Gunasekhar

Gunasekhar (born 2 June 1964) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has directed films in action, romance, mythological, and historical drama genres. He has won a National Film Award, multiple Nandi Awards, a Filmfare Award South, and a Gaddar Award.

Gunasekhar directed the historical epic film Ramayanam (1997), which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film and was screened at the International Children's Film Festival of India. His 2003 action film, Okkadu was huge commercial success becoming the highest grossing Telugu film of that year and was remade into various Indian languages. His other notable films include Sogasu Chooda Tharamaa (1995), Choodalani Vundi (1998), Manoharam (2000), and Rudhramadevi (2015).

Career Before venturing into mainstream film direction, Gunasekar worked as an associate director to D. V. Narsaraju, Kranthi Kumar, and Ram Gopal Varma. Gunasekhar made his directorial debut with the socio-political Lathi (1992), for which he received the state Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director.

He directed the super-hit romance film, Sogasu Chooda Tharamaa (1995), which received the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. In 1997, Gunasekhar directed the mythological film Ramayanam, which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film and was screened at the International Children's Film Festival of India. The film was later remade into Hindi as, Calcutta Mail. He then directed the political thriller, Manoharam (2000), which again bagged the Nandi Award for Best Story, and the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film.

His 2003 action drama, Okkadu, starring Mahesh Babu and Bhumika Chawla, was a huge critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing Telugu film of that year and was remade into various Indian languages; it catapulted Mahesh Babu to superstardom.

He reunited with them again in the 2006 action drama, Sainikudu, produced by C. Aswini Dutt. It opened to mixed-to-negative reviews upon release and became a huge commercial disaster. He collaborated with Allu Arjun in the 2010 romantic thriller, Varudu, produced by D. V. V. Danayya. It opened to negative reviews upon release and like Sainikudu, became a huge commercial disaster. He collaborated with Ravi Teja in the 2012 action drama, Nippu, produced by Y. V. S. Chowdary. Like Sainikudu and Varudu, it opened to widespread criticism and was a huge commercial disaster.

His 2015 historical film, Rudhramadevi, starring Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati, and Allu Arjun and produced by himself, opened to mixed reviews upon release. Despite that, it managed to became an average grosser owing to the stardom of Anushka and Allu Arjun. His last venture was the mythological romantic drama film Shaakuntalam, which released on 14 April 2023 to highly negative reviews and became a huge commercial failure.

Personal life Gunasekhar is married to Ragini, and the couple have two daughters, Neelima and Yukhta.

Filmography and awards

Frequent collaborators Collaborator Mani Sharma Sekhar V. Joseph A. Sreekar Prasad Mahesh Babu Prakash Raj Brahmanandam Nassar Ajay Brahmaji Surya M. S. Narayana Dharmavarapu Subramanyam Gundu Hanumantha Rao