is not busy with shootings, he conducts motivational workshops for colleges, universities and other organizations as a chief guest and guest speaker.
Family
He is married to Vijayalakshmi. She did her M.A. in Sociology. She is a house wife. They have two children, Siva Sarath, and Hemasri Latha. Both are engineering graduates.
