Venkat is from Vijayawada and lived in Mumbai where he worked as a model during college and for his father's brand of shirts.
[3] Regarding his performance in Annayya, a critic wrote that "Venkat is slightly on a backfoot as for as the dialogue delivery is concerned".
[4] He played supporting roles in Bhalevadivi Basu (2001), Anandam (2001), Siva Rama Raju (2002) and Madhyanam Hathya (2004).
Regarding his performance, a critic noted that "Venkat's good physique and histrionic talent are wasted in this thankless role".
[7] He made his Hindi film debut under the stage name of Viraaj Kumar with the moderately successful Rafta Rafta – The Speed (2006) and made his comeback as a lead in Telugu with the thriller Konchem Kothaga (2008), which had a low-key release and received positive reviews from the audience.