India's most successful film family has more stars than Kapoors-Bachchans; more studios than Chopras, not from Bollywood

The Kapoor family is considered the first family of Indian cinema and probably rightly so. They have given more superstars than any other family over close to a century. Others like the Chopras and the Johars have established major film production studios extending their influence behind the camera in Bollywood. And yet, none of these is the biggest and most successful film family from India. That honour lies with one family from the Telugu industry, which has been active for seven decades, galvanising the industry and extending its influence beyond the borders of the Telugu states too.

India’s most successful film family is…

The Allu Konidela family, colloquially called the Mega Family by the media, is one of the most prominent film families in Telugu cinema. Established by Allu Ramalingaiah, the patriarch of the Allu family in 1930s, the family entered cinema with Ramalingaiah in 1953. A famous actor, he appeared in over a thousand films over four decades. Among his four children, Allu Aravind entered the film industry as a producer in the 1970s. Ramalingaiah’s daughter and Aravind’s sister Surekha married Chiranjeevi, the reigning superstar of Telugu cinema in 1980, joining the Allu family with the Konidela family.

Other prominent members of the family include Aravind’s sons Allu Arjun and Allu Sirish, Chiranjeevi’s brothers Pawan Kalyan and Nagendra Babu, Chiranjeevi’s son Ram Charan, as well as Nagendra Babu’s children Varun Tej and Niharika. With four genuine superstars active today, it is one of the most powerful film families in India.

Collectively, the Allu-Konidela family has a net worth of over Rs 6000 crore, making them richer than the Khans and the Johars. The bulk of this comes from the wealth of Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, and Allu Arjun, the three biggest names in the family, as well as Pawan Kalyan. The family collectively has five film production companies – Geetha Arts, Anjana Productions, Pawan Kalyan Creative Works, Konidela Production Company, and Allu Studios.

The members of the family have been in some of the biggest Indian films till date, including Indra, Gharana Mogudu, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Pushpa The Rise, RRR, Magadheera, Gabbar Singh, and Attarintiki Daredi among others.

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