2018: These 6 talented directors made a smashing Tollywood debut

After a fairly even share of hits and misses like every year, Tollywood is expected to end 2018 on a high with three big-ticket films lined up for release. While Sandalwood’s big-budget action-drama ‘KGF’ is entering Telugu theaters with its dubbed version, Varun Tej’s space-adventure ‘Antariksham 9000 KMPH’ and Sharwanand’s ‘Padi Padi Leche Manasu’ are also testing their fate at the box-office.

While the scarcity of talented actors has been sorted out in 2018, the abundance of directorial talent both in ‘mainstream’ and ‘indie’ segments has certainly lifted up the standards of Tollywood. With evolving viewers’ taste and recognition for good content, A-list actors are also not hesitating to work with first-time directors. Many talented filmmakers have invaded the showbiz arena this year and churned out some best films. Despite debut outings, they managed to strike a right chord with the audience and garnered glowing praises. Check out who are they!

Landing in Hyderabad with the goal of becoming an actor someday, Venky Kudumula learned the nuances of writing and filmmaking by working as an AD to renowned directors like Teja and Trivikram Srinivas for a film each. After impressing Naga Shaurya with an entertaining script and cool narration, the Khammam lad shot ‘Chalo’ in just 60 days on a shoe-string budget. The romantic-comedy collected an astonishing sum of over 10 crore and proved to be a surprise hit at the ticket counters.

Before trying his hands at direction, Venky Atluri was an actor and a writer. After starring as the male lead in the 2007 film ‘Gnapakam’ and working as an actor-cum-writer for ‘Sneha Geetham’, the youngster shifted his focus to direction and also helmed a short film. Once Varun Tej locked the script, ‘Tholi Prema’ was shot for 70 consecutive days in India and abroad. Despite the regular theme, the romantic drama worked well at the box-office due to its fresh narration and engaging screenplay. Raashi Khanna’s performance was highly appreciated in this film.

The new addition to the list of engineers-turned-directors, Prasanth Varma helmed quite a few short films like Dialogue in the Dark and The Silent Melody which were highly acclaimed by netizens. Once he pitched the idea of ‘Awe’ to Kajal Aggarwal, she was ready to bankroll the film in Hindi. But, he went ahead with Nani who was very keen on producing the anthology project on a large scale.

Featuring several A-list actors, ‘Awe’ opened to glowing reviews from critics & viewers with special accolades to the brilliant technical crew. The writer-cum-director addressed sensitive issues of gender-bias, sexual abuse, identity, opportunity and loss through the lives of several characters: The biker/psychiatrist, the girl-next-door, the chef, the drug-addict and tattooed waitress, the magician, and others.

Before fulfilling his directorial dream with ‘RX 100’, Ajay Bhupathi worked as an AD to Veeru Potla and maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. After penning down the script and dialogues of ‘RX 100’, he approached Vijay Deverakonda and gave a full-fledged narration. As the ‘Arjun Reddy’ star wasn’t keen on doing the film, Ajay roped in debutante Kartikeya and the rest was history.

Set against the backdrop of a Telugu village called Atreyapuram, the raw and rustic film managed to stun the audience with its unforeseen climax, delightful songs and applaud-worthy performances. The obviousness of a rich girl-poor boy love story gets an unexpected twist in RX 100 and it brilliantly explores the male psyche and the destructive side of one-side genuine love.

Despite strong passion towards direction, Rahul Ravindran became an accidental actor with the 2010 Tamil film ‘Moscowin Kavery’. After gaining recognition with ‘Andala Rakshasi’, he went to star in several Telugu films and bagged good marks for his performance. Rahul decided to take the plunge in 2017 and test his fate in direction. He pitched the story and dialogue version of ‘Chi La Sow’ to Sushanth and the ‘Current’ star instantly agreed to be a part of the project.

The breezy rom-com shot in less than 50 days became a surprise hit at the ticket counters with immense applause to the screenplay and the chemistry between the leads.

After trying his hands in short films, working as a co-director for television shows, and donning several hats in film production; Venkatesh Maha narrated the story of ‘C/O Kancharapalem’ to Aparna Malladi and eventually found a producer in Praveena Paruchuri.

The brave indie film takes the viewers beyond the accustomed cinematic settings to get familiarised with the sights, sound and lives of people living in a suburb of Visakhapatnam city called Kancharapalem. It is a narration of four love stories of different ages weaved together in one of the sweetest and heart-warming climaxes you’ll ever see. Touted as the biggest small film of the year, C/o Kancharapalem stayed with the viewer even after leaving the theatre.