Neelakanta | |
|---|---|
 Neelakanta in 2018 | |
| Born | G. Neelakanta Reddy[1] Kadapa,Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Alma mater | Loyola College, Vijayawada |
| Occupations | Director, Screen Writer |
Neelakanta is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works predominantly inTelugu films director. He has received theNational Award in the screenwriting for the featureShow.[2] He won twoNational Film Awards and threeNandi Awards.[3]
Neelakanta is a native ofKadapa, Andhra Pradesh.[1] He studied at Loyola Public School andLoyola College in Vijayawada. Since his school days, Neelakanta has had a deep love for film direction and film making which is what drove him toChennai after his graduation.
Neelakanta always wanted to make films which eloquently depicted the psychological study of characters for the off-beat[4] his passion materialised withShow[5] followed byMissamma. He received two national awards, one for Best Screenplay and the other for the Best Feature Film inTelugu forShow while stateNandi Award in the screenplay department for the latter.
He then madeSada Mee Sevalo, withShriya Saran andVenu Thottempudi in lead roles,[6] and later made a psychological thriller,Nandanavanam 120km. Both these films did not do well at the box office. Despite its commercial failure,Nanadanavanam got him huge critical acclaim.[7] These were followed byMr.Medhavi. withGenelia andRaja in the lead roles. This film, produced byRamaRao Bodduluri, proved to be an above-average grosser. He also wrote dialogues for a Telugu remake of theHindi hitA Wednesday!, entitledEeenadu. In 2011, Neelakanta directedVirodhi, featuringMeka Srikanth andKamalinee Mukherjee. Neelakanta secured thebest dialogue writer award in the year 2011 for this film. In 2013 he directedChammak Challo, which gathered bad reviews for both the director and the film.[8][9]
In 2018, he directed theMalayalam filmZam Zam starringManjima Mohan. The film is an official remake of the Hindi filmQueen.
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Priyanka | Tamil film; Remake of Hindi filmDamini – Lightning |
| 2002 | Show | Winner - twoNational Film Awards |
| 2003 | Missamma | Winner - FourNandi Awards |
| 2005 | Sadaa Mee Sevalo | |
| 2006 | Nandanavanam 120km | |
| 2008 | Mr. Medhavi | |
| 2011 | Virodhi | Screened atInternational Film Festival of India – 2011
|
| 2013 | Chammak Challo | |
| 2014 | Maaya[11] | [12] |
| 2023 | Circle | |
| TBA | Zam Zam | Malayalam film; Remake of Hindi filmQueen |