Pudipeddi Sai Kumar (born 27 July 1960[1]) is an Indian actor, dubbing artist and television presenter who works predominantly in Telugu and Kannada films.[2]
Sai Kumar's son Aadi is an actor in Telugu cinema.[6]
Film career
He started his career at an early age as a dubbing child artist. His father, P. J. Sarma was a leading dubbing artist. Sai Kumar followed in his father's footsteps, having dubbed for Suman and Rajasekhar for many of their films. As a child actor, he appeared in Devudu Chesina Pelli (1975) and Sneham (1977). He resumed acting as an adult, appearing in Challenge (1984), Kalikalam (1991), Major Chandrakanth (1993) and others.[7]
He appeared in the 1996 Kannada film Police Story, which was also voice dubbed in Telugu and Tamil. His Kannada films Agni IPS (1997), Central Jail (1997), Police Story 2 (2007) were all major hits at the box office and Sai Kumar became a household name in Karnataka.[8] Sai Kumar says, 'I am indebted to Karnataka for making me a star and giving me Police Story during my struggling days.'[5] His Kannada film RangiTaranga was one of the 300 films eligible to be nominated for the Oscars in 2016[9] and his performance in the film was not only praised by the critics, but also earned him an IIFA Utsavam and SIIMA Award.[10][11]
Television career
In addition to his films, he also hosted Deal or No Deal on Gemini TV and Etv Kannada in Telugu and Kannada respectively. He also hosted WOW-Sakkhath Kick Kodo game show on ETV Kannada and WOW S1 - Manchi Kick Ichche, WOW S2 game shows on ETV. He hosted a game show, Manam on ETV.[12]
TV Award 2009 for Best Male Anchor presented by Delhi Telugu Academy in Hyderabad on 8 August 2010.[13]
Tata Docomo Media Award – Most Popular Male Anchor was given on 15 August 2010 for anchoring the TV show Wow on ETV Telugu.[citation needed]
'Best Male Anchor Award' was presented at the AP Cinegoers' 6th Annual TV Awards – 2009 on 28 December 2010 for his anchoring of Wow on ETV Telugu.[14]