Hemanth M. Rao is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

. He rose to fame following the success of his directorial debut ''

Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu ''Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu'' () is a 2016 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Hemanth Rao, making his debut, and produced by Pushkara Mallikarjun under Pushkar Films. The film stars Anant Nag and Rakshit Shetty in the lead ro ...

'' (2016).

Career

After a brief stint in journalism, Rao ventured into the film industry in 2005. He began as an assistant director with Girish Kasaravalli on the 2008 film Gulabi Talkies. He then worked in similar capacities with Jacob Varghese on Savaari and Prithvi. He worked as an assistant director with

Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...

in the latter's 2008 film ''

Gulabi Talkies ''Gulabi Talkies'' is a 2008 Indian Kannada language drama film by acclaimed Indian director Girish Kasaravalli. The film stars Umashree in the title role, M. D. Pallavi and K. G. Krishna Murthy. It is based on a short story by the same name by Ka ...

'', before working with Jacob Varghese in '' Savaari'' (2009) and ''

Prithvi Prithvi (Sanskrit: पृथ्वी, ', also पृथिवी, ', "the Vast One", also rendered Pṛthvī Mātā), is the Sanskrit name for the earth, as well as the name of the goddess-personification of it in Hinduism. The goddess Prit ...

'' (2010). He made his directorial debut in 2016 with ''

'', a Kannada drama feature about a man searching for his missing father with Alzheimer’s, with a script that he co-wrote. that had

Rakshit Shetty Rakshit Shetty (born 6 June 1983) is an Indian actor and filmmaker working predominantly in Kannada cinema. He is the recipient of a National Film Award, two Filmfare Awards South, two Karnataka State Film Awards and five SIIMA Awards. His deb ...

and

Anant Nag Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 250 Kannada films and few films in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Malaya ...

playing the respective roles. The film, produced by

Pushkar Films Pushkar films is a production house created by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah who hails from Tumkuru District of Karnataka. Films produced References {{Pushkar Films Film production companies based in Bengaluru 2016 establishments in Karnata ...

, was a box office success and received critical acclaim upon release. Under his banner Lost & Found Films, he co-produced ''

Humble Politician Nograj ''Humble Politiciann Nograj'' is a 2018 Indian Kannada-language satire comedy film written and directed by Saad Khan. The film stars Danish Sait, who plays the title character of Nograj, a narcissistic politician. The film was produced by Pushka ...

''—a political satire comedy inspired by '' The Campaign''. The film was produced by Pushkar Films and

Paramvah Studios Paramvah Studios is an Indian film studio involved in distribution and production. It is located in Bengaluru. Establishment Rakshit Shetty, well-known actor, director and lyrics-writer in the Kannada film industry started Paramvah in 2015 a ...

and was released in January 2018. Rao’s next writing venture was ''

Andhadhun ''Andhadhun'' ( ) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language black comedy crime thriller film co-written and directed by Sriram Raghavan. It stars Tabu, Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Anil Dhawan. The film tells the story of a blind piano player wh ...

'' (2018), which was also his first venture into

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. He co-wrote the script with

Sriram Raghavan Sriram Raghavan (born 22 June 1963) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is primarily considered an auteur of neo-noir action thrillers. Raghavan made his directorial debut with '' Ek Hasina Thi'' (2004). H ...

, Pooja Ladha Surti (who was also the editor of the film), Arijit Biswas, and Yogesh Chandekarand. The film also garnered tremendous praise and popularity, while also quickly garnering a cult following. They all collectively won a

Filmfare Award The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Time ...

and

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 ...

for their screenplay. His second directorial was ''

Kavaludaari ''Kavaludaari'' () is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language neo-noir thriller film written and directed by Hemanth Rao, presented by Puneeth Rajkumar and produced by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar of PRK Productions. Kavaludaari will be the first feature fil ...

'' (2019), which was also the maiden production venture of

Puneeth Rajkumar Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), affectionately known as Appu (by his fans, after his first lead role in the movie Appu (2002 film), ''Appu''), was an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter a ...

under production house,

PRK Productions PRK Productions is an Indian film production company founded by Puneeth Rajkumar and managed by his wife, Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar. History PRK Productions was founded on 20 July 2017. The production house made its feature film debut with '' ...

. ''

'' won Best Movie in "Kannada Cinema Competition" at 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2020 Rao continued to work in the thriller space with ''Maestro'', which released in 2021. His next directorial, ''Sapta Sagaradaache Ello'', is a romantic drama which he wrote a long time back. Owing to the expansive timeline of the screenplay, it was split into two parts: ''

Side A The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or r ...

'' and '' Side B''. ''Side A'' released on 1 September 2023 to critical acclaim from both the critics and audience, alike. ''Side B'' was released on 17 November 2023.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Hemanth M Living people Kannada film directors Kannada screenwriters Film directors from Bengaluru Screenwriters from Bengaluru Best Adapted Screenplay National Film Award winners 21st-century Indian people 1983 births