Happy Days gave Telugu cinema several young faces in 2007. Among them were Varun Sandesh and Nikhil Siddhartha. At that point, if someone had to predict who would have the bigger career, Varun would probably have been the safer choice.
He had the hit Happy Days and then Kotha Bangaru Lokam. Both films connected with the youth, and Varun quickly became a familiar name.
Nikhil had to wait much longer.
His early films didn’t give him the kind of momentum Varun got immediately. For a few years, he remained one of those young actors trying to find the right film.
Then his choices started changing.
Swamy Ra Ra showed a different side of him, followed by Karthikeya and Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada. Nikhil was slowly moving towards stories that weren’t dependent entirely on the usual hero formula.
The real change came with Karthikeya 2. The film became a major success and introduced him to audiences outside the Telugu states.
Varun’s early run, meanwhile, couldn’t be extended in the same way. The films that followed didn’t give him another major breakthrough, and his presence in mainstream Telugu cinema gradually reduced.
Almost 20 years after Happy Days, their positions are therefore quite different.
Varun Sandesh had the dream start. Nikhil Siddhartha took the longer route and eventually built the stronger career.
