Daughter of Sreeja Konidela ChiranjeeviSister of ‘Peddi’ star Ram Charan An elopement at 19, a dowry case, two marriages, two separations and the loss of her first husband, she has lived much of her personal life under the unforgiving glare of public scrutiny, bearing the weight of one of the most famous surnames in Telugu cinema. Now, he’s talking on his own terms. In a candid Instagram video posted on Monday, Sreeja revealed how a 15-month program helped her move from victimhood to empowerment, and why she no longer lets her painful past define who she is.
Sreeja Konidela on being stuck in victimhood
With a candor rare for one of Telugu cinema’s leading families, Sreeja spoke directly about the mental and emotional state she was trapped in before embarking on her journey of self-transformation.“I was stuck in a space wondering, why is this happening to me, and why am I going through so much pain? Why is there struggle after struggle, and what did I do to deserve this? And on this journey, I moved from that victim space to understand that life doesn’t happen to me, but I have the power to create it,” she said in the video.Perhaps the most striking admission in Sreeja’s video was her acknowledgment of how her sense of self was completely intertwined with her history of struggle and how challenging and liberating the process of untangling both has been.“My whole life, I identified with my pain, my past, my struggles. My identity was shaped by everything that went wrong in my life,” she said, before describing what the program unlocked.“But through this program, I started to see beyond that. Yes, my pain is still a part of me, but it’s not who I am, and it’s so much more to a person and discovering those layers has been one of the most beautiful parts of this journey for me.”
Sreeja Konidela’s past
Sreeja’s personal life has been marked, often painfully, by various incidents in the public eye. In 2007 when she was 19, she eloped with her then 22-year-old boyfriend Shirish Bharadwaj, marrying her in an Arya Samaj ceremony in Hyderabad. The couple sought media and police protection amid opposition to the family, making national headlines. Their daughter, Nivrithi Bharadwaj, was born in 2008. By 2011, Sreeja filed a dowry and harassment case against Shirish and his family. He returned to his family home, and their divorce was finalized in 2014.In 2016, Sreeja married childhood friend and businessman Kalyaan Dhev. Their daughter, Navishka, was born in 2018. The couple split in 2022, fans noticed when he quietly dropped the last name Kalyaan. In 2023, Kalyaan publicly confirmed their separation, stating that he only spends four hours a week with their daughter. The following year, in 2024, Sreeja’s first husband Shirish Bharadwaj died of health complications in Hyderabad.
Conidela family tree
Sreeja is one of the three sons of Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi. His eldest child and son, Ram Charan, one of the biggest contemporary stars of Telugu cinema, is married to Upasana Konidela, with whom he has three children, Klin Kaara, Anveera Devi and Shivaram.Chiranjeevi’s other daughter, Sushmita Konidela, married businessman LV Vishnu Prasad in 2006. The couple has two daughters, Samara and Samhitha.
