Chandoo Mondeti is an Indian film director and screenwriter who 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 ...

. His successful films include ''

Karthikeya Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...

'' (2014), ''

Premam ''Premam'' () is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age romantic comedy film written, directed and edited by Alphonse Puthren. It was produced by Anwar Rasheed and stars Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi (in her major film debut). It also f ...

'' (2016), '' Karthikeya 2'' (2022) and '' Thandel'' (2025). He is the recipient of 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 ...

and a

Nandi Award 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 s ...

Early life and career

Chandoo Mondeti was born in Vemuluru near

Kovvur Kovvur, also natively known as Kovvuru, is a town in the East Godavari district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Kovvur mandal in Kovvur revenue division. Etymology This Town was ...

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 ...

. He debuted as a director with ''Karthikeya'' in 2014. It was a mystery

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

starring Nikhil Siddhartha and Swathi Reddy in the lead roles. The film revolves showcases the life of a curious medico Karthik who investigates the mystery surrounding a closed

temple in the village of Subrahmanyapuram. An incident which happened in Talupulamma Temple in

Kakinada district Kakinada district is a district in the Coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Kakinada as its administrative headquarters, it was proposed on 26 January 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty six districts in the ...

inspired Chandoo Mondeti to pen the story of ''Karthikeya''. The film released on 24 October 2014 as a

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

release to positive reviews from critics, and collected more than , on a budget of . He then directed ''

'' (2016), a remake of 2015 Malayalam film of the same name. The film was commercially successful. Later he directed '' Savyasachi'' (2018) starring

Naga Chaitanya Akkineni Naga Chaitanya (; born 23 November 1986) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. Chaitanya is a recipient of several accolades including one Filmfare Awards South, Filmfare Award South and one Nandi Award for his work. Born in ...

and Madhavan (in his Telugu debut) which did not perform well at the box office. He later directed the

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

film ''

Bloody Mary #REDIRECT Bloody Mary {{redirect category shell, {{R ambig{{R from other capitalisation{{R unprintworthy ...

'' (2022) stars

Nivetha Pethuraj Nivetha Pethuraj (30 November) is an Indian actress who appears in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu films. She made her acting debut with the Tamil film ''Oru Naal Koothu'' (2016). She then made her Telugu debut with ''Mental ...

Brahmaji Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian who works in Telugu cinema. He is a regular actor in director Krishna Vamsi's films. Brahmaji appeared in an important role in Krishna Vamsi's debut film as a director, '' Gulabi''. He appeared in Kri ...

, Ajay, and Kireeti Damaraju. Set in

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

, the plot follows three orphaned childhood friends—Mary, Raju, and Basha who find themselves embroiled in a murder case. The film was digitally released in April 2022 on the streaming platform Aha. His next project '' Karthikeya 2,'' the sequel to ''Karthikeya'', was officially launched in March 2020 in

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

with a puja ceremony. Filming took place in India, predominantly in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, in addition to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It starred Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran, and

Anupam Kher Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has acted in more than 540 films. A veteran of Indian cinema, Kher is recipient of two Na ...

in prominent roles. ''Karthikeya 2'' was released in August 2022 and received positive reviews from critics and became the highest grossing film in Mondeti's career. He has collaborated with Naga Chaitanya for the third time in '' Thandel'', with

Sai Pallavi Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan (; born 9 May 1992) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. Recognised as one of the finest actors in South Indian cinema, known for her portrayals of strong and challeng ...

playing the lead actress. It was released in February 2025.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mondeti, Chandoo Telugu film directors National Film Award (India) winners Year of birth missing (living people) Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Film people from West Godavari district Living people Telugu screenwriters Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Nandi Award winners 21st-century Indian screenwriters Indian film directors Indian male screenwriters South Indian International Movie Awards winners Gaddar Telangana Film Awards winners