Rewind 2019! These 11 Tollywood Directors proved their mettle on the silver screen

2019 has been a mixed year for Tollywood with a fairly even share of hits and misses. While new-age films like Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya, Brochevarevarura and Evaru continued to surprise the audience with engaging screenplays, big-ticket movies like Saaho and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy have stamped their authority when it came to opening figures. Puri Jagannadh returned to top form with the stupendous success of iSmart Shankar and Anil Ravipudi continued his winning streak with F2: Fun & Frustration. Check out the 11 Telugu directors who have proved their mettle on the silver screen in 2019.

Released in the festive season of Sankranthi, Anil Ravipudi’s ‘F2: Fun & Frustration’ turned out to be a massive hit by accumulating a worldwide share of over Rs 100 crore at the box-office. ‘Victory’ Venkatesh is back to his forte of comedy in and impressed right from the word go with his trademark expressions and superb comic timing. Along with his impeccable act, the glamour show by Tamannaah and Mehreen worked big time for the hilarious entertainer. Helmed on a moderate budget of around Rs 30 crore, producer Dil Raju laughed all his way to the bank by earning more than 100% returns.

Right from ‘Toli Choopulone’ in 2003, Kalyan Ram’s film journey has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride filled with highs and lows. After the successive debacles of ‘Ism’ and ‘Naa Nuvve’ barring the average grosser ‘MLA’, the 40-year-old actor has finally bagged a solid hit early this year with 118. Directed by renowned cinematographer KV Guhan, the action-thriller garnered favourable reviews from the critics and managed to strike the right chord with the urban audience.

Shiva Nirvana’s Majili starring Naga Chaitanya and Samantha has managed to impress both the critics and viewers upon release. Along with the emotional storyline, Poorna’s (Chay) hate & love chemistry with Sravani (Sam) has worked well with the audience. Majili is the second straight success for Shiva Nirvana after Ninnu Kori in 2017.

Jersey is perhaps the finest cricket-based movie ever to be made in South cinema. Directed by Gautam Tinnanuri, the endearing sports-drama traces the life of an aged cricketer who is determined to prove his worth at the age of 36. Along with the heart-touching lot and mind-boggling climax, the stellar performances from all lead actors like Nani, Shraddha Srinath and Sathyaraj has aided the film to hit the bull’s eye. Jersey moves away from the oft-repeated trope of playing to win for the country and ends on a personal-cum-emotional note.

Released amid massive expectations, Mahesh Babu’s 25th film Maharshi released to a fabulous response from critics and viewers. Helmed on budget of close to Rs 90 crore, the Vamshi Paidipally directorial has grossed over Rs 175 crore at the global box-office in its full run. Addressing the plight of farmers in the country, the social-drama has also inspired a few citizens to take up weekend agriculture as a hobby to promote and support farming. The film featured some big names like Allari Naresh and Pooja Hegde.

For every aspiring actor, Naveen Polishetty is like a poster boy who has struggled his way from scratch to the higher echelons of the entertainment industry. After an impressive stint on the web and nearly 1500 auditions, the Hyderabad lad’s maiden box-office outing ‘Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya’ has released to an overwhelming response from both viewers and critics. Helmed on a shoe-string budget, the detective thriller directed by Swaroop RSJ went on register solid numbers both in the Telugu States and the US.

After impressing the Telugu cinegoers with his maiden directorial Mental Madhilo, Vivek Athreya came up with ‘Brochevarevarura’ in 2019 and hit the bull’s eye yet again. Starring Sree Vishnu, Nivetha Thomas, Rahul Ramakrishna and Priyadarshi in lead roles, the comic thriller proved that you don’t need over-the-top plots and big budgets to pull off a whacky, crazy comedy that makes you laugh and keeps you hooked right till the end.

Nandini Reddy made a splashing directorial debut with Ala Modalaindi in 2011 but failed to continue the success as her next film Jabardasth bombed at the box-office. After three long years, she made a successful comeback to Telugu cinema with Kalyana Vaibhogame and proved her mettle as a sensitive filmmaker with the Oh! Baby. Though this family-drama is the official remake of South Korean film ‘Miss Granny’, the Hyderabad-based director did a commendable job by inserting the nativity factor to the plot and extracting commendable performances from her star cast.

The stupendous success of iSmart Shankar has certainly brought some big smiles on the faces of Ram Pothineni, Puri Jagannadh and Charmme Kaur. Besides the protagonist, the action-thriller literally revived the careers of both the director and producer. Along with Puri’s trademark dialogues, the kick-ass performance of Ram, soothing songs & thumping background score by Mani Sharma and the drool-worthy act of both the leading ladies have satisfied the long-awaited thirst of the mass audience. Helmed on a shoe-string budget, iSmart Shankar has accumulated a worldwide gross of over Rs 75 crore.

Released amid massive expectations in five Indian languages, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy recorded a stupendous victory at the global box-office. Though the Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi versions failed to create an impact, the original film smashed all the existing records in the Telugu states and the US diaspora barring the numbers set by Baahubali and Saaho. Directed by Surender Reddy, the historical film has been hailed by viewers for the spectacular performance of Chiranjeevi, mind-boggling battle sequences and DOP Ratnavelu’s mesmerising camerawork.

After a fruitful stint as a screenwriter, Bobby made his directorial debut with Ravi Teja's Power (2014) and proved his ability in canning high-octane action sequences to perfection. After showcasing the all-round acting potential of Junior NTR in Jai Lava Kusa, the 36-year-old filmmaker has hit the bull’s eye yet again by attracting the masses with his latest outing Venky Mama. Starring Venkatesh and Naga Chaitanya in lead roles, the family entertainer has accumulated a worldwide gross of over Rs 45 crore in the opening weekend.