His first movie Vikram released on May 24, 1986 and was a remake of the Hindi film Hero starring Jackie Shroff. After acting in four films, he acted in Majnu as a tragedy hero; similar roles were known to be his father's forte. He acted with his father in the movie Collectorgari Abbayi. His first big hit was Akhari Poraatam co-starring Sridevi that ran for 100 days in 12 centres.
Geethanjali, a love story directed by Maniratnam followed by Shiva an action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma were highly successful and established him as one of the top heroes. During this phase of his career he relished working with new directors such as Ram Gopal Varma in order to recreate his screen persona and enjoy a certain creative energy, through the fresh approach of these young directors.
He also made his Bollywood debut with the Hindi remake of Shiva. Movies such as President Gari Pellam and Hello Brother gave him the status of a mass hero. After that, Ninne Pelladutha directed by Krishna Vamsi appealed to a broad cross section of people, both young and mature. The movie was a big success at the box office.
Later, he took up the challenge of portraying Annamacharya, the legendary singer/poet of medieval times in the movie Annamayya. It ran for 100 days in 42 centres and is one of the biggest hits in Tollywood. He won the National Award for this role in the Special Jury category.
In 2004, Nagarjuna had two releases, Nenunnanu and Mass, the latter going on to become a hit. In 2005, Nagarjuna had one release, Super. Super didn't reach up to the exceptations. Then in 2006, Nagarjuna had two releases, Sri Ramadasu, a period film based on the life of great saint-composer Ramadasu, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, and Boss, I Love You.
Sri Ramadasu was a big hit at the box office and he got the Nandi award for Sri Ramadasu but Boss, I Love You was a flop. His earlier release Don, was directed by Raghava Lawrence. His next release King, was directed by Sreenu Vaitla and was a big hit.
Nagarjuna revived his father's production Annapurna Studios which has become one of the most successful production companies of recent times in Tollywood. He never hesitated to experiment when he produced films. He gave a chance to a newcomer who had no prior experience in movies to direct him. The newcomer didn't disappoint him and went on to become one of the finest directors of the Indian film industry.
The director is none other than Ram Gopal Verma. Nagarjuna is also known for his swiftness in decision making. He agreed to work with Krishna Vamsi (director) after seeing a 10-minute-rushes of the director's film Gulabi. His decision proved to be bang on target as they made the blockbuster movie Ninne Pelladutha.