Chalasani Aswini Dutt (also spelled Aswani Dutt; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian film producer primarily known for his work 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 is the founder of

Vyjayanthi Movies Vyjayanthi Movies is an Indian Production company, film production company founded in 1974 by C. Aswani Dutt, C. Aswini Dutt. One of the leading production houses in Telugu cinema, it is known for its large-scale productions featuring high produ ...

, a major film production company established in 1974. Over a career spanning five decades, Aswini Dutt has produced over 40 films, predominantly in Telugu, along with a few in other languages. He is especially known for producing high-budget films featuring major stars. He also contested for the

Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency is one of the twenty-five lok sabha constituencies of Andhra Pradesh in India. It comprises seven assembly segments and belongs to NTR district. Assembly segments Vijayawada constituency presently compris ...

in the year 2004 General Elections as a

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (TDP; ) is an Indian regional political party primarily active in the Federated state, states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by Telugu cinema, Telugu matinée idol N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) on 29 March 1982 a ...

candidate.

Early and personal life

Aswini Dutt was born into a well-to-do family in

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. His father was a contractor and the sole distributor for Kalinga Pipes in the state for many years. He completed his graduation.

Jandhyala Jandhyala Subrahmanya Sastry (14 January 1951 – 19 June 2001), known mononymously as Jandhyala, was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright known for his work in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre, theatre. Popularly referred to a ...

, who would later go on to become a noted film director and screenwriter, was Aswini Dutt's childhood friend. They were classmates from fourth standard till their graduation and lived in neighbouring houses. He has three daughters

Priyanka Dutt Priyanka Dutt Chalasani (born 19 December 1984) is an Indian film producer known for her work in Telugu cinema. She is the daughter of C. Ashwini Dutt, a well known Indian film producer and the founder of Vyjayanthi Movies. Dutt studied film ...

Swapna Dutt Swapna Dutt Chalasani (born 30 August 1981) is an Indian film producer known for her work in Telugu cinema. She is the daughter of C. Ashwini Dutt, a well-known Indian film producer and the founder of Vyjayanthi Movies. Swapna began her car ...

and Sravanthi Dutt. Priyanka is married to film director

Nag Ashwin Singireddy Nag Ashwin Reddy (born 23 April 1986), popularly known as Nag Ashwin, is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema. He is the recipient of a National Film Award, a Nandi Award, and a Filmfare Award ...

who previously directed the film '' Yevade Subramanyam'' (2015) for Vyjayanthi Movies.

Film career

Dutt started his film career as an executive producer for the black-and-white film '' O Seetha Katha'' (1974) directed by

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (19 February 1930 – 2 February 2023) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. One of the greatest auteurs of Indian cinema, he received international recogn ...

. He wanted to produce a film with his favourite actor

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, film editor, philanthropist, and politician who served as the Chief Minister o ...

and approached him. Named by Rama Rao after the garland which is in

Lord Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is wi ...

’s neck, Vyjayanthi Movies commenced production, under the proprietorship of Aswini Dutt. The logo of the production house contains the image of Rama Rao as Lord

Sri Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is w ...

, with a Sankha in his hand and

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

behind him. The first film produced under Vyjayanthi Movies banner was '' Eduruleni Manishi'' (1975) starring Rama Rao and

Vanisri Vanisri (born Rathna Kumari) is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has received three Filmfare Awards South, the Nandi Awards and the Tamil Nadu St ...

. The production house went on to make films with the biggest stars of

: N. T. Rama Rao,

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1924 – 22 January 2014), known as ANR, was an Indian actor and film producer in Telugu cinema. Over his seven decade career, he became a prominent figures in the industry, and is among most influential ac ...

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

Sobhan Babu Uppu Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao; 14 January 1937 – 20 March 2008) was an Indian actor known for his work in Telugu cinema.Bangaru Panjaram in Venditera Paatalu, Krishnasastri Sahityam, third volume, Vishalandhra Publishing H ...

Krishnam Raju Uppalapati Venkata Krishnam Raju (20 January 1940 – 11 September 2022) was an Indian actor and politician. He was known for his works in Telugu cinema and was widely known as "''Rebel Star''" for his rebellious acting style. He was also th ...

Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as the "Mega Star", he is widely regarded as one of the most succe ...

Balakrishna Bala Krishna (). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship already flourished in and around Mathura several centuries before Christ. A second important element is ...

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

, Venkatesh,

Pawan Kalyan Konidela Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar; 2 September 1971) is an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and martial artist serving as the List of deputy chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 11th Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Prade ...

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

Ram Charan Konidela Ram Charan (born 27 March 1985) is an Indian actor, film producer, and entrepreneur who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and is also known for his dancing. He has featured in '' ...

Jr. NTR Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), popularly known as NTR Jr, is an Indian actor, producer, and television presenter who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has been featur ...

Prabhas Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju (; born 23 October 1979), known mononymously as Prabhas, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema, he is known as Rebel Star in ...

. They also worked with

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 170 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, ...

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

, and

Dulquer Salman Dulquer Salmaan (; born 28 July 1983) is an Indian actor, singer and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam films. One of the highest paid Malayalam actors, Salmaan is a recipient of several awards including five Filmfare Awards South, ...

. Many of the films produced by Vyjayanthi Movies were directed by

K. Bapayya Kovelamudi Bapayya is an Indian film director. He has directed about 80 films in Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi languages. He is the cousin of noted director K. Raghavendra Rao and nephew of director and producer K. S. Prakash Rao. Early ...

and

K. Raghavendra Rao Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian filmmaker known primarily for his work in Telugu cinema, besides a few Hindi film and Kannada films. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has directed over a hundred films ...

. Vyjayanthi Movies also has subsidiary banners Three Angels Studio, Swapna Cinema run by Aswini Dutt's daughters

and

. Of late, his daughters take care of the production part of the films produced by their production house, while the music is handled Aswini Dutt. Vyjayanthi Movies had a successful run until it hit a rough patch with '' Sakthi'' in 2011. After this, Aswini Dutt took a seven-year hiatus. He produced ''

Mahanati ''Mahanati'' () is a 2018 Indian Telugu cinema, Telugu-language biographical film, biographical drama (film and television), drama film based on the life of actress Savitri (actress), Savitri. It is written and directed by Nag Ashwin, and prod ...

'' in 2018 which became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Dutt mentions ''

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari ''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (), also known by the initialism ''JVAS'', is a 1990 Indian Telugu-language fantasy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao who co-wrote the script with Jandhyala and Yandamuri Veerendranath. The film stars C ...

'' (1990) as his most favourite among all the films that he produced.

Shelved projects

After the success of ''Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'', Aswini Dutt sought to produce a fantasy film with a focus on CGI. He initiated a project titled ''Bhooloka Veerudu'', directed by

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of India's most versatile and innovative filmmakers. He has directed around sixty films across ...

, with Chiranjeevi in the lead role. However, after completing two schedules, the team realized that the film lacked a proper storyline, leading to its eventual shelving. In another instance,

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 ...

pitched a story to Aswini Dutt, which he and Chiranjeevi both found appealing. At the time, Varma was working on ''Daud'', and with the possibility of delays due to

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who works in Hindi cinema in addition to a few Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi films. Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 160 films. ...

's legal issues, Varma decided to present the story to Dutt and Chiranjeevi. Aswini Dutt then began the project under Varma's direction. However, after Sanjay Dutt was released, the production of ''Daud'' resumed, and Dutt realized that the storylines of both films were strikingly similar. Uncomfortable with the overlap, he chose to stall the project.

Filmography

Films produced under Vyjayanti Movies banner. Swapna Cinema Raghavendra Movie Corporation and United Producers (Aswani Dutt, Allu Aravind, and K. Raghavendra Rao) Siri Media Arts (Aswani Dutt and Allu Aravind) Sri Priyanka Pictures Roja Art Productions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutt, Aswani Telugu film producers Living people Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party politicians Filmfare Awards South winners Nandi Award winners Hindi film producers 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesspeople 1950 births