Sekhar Kammula

Sekhar Kammula (born 4 February 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works in Telugu cinema. He has garnered two Filmfare Awards South, and six state Nandi Awards for his directional works. Sekhar Kammula was among the director's delegation to represent South Indian Cinema at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

A Master of Science and Master of Fine Arts holder from Rutgers University and Howard University respectively, Sekhar Kammula made his directorial debut with the independent film Dollar Dreams (2000), which won him the National Film Award for Best First film of a director. The film was also screened at the International Film Festival of India. Kammula went onto direct critically and commercially successful Telugu films Anand (2004), Godavari (2006), Happy Days (2007), Leader (2010), Fidaa (2017), Love Story (2021), and Kuberaa (2025).

Early life and education Sekhar Kammula was born in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Hyderabad, Telangana. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, and completed his Masters M.S from Rutgers University in Computer Science in the U.S. He worked in the IT industry for about 3 years and then joined a film school and got his M.F.A (Film) degree at Howard University, Washington D.C. During this time he worked on a number of films (short and feature length) in the U.S.

Film career Kammula made his film directorial debut with the independent film Dollar Dreams (2000), shot in both Telugu and English which was a critical success, and won him the National Film Award for Best First film of a director. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India. His next film, Godavari (2006), was highly praised by critics but barely managed to break even commercially. However, over the years, both Anand and Godavari have gained a huge cult following and are considered to be two of the greatest Telugu films ever made.

In 2007, his directed Happy Days which depicted the regular college life of engineering students. The film was very successful, especially among the urban youth of then Andhra Pradesh. The film was later remade in Tamil and Kannada languages.

He then directed the political drama Leader, which released in 2010 to positive reviews. However, like Godavari, it too barely managed to break-even. Rediff.com noted that "If anything, the film is a wish-list of what one would like to see in the arena of politics, which Sekhar should be lauded for even trying." Many considered it to be way ahead of its time at release, but the film has managed to acquire a huge cult following and stay relevant during political elections, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

In 2012, Kammula written, produced and directed Life Is Beautiful, his first production venture. The film had a positive reception from critics and audience. Firstpost called the film a revamped version of Happy Days (2007) and noted similarities between the characters written by Kammula in both the films. Later in 2014, he directed Anaamika, the Telugu remake of the 2012 Hindi cult blockbuster, Kahaani, in which Nayantara portrayed the original character of Vidya Balan. It opened to mixed reviews and was considered to be inferior to the original, eventually failing commercially.

In 2017, his romantic comedy film Fidaa, starring Varun Tej and Sai Pallavi, opened to highly positive reviews and grossed over 90 crore worldwide at the box office. Many considered it to be a return-in-form film for him. In 2021, Kammula's Telugu film, Love Story, starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi was released to mixed reviews and ended up becoming an above-average grosser at the box-office.

In 2025, his social thriller Kuberaa, featuring Tamil star Dhanush, Nagarjuna, and Rashmika Mandanna in the primary roles, opened to highly positive reviews and became the highest-grossing film of his career.

Film directorial style Sekhar Kammula’s films often focus on the relationship between men and women in their routine life circumstances filled with both happiness and hardships. Sankeertana Varma of Film Companion calls film portrayal of his female characters as somewhat "special." She writes that they aren't particular "strong women" but they are real. Varma adds that though his female characters display their egos and throw tantrums, they are unbreakable and refuse to fit in the typical societal norms expected from a normal woman. Kammula himself has also stated that he likes to keep his characters grounded, including the men in his films, and not commercialize them for improving the commercial prospect of his films.

Filmography

Year Film LanguageCredited as Notes Director Writer Producer 2000 Dollar Dreams TeluguEnglishDirectorial debut, Bilingual film 2004 Anand Telugu Also choreographer 2006 Godavari 2007 Happy Days Also choreographer 2008 Avakai Biryani 2010 Leader 2012 Life Is Beautiful 2014 Anaamika TeluguTamil Released in Tamil as Nee Enge En Anbe, Bilingual film 2017 Fidaa Telugu 2021 Love Story 2025KuberaaTeluguTamilBilingual film

Cameo appearances Year Title Role Notes 2000 Dollar Dreams Sekhar 2004 Anand Auto driver 2006 Godavari Kotigadu (voice) 2008 Avakai Biryani Hotel customer 2014 Mukunda Bus traveller Best Director