Merlapaka Gandhi (born Merlapaka Che Guevara) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works primarily in Telugu cinema. In 2013, he made his directorial debut with ''

Venkatadri Express The 12797 / 12798 Venkatadri Express is a Superfast train belonging to Indian Railways, connecting Kacheguda in Hyderabad (Telangana) to Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. Route & Halts * * * * * * * * * * * * * Loco link Both trains ...

''. He later directed '' Express Raja'' (2016), and '' Krishnarjuna Yudham'' (2018) starring Nani.

Early life

Merlapaka was born in the village of Vedulla Cheruvu near Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh in a Telugu-speaking family. His father Merlapaka Murali was a Telugu language novelist and a contemporary of author Yandamuri Veerendranath. Merlapaka was initially given the name Che Guevara because his father was fond of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara. As their friends and relatives found it difficult to pronounce the name, after watching film ''Gandhi''. Murali changed his five-year old son's given name to 'Gandhi' in honour of independence activist Mahatma Gandhi. Merlapaka was schooled in Tirupati and graduated with a

Bachelor of Technology A Bachelor of Technology (Latin ''Baccalaureus Technologiae'', commonly abbreviated as B.Tech. or BTech; with honours as B.Tech. (Hons.)) is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after the completion of a three to five-year program of studi ...

from Allagadda.

Film career

Merlapaka wanted to become a film director since the 10th standard. After completing his graduation, he convinced his father to let him join a Cinematography course at the L. V. Prasad film institute in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, although, he eventually pursued a direction course there. Later on, he started writing stories and directed a short film. Having received a good response upon its release online, he then started developing the script for Venkatadri Express which was his debut film as a director.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Merlapaka Living people 21st-century Indian film directors Telugu film directors Telugu screenwriters Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh 1982 births