Srinivasa Saambasiva Avasarala (born 19 March 1984) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, and television presenter known for his works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

. He received two

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named af ...

and a SIIMA Award.

Early life

Srinivasa Saambasiva Avasarala was born on 19 March 1984 in

Kakinada Kakinada ( formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the sixth largest city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the district headquarters of the Kakinada District. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. J. ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

, 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 as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, and

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

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

. Avasarala holds a Masters in

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

with focus on Finite Element Analysis from

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of N ...

and worked for Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

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. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

and took acting classes for a year at

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, ...

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

Kanche ''Kanche'' () is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language romantic war film written and directed by Krish. It stars Varun Tej, Pragya Jaiswal, and Nikitin Dheer. Produced by First Frame Entertainment, ''Kanche'' revolves around the enmity between tw ...

'' which won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

for that year.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

;

South Indian International Movie Awards South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the 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 appre ...

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

Special Jury Award Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

– ''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 film directors 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