B. Gopal

Bejawada Gopal is an Indian film director who works in Telugu cinema. He has directed over 30 Telugu films, including successful films such as Bobbili Raja, Lorry Driver, Assembly Rowdy, State Rowdy, Rowdy Inspector, Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, Indra, Maska. He won Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu for the film Samarasimha Reddy. He has also directed two Hindi films, Insaaf Ki Awaaz and Kanoon Apna Apna.

Childhood and early years B. Gopal was born at M. Nidamanuru village near Tangutur, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh to B. Venkateswarulu and Mahalakshmi. He has two siblings, one brother Subba Rao and sister Suseela. He did his schooling in Karumanchi. Later he attended C.S.R.Sarma college in Ongole. After finishing his education, With his father permission he chose to pursue his career in movies. He is the uncle of Telugu film Actor Venu Thottempudi.

Career He started his career working as an assistant director under P. C. Reddy. After working in two films under his guidance, he got an opportunity to work as an assistant director in Adavi Ramudu, under K. Raghavendra Rao. He considers K. Raghavendra Rao as his mentor and guru in the industry. He worked under him for almost 12 years, in Adavi Ramudu, Devatha, Justice Chowdary, Agni Parvatam etc. In 1982, while he was working as an associate director for Devatha, he was spotted by the producer of the film, Dr. Daggubati Ramanaidu. Impressed by his work and knowledge, Ramanaidu offered him the chance to direct a film under his banner. This led to B. Gopal's debut as a director with Prathidvani, starring Sharada, Arjun and Rajani. It released in 1986.

Afterwards, he went on to direct many commercially successful and cult films like Bobbili Raja, Lorry Driver, Assembly Rowdy, Rowdy Inspector, Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, Allari Ramudu, and Indra. His association with Paruchuri Brothers is well known in Telugu cinema. They have worked together on many successful films. He is also famously known for his collaboration with Nandamuri Balakrishna. He was the only director to have 3 industry hits, those being: Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, and Indra. This record was nearly untouched for, till the release of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, in 2017. S.S.Rajamouli became the second director to have 3 industry hits, those being: Magadheera, Baahubali: The Beginning, and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Gopal's career hit a rough patch when his subsequent ventures after Allari Ramudu: Palnati Brahmanayudu, Adavi Ramudu, and Narasimhudu became major disasters at the box office.

After a gap of four years, he directed Maska with Ram Pothineni, which released in 2009. It was commercially successful. In 2011, it was announced that he would again collaborate with Balakrishna in a project called Hara Hara Mahadev, but it was stalled after the launch. In 2012, he replaced director Boopathy Pandian for Aaradugula Bullet, starring Gopichand and Nayanthara. It was initially titled as Jagan Mohan IPS. However, due to financial problems, it was delayed till 2021, finally releasing on October 8, that year, to highly negative reviews.

Awards Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu – Samarasimha Reddy (1999). Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director - Prathidvani (1986).

Filmography

All films are in Telugu unless otherwise noted

Year Film Cast Notes1986 Prathidvani Sarada, Arjun, Rajani 1986 Insaaf Ki Awaaz Rekha, Anil Kapoor, Richa Sharma Hindi1987 Collector Gari Abbai Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna 1988 Raktha Tilakam Venkatesh, Amala 1988 Aswathama Krishna, Vijayashanti 1989 Vijay Nagarjuna, Vijayashanti 1989 State Rowdy Chiranjeevi, Radha, Bhanupriya1989 Kanoon Apna Apna Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit Hindi 1990 Lorry Driver Nandamuri Balakrishna, Vijayashanti 1990 Bobbili Raja Venkatesh, Divya Bharti 1991 Assembly Rowdy Mohan Babu, Divya Bharti 1992 Chinarayudu Venkatesh, Vijayashanti 1992 Brahma Mohan Babu, Aishwarya, Shilpa Shirodkar 1992 Rowdy Inspector Nandamuri Balakrishna, Vijayashanti 1993 Mechanic Alludu Chiranjeevi, Vijayashanti 1994 Gangmaster Rajasekhar, Nagma 1995 Street Fighter Vijayashanti 1995 Khaidhi Inspector Suman, Maheswari 1997 Collector Garu Mohan Babu, Sakshi Sivanand 1997 Adavilo Anna Mohan Babu, Roja 1999 Samarasimha Reddy Nandamuri Balakrishna, Anjala Zaveri, Simran, Sanghavi 2000 Ravanna Dr. Rajasekhar, Soundarya 2000 Vamsi Mahesh Babu, Namrata Shirodkar 2001 Narasimha Naidu Nandamuri Balakrishna, Simran, Preeti Jhangiani2002 Allari Ramudu N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Aarthi Agarwal 2002 Indra Chiranjeevi, Aarthi Agarwal, Sonali Bendre2003 Palnati Brahmanaidu Nandamuri Balakrishna, Aarthi Agarwal, Sonali Bendre 2004 Adavi Ramudu Prabhas, Aarthi Agarwal 2005 Narasimhudu N. T. Rama Rao Jr, Ameesha Patel, Sameera Reddy 2009 Maska Ram, Hansika, Sheela 2021 Aaradugula Bullet Gopichand, Nayanthara Released after 4 years