Kocharla Dayarathnam (born 30 November 1952), better known as Jeeva, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Telugu and Hindi films. He has been working in films since 1978 and is well known for his negative roles in various Ram Gopal Varma films, particularly Satya (as Jagga), Ab Tak Chhappan (as Commissioner Suchak) and Sarkar (as Swami Virendra). He has acted in around 250 films in Telugu and Hindi languages.
He was born as Kocharla Dayaratnam. He belongs to Cobaldpet in Guntur. K. Balachander changed his name to Jeeva after his first film, changing his fortunes forever. He named his son as K. Balachander. His son is a director of Telugu film. He has seven siblings.
He made his debut as an actor with the film Swargam Narakam (1975) before acting in the film Tholi Kodi Koosindi (1981), directed by K. Balachander. He was selected for this role from a number of aspirants. Ganesh Patro gave him the stage name Jeeva. Later he worked with popular directors like Ram Gopal Varma, Vamsy, Krishna Vamsi, Puri Jagannadh etc.