Gunasekhar (born 2 June 1964) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

. He has directed films in action, romance,

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, and

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

genres. He has won a

National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

, multiple

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

, a Filmfare Award South, and a Gaddar Award. Gunasekhar directed the historical epic film ''

Ramayanam The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'' (1997), which won the

National Film Award for Best Children's Film The National Film Award for Best Children's Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Golden Lotus ...

and was screened at the International Children's Film Festival of India. His 2003

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

, '' Okkadu'' was huge commercial success becoming the highest grossing Telugu film of that year and was remade into various Indian languages. His other notable films include '' Sogasu Chooda Tharamaa'' (1995), '' Choodalani Vundi'' (1998), '' Manoharam'' (2000)'','' and '' Rudhramadevi'' (2015).

Career

Before venturing into mainstream film direction, Gunasekar worked as an associate director to D. V. Narsaraju, Kranthi Kumar, and

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu films.** * * Varma has dir ...

. Gunasekhar made his directorial debut with the socio-political '' Lathi'' (1992), for which he received the state Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director. He directed the super-hit

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

, '' Sogasu Chooda Tharamaa'' (1995), which received the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. In 1997, Gunasekhar directed the mythological film ''

'', which won the

and was screened at the International Children's Film Festival of India. His next film was the action thriller '' Choodalani Vundi'' (1998), which introduced the DTS sound to the Telugu screen and was a box-office hit. The film was later remade into Hindi as, '' Calcutta Mail''. He then directed the political thriller, '' Manoharam'' (2000), which again bagged the Nandi Award for Best Story, and the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. His 2003

, '' Okkadu'', was a huge critical and commercial success, becoming the highest grossing Telugu film of that year and was remade into various Indian languages. The 2004 drama film, '' Arjun'', was screened at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

in the mainstream section. His 2015 historical film, ''Rudhramadevi'' which was released in October 2015 to widely mixed reviews but despite that it became an average grosser of the year. His latest venture was mythological

romantic drama film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

'' Shaakuntalam'' which was theatrically released on 14 April 2023. The film was panned by critics and became a huge commercial failure.

Personal life

Gunasekhar is married to Ragini, and the couple have two daughters, Neelima and Yukhta.

Filmography and awards

References

External links

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* {{authority control Living people 20th-century Indian people Nandi Award winners Telugu film directors Filmfare Awards South winners CineMAA Awards winners 21st-century Indian people Film directors from Andhra Pradesh People from Visakhapatnam district Telugu screenwriters Gaddar Telangana Film Awards winners Telugu film producers Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh 1964 births Directors who won the Best Children's Film National Film Award People from Uttarandhra