Nag Ashwin to Tharun Bhascker, 7 Telugu directors who studied abroad

Tharun Bhascker: This director, who shot to fame with the Vijay Deverakonda and Ritu Varma starrer Pelli Choopulu, is a graduate from the New York Film Academy in the United States. He started his career with a short film, The Journey, in the year 2011. He also received critical acclaim for another short film, Sainma. His feature film Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi also received a good response from the audience. 

 

Tharun has also tried his hand at acting. Recently, the director played the lead role in the comedy suspense film Meeku Maatrame Chepta. Before this, he was seen in films like Falaknuma Das and Sammohanam.

 

Nag Ashwin: The Mahanati director made his debut with Yevade Subrahmanyam in the year 2015. Nag Ashwin also did his film direction course at the New York Film Academy after finishing his Bachelor's in Mass Communication from Manipal. The director initially worked as an assistant director under Sekhar Kammula and was part of the crew of films like Leader and Life is Beautiful.

 

With Mahanati, he bagged several awards, including a National Award and Equality in Cinema Award. He's now all set to shoot the highly awaited Prabhas and Deepika Padukone film. 

 

Sekhar Kammula: One of the best directors in Telugu cinema, Sekhar Kammula has given us unique scripts. The director did his Master's in Fine Arts from Howard University. His latest film Fidaa, was also mostly shot in the US in the second half. 

 

Apart from Fidaa, the director is known for his other films like Anand, Godavari and Happy Days. Most of his films have been received well by the audience and critics alike. The director made his debut with an indie film, Dollar Dreams, which won a National Award for Best First Film.

Srinivas Avasarala: Many might be familiar with him as an actor, but he's also known for his directorial and screen writing skills. His first film Oohalu Gusagusalade won him critical acclaim.

Srinivas has not only studied abroad but also taught there. He holds a screenwriting diploma from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has taught for a year at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in New York. His acting skills were noted in his debut movie Ashta Chamma, where he played the character of Anand. Srinivas has played several prominent characters in recent Telugu films.

Deva Katta: The Prasthanam director has a graduate degree from a film school and has also made a documentary film about Indian students in the USA, titled Valasa, in 2003. Before that, he finished his Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University in Michigan.

The director shot to fame through Prasthanam in the year 2010. He is also known for his dialogue writing skills and has written lines for the Baahubali series. Some of the notable movies of the director include Vennela and a short film Dying To Be Me.

Ravi Babu: The Avunu director did an advanced cinematography course at the Film and Television Workshop in Rockport, Maine. Though he quit this course in the middle, he later finished a course at the Sony Institute in San Jose, California.

His film Nachavule won critical acclaim and three Nandi Awards. He is also known for his crime and suspense thrillers Avunu 2, Amaravathi and others. He has acted in several roles, from villain to a comedian. The multitalented Ravi Babu is also a producer and dialogue writer.

Adivi Sesh: Most of us know Adivi Sesh as an actor in Tollywood thrillers, but he is also a director who graduated from the San Francisco State University. Though he was born in Hyderabad, he was brought up in California in the United States. Sesh made his directorial debut with Karma: Do You Believe?, released in the year 2010. Sesh has also worked as a screenplay writer, and he wrote for Kshanam, a blockbuster in which he played the lead. He's known to be an experimental actor who does interesting films.

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Watch Nag Ashwin's Mahanati teaser here :