[2] Nani made his debut in 2008 starring in the romantic comedy Ashta Chamma, a box office success and attained his breakthrough with Ala Modalaindi (2011).

He continued to establish himself as a leading actor with Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015), Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha (2016), Gentleman (2016) (which earned him Nandi Special Jury Award), Majnu (2016), Nenu Local (2017), Ninnu Kori (2017), Middle Class Abbayi (2017), Jersey (2019), Nani's Gang Leader (2019), Shyam Singha Roy (2021), Ante Sundaraniki (2022), Dasara (2023), Hi Nanna (2023), and Saripodhaa Sanivaaram (2024).

[14][15] Director Mohan Krishna Indraganti noticed Nani in an advertisement and offered him a role in the aforementioned film Ashta Chamma, also starring Swati Reddy.

He has good emotions and dances well, though his body language sometimes reminds of Subhalekha Sudhakar – May this be treated as a compliment to the ease that the veteran actor shows on the screen!

"[16][17] His second film, Ride, was produced by Bellamkonda Suresh, with Tanish, Swetha Basu Prasad and Aksha Pardasany playing important roles.

[22] His first release in 2011, Ala Modalaindi, was a romantic comedy written and directed by Nandini Reddy, where he was cast opposite Nithya Menen.

Nani's performance in the film received positive reviews, with critics noting that he was "completely natural" and "living [his] role".

"[29] IndiaGlitz wrote, "Performance-wise, Nani delivers a matured output in the second half as a youth in self-introspecting and self-correcting mode.

Shot simultaneously in Tamil as Naan Ee, it featured him opposite Samantha Ruth Prabhu and opened to mostly positive response.

[33] His other release that year Gautham Vasudev Menon's Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu, where he played a college student reuniting with Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

[49][50] N. Sethumadhavan of the Bangalore Mirror termed Nani "refreshing", "talent to watch" and praised his chemistry with Tripathi.

[54] The film opened to positive response from critics, The Hans India said, "A truly stand out performance from Nani for sure, who plays to his strength and exudes a natural feel to his character on screen.

[56] In his next film, Nani played dual roles of a businessman and IIM graduate opposite Surbhi and Nivetha Thomas in Gentleman.

Nenu Local, directed by Trinadha Rao Nakkina, was Nani's first release of the year, where he appeared opposite Keerthy Suresh.

[68] Later the year, he played a boy with eidetic memory in Middle Class Abbayi, opposite Sai Pallavi.

[69][70] In his first film of 2018, Nani played dual roles in Krishnarjuna Yudham, alongside Anupama Parameswaran and Rukshar Dhillon.

[71][72] Nani again played a doctor in Devadas, where he appeared alongside Nagarjuna, Aakanksha Singh and Rashmika Mandanna.

[74] Krishna Sripada of The Indian Express noted, "Nani gets into the skin of the character and gives his best to the make the lousy writing tolerable.

[79][80] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times noted, "Nani is terrific as Arjun and he hasn’t looked so comfortable in role in a while.

[89][90] In the same year, Nani played dual roles of a Bengali writer and his reincarnation, an aspiring filmmaker in Shyam Singha Roy, opposite Sai Pallavi and Krithi Shetty.

[93] Sankeertana Varma of Firstpost found him to be "impressive" and added, "Nani is especially great in scenes where he is slowly moving away from Vasu and embarrassing his inner Shyam".

[95] Nani played Sundar, a Brahmin boy in love with a Christian girl, opposite Nazriya Nazim, in his first release of 2022, Ante Sundaraniki.

[98] Murali Krishna CH of Cinema Express stated, "Nani stay sincere and committed to his character.

[100] In his first release of 2023, Nani played a young ruffian who steals coal in Dasara, reuniting with Keerthy Suresh.

[106] While, Neeshita Nyayapati of Hindustan Times found him to be "flawless", Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express termed him "impressive".

[109] In his only release of 2024, Nani played a vigilant who fights against injustice in, Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, opposite Priyanka Mohan.

[117] He launched his film production house, Wall Poster Cinema, along with costume designer, Prashanti Tipirneni, as a partner.

[120] He has since produced its sequel, HIT: The Second Case (2022), with Adivi Sesh and Meenakshi Chaudhary,[121] and the web series Meet Cute (2022), which stars an ensemble cast.

That same year, he organised a campaign with Cyberabad Police, urging people to donate their blood plasma for COVID patients.

[150][151][152] Nani is a prominent celebrity endorser for several brands and products such as Otto, Sprite, Minute Maid, Close–Up and Minister White shirts.