Sreeja Konidela, daughter of Chiranjeevi, sister of ‘Peddi’ star Ram Charan has lived much of her personal life under the unforgiving glare of public scrutiny navigating an elopement at 19, a dowry case, two marriages, two separations, and the loss of her first husband, all while carrying the weight of one of Telugu cinema’s most celebrated family names. Now, she is speaking on her own terms. In a heartfelt Instagram video posted on Monday, Sreeja revealed how a 15-month programme helped her move from a place of victimhood to one of empowerment, and why she no longer allows her painful past to define who she is.

Sreeja Konidela on being stuck in victimhood

With a candour that is rare for someone from one of Telugu cinema’s most prominent families, Sreeja spoke directly about the mental and emotional state she found herself trapped in before embarking on her journey of transformation.“I was stuck in a space asking, why is this happening to me, and why am I going through so much pain? Why is there a struggle after struggle, and what did I do to deserve this? And in this journey, I moved from that space of victimhood and to understanding that life just 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 acknowledgement of how completely her sense of self had become entangled with her history of struggle and how the process of disentangling the two has been both challenging and liberating.“For most of my life, I identified myself with my pain, my past, my struggles. To me, my identity was shaped by everything that went wrong in my life,” she said, before describing what the programme unlocked.“But through this program, I started to see beyond that. Yes, my pain is still a part of me, but that’s not all that I am, and there is 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 by a series of events that unfolded, often painfully, in full public view. At just 19 years old in 2007, she eloped with her then-22-year-old boyfriend Shirish Bharadwaj, marrying in an Arya Samaj ceremony in Hyderabad. The couple sought media and police protection amid reported family opposition, making national headlines. Their daughter, Nivrithi Bharadwaj, was born in 2008. By 2011, Sreeja had filed a dowry and harassment case against Shirish and his family. She returned to her family home, and their divorce was finalised in 2014.In 2016, Sreeja married childhood friend and businessman Kalyaan Dhev. Their daughter, Navishka, was born in 2018. The couple separated in 2022, with fans noting when she quietly dropped the Kalyaan surname. In 2023, Kalyaan publicly confirmed the separation, stating he spent only four hours a week with their daughter. The following year, in 2024, Sreeja’s first husband Shirish Bharadwaj passed away in Hyderabad from health complications.

The Konidela family tree

Sreeja is one of three children of Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi. His eldest child and son, Ram Charan, is one of Telugu cinema’s biggest contemporary stars, 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 have two daughters, Samara and Samhitha.