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Sukumar
Bandreddi Sukumar is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his intricate screenplays and for depicting protagonists with grey shades. He is the third highest-grossing Indian film director of all time and is one of the highest-paid directors in Indian cinema.
Before entering the film industry, Sukumar worked as a mathematics and physics lecturer at a junior college in Kakinada for nearly seven years. He began his film career as a writer, working with Editor Mohan, and later assisted V. V. Vinayak on Dil (2003). He made his directorial debut with Arya (2004), which was a major success and earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu and the Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer.
Sukumar's other notable films include Arya 2 (2009), 100% Love (2011), 1: Nenokkadine (2014), Nannaku Prematho (2016), Rangasthalam (2018), Pushpa: The Rise (2021), and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024). Rangasthalam became the third highest-grossing Telugu film at the time, behind the Baahubali films. Pushpa was the highest-grossing Indian film of 2021, while Pushpa 2 went on to become one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.
In addition to his directorial work, Sukumar has produced films under his banner Sukumar Writings, including Kumari 21F (2015), Uppena (2021), and Virupaksha (2023). In recognition of his contributions to Telugu cinema, he received the K. V. Reddy Memorial Award in 2014..
Sukumar was born on 11 January 1971, in a Telugu family in Mattaparru, a village near Malikipuram in erstwhile East Godavari district (present-day Konaseema district) of Andhra Pradesh. His father Tirupathi Rao Naidu was a rice trader and his mother Veera Veni was a homemaker. Sukumar was the youngest of the six children of Naidu and Veni. At the age of 6, following the slaughter of a rooster he loved, Sukumar practiced vegetarianism for a long time.
He did his schooling from Zilla Parishad High School, Razole and graduated with a master's degree in mathematics. He later worked as a mathematics and physics lecturer in Aditya Junior college, Kakinada. After nearly seven years, Sukumar and his junior Prakash Toleti decided to do something creative as they opined that their life has become too mundane as a lecturer.
Sukumar and Toleti began their career as writers in Telugu cinema and worked as writers for a few films. After writing three scenes for Jayanth C. Paranjee's Bavagaru Bagunnara? (1998), they were summoned by the college to help them in recruiting students. They walked out of the film on moral grounds. Due to lack of earnings, Sukumar briefly continued to teach students, earned money, and returned to film industry. He worked as an assistant director for Manasichi Choodu (1998). Sukumar later assisted Editor Mohan for Kshemamga Velli Labhamga Randi (2000) and Hanuman Junction (2001). Before making his directorial debut, Sukumar worked under V. V. Vinayak for Dil (2003) as an assistant director.
Sukumar began working on the script of his directorial debut, Arya (2004), in Visakhapatnam before joining the sets of Dil (2003). The producer of the film, Dil Raju, assured him that he would produce the film if Dil became a commercial success. Sukumar chose to narrate the story of a boy who confesses his love to a girl right in the beginning of the story, as opposed to films like Darr (1993), Kabhie Haan Kabhie Naa (1994), and Kaadhal Kondein (2003), where the protagonist's love/obsession for the female lead is revealed towards the end, as he found that idea an "obsolete" one. Raju was impressed with Sukumar's script and Allu Arjun was selected as the protagonist after considering the likes of Ravi Teja, Nithin, and Prabhas. Anuradha Mehta and Siva Balaji were chosen for the other two lead roles. R. Rathnavelu and Devi Sri Prasad were chosen as the film's director of photography and music director, respectively, who both went on to collaborate with Sukumar in many of his future films. Arya was a huge commercial and critical success, collecting a distributor's share of ₹16 crores and a box-office gross of ₹30 crores, on a budget of ₹4 crores.The success of Arya catapulted Sukumar into stardom overnight. He earned the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu at the 52nd Filmfare Awards South ceremony, and the Best Screenplay Writer award at the annual Nandi Awards ceremony.
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Sukumar
Bandreddi Sukumar is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his intricate screenplays and for depicting protagonists with grey shades. He is the third highest-grossing Indian film director of all time and is one of the highest-paid directors in Indian cinema.
Before entering the film industry, Sukumar worked as a mathematics and physics lecturer at a junior college in Kakinada for nearly seven years. He began his film career as a writer, working with Editor Mohan, and later assisted V. V. Vinayak on Dil (2003). He made his directorial debut with Arya (2004), which was a major success and earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu and the Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer.
Sukumar's other notable films include Arya 2 (2009), 100% Love (2011), 1: Nenokkadine (2014), Nannaku Prematho (2016), Rangasthalam (2018), Pushpa: The Rise (2021), and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024). Rangasthalam became the third highest-grossing Telugu film at the time, behind the Baahubali films. Pushpa was the highest-grossing Indian film of 2021, while Pushpa 2 went on to become one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.
In addition to his directorial work, Sukumar has produced films under his banner Sukumar Writings, including Kumari 21F (2015), Uppena (2021), and Virupaksha (2023). In recognition of his contributions to Telugu cinema, he received the K. V. Reddy Memorial Award in 2014..
Sukumar was born on 11 January 1971, in a Telugu family in Mattaparru, a village near Malikipuram in erstwhile East Godavari district (present-day Konaseema district) of Andhra Pradesh. His father Tirupathi Rao Naidu was a rice trader and his mother Veera Veni was a homemaker. Sukumar was the youngest of the six children of Naidu and Veni. At the age of 6, following the slaughter of a rooster he loved, Sukumar practiced vegetarianism for a long time.
He did his schooling from Zilla Parishad High School, Razole and graduated with a master's degree in mathematics. He later worked as a mathematics and physics lecturer in Aditya Junior college, Kakinada. After nearly seven years, Sukumar and his junior Prakash Toleti decided to do something creative as they opined that their life has become too mundane as a lecturer.
Sukumar and Toleti began their career as writers in Telugu cinema and worked as writers for a few films. After writing three scenes for Jayanth C. Paranjee's Bavagaru Bagunnara? (1998), they were summoned by the college to help them in recruiting students. They walked out of the film on moral grounds. Due to lack of earnings, Sukumar briefly continued to teach students, earned money, and returned to film industry. He worked as an assistant director for Manasichi Choodu (1998). Sukumar later assisted Editor Mohan for Kshemamga Velli Labhamga Randi (2000) and Hanuman Junction (2001). Before making his directorial debut, Sukumar worked under V. V. Vinayak for Dil (2003) as an assistant director.
Sukumar began working on the script of his directorial debut, Arya (2004), in Visakhapatnam before joining the sets of Dil (2003). The producer of the film, Dil Raju, assured him that he would produce the film if Dil became a commercial success. Sukumar chose to narrate the story of a boy who confesses his love to a girl right in the beginning of the story, as opposed to films like Darr (1993), Kabhie Haan Kabhie Naa (1994), and Kaadhal Kondein (2003), where the protagonist's love/obsession for the female lead is revealed towards the end, as he found that idea an "obsolete" one. Raju was impressed with Sukumar's script and Allu Arjun was selected as the protagonist after considering the likes of Ravi Teja, Nithin, and Prabhas. Anuradha Mehta and Siva Balaji were chosen for the other two lead roles. R. Rathnavelu and Devi Sri Prasad were chosen as the film's director of photography and music director, respectively, who both went on to collaborate with Sukumar in many of his future films. Arya was a huge commercial and critical success, collecting a distributor's share of ₹16 crores and a box-office gross of ₹30 crores, on a budget of ₹4 crores.The success of Arya catapulted Sukumar into stardom overnight. He earned the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu at the 52nd Filmfare Awards South ceremony, and the Best Screenplay Writer award at the annual Nandi Awards ceremony.