Srinivas Avasarala (born 19 March 1984) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n actor, 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 ...

. He received two

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 ...

and a SIIMA Award.

Early life

Srinivas Avasarala was born on 19 March 1984 in

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

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 ...

, India. His father worked at Andhra Bank. By virtue of his work, they had to travel across different locations. Hence, Avasarala completed his education in 4 cities –

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 ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, and

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 ...

. He did his B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from KL College of Engineering,

. Avasarala holds a master's in

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

with focus on

Finite Element Analysis Finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical models, mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural ...

from

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

and worked for

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is know ...

. He is also a professional

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

player who represented India in the Racquetball Asian championships.

Career

Avasarala holds a screenwriting diploma from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and took acting classes for a year at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York City. He did theatre in New York and then worked as an assistant director for a film called ''Blind Ambition''. He also hosted one of the quiz shows, Champion which aired on ETV Telugu for the first season. He made his acting debut with the film ''Ashta Chamma''- an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. His portrayal of Anand, Algernon in the play, received wide critical acclaim. He made his directorial debut with the Telugu romantic-comedy, '' Oohalu Gusagusalade'' (2014). He also essayed the role of Uday Bhaskar in the film which earned him South Indian International Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has essayed

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

roles in works such as '' Pilla Zamindar'', ''Anthakamundhu Aatharvaatha'', and ''

Kanche ''Kanche'' () is a 2015 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language Romance film, romantic war film written and directed by Krish (director), Krish. It stars Varun Tej, Pragya Jaiswal, and Nikitin Dheer. Produced by First Frame Entertainment, ''Ka ...

'' which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year.

Filmography

Films

As actor

As director or writer

Television

Awards and nominations

;

South Indian International Movie Awards The South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA Awards) rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appreciate and hono ...

* Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) – ''Oohalu Gusagusalade'' (2014) – won ;

* Special Jury Award – ''Oohalu Gusagusalade'' (2014) – won * Best Dialogue Writer – ''Jyo Achyutananda'' (2016) – won

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avasarala, Srinivas Living people Indian male film actors Male actors in Telugu cinema Telugu comedians Telugu screenwriters Telugu film directors Telugu-language lyricists 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights Telugu-language dramatists and playwrights Indian male comedians Male actors from Hyderabad, India Telugu male actors UCLA Film School alumni Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Indian emigrants to the United States Andhra University alumni 21st-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male writers 1984 births 21st-century Indian screenwriters South Indian International Movie Awards winners Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Male actors from Andhra Pradesh People from Kakinada Writers from East Godavari district