G._Neelakanta_Reddy
Neelakanta (director)
Indian film director and screenwriter
Neelakanta is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works predominantly in Telugu films director. He has received the National Award in the screenwriting for the feature Show.[2] He won two National Film Awards & three Nandi Awards.[3]
Neelakanta | |
|---|---|
Neelakanta in 2018 | |
| Born | G. Neelakanta Reddy[1] Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Alma mater | Loyola College, Vijayawada |
| Occupation(s) | Director, Screen Writer |
Neelakanta is a native of Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh.[1] He studied at Loyola Public School and Loyola College in Vijayawada. Since his school days, Neelakanta has had a deep love for film direction and film making which is what drove him to Chennai 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 with Show[5] followed by Missamma. He received two national awards, one for Best Screenplay and the other for the Best Feature Film in Telugu for Show while state Nandi Award in the screenplay department for the latter.
He then made Sada Mee Sevalo, with Shriya Saran and Venu 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 by Mr.Medhavi. with Genelia and Raja in the lead roles. This film, produced by RamaRao Bodduluri, proved to be an above-average grosser. He also wrote dialogues for a Telugu remake of the Hindi hit A Wednesday!, entitled Eeenadu. In 2011, Neelakanta directed Virodhi, featuring Meka Srikanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee. Neelakanta secured the best dialogue writer award in the year 2011 for this film. In 2013 he directed Chammak Challo, which gathered bad reviews for both the director and the film.[8][9]
In 2018, he directed the Malayalam film Zam Zam starring Manjima Mohan. The film is an official remake of the Hindi film Queen.
- Note: All films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Priyanka | Screenplay, direction | Tamil film; Remake of Hindi film Damini – Lightning |
| 2002 | Show | Screenplay, direction | Winner - two National Film Awards |
| 2003 | Missamma | Screenplay, direction | Winner - Four Nandi Awards |
| 2005 | Sadaa Mee Sevalo | Screenplay, direction | |
| 2006 | Nandanavanam 120km | Screenplay, direction | |
| 2008 | Mr. Medhavi | Direction | |
| 2009 | Eeenadu | Dialogues | |
| 2011 | Virodhi | Screenplay, direction | Screened at International Film Festival of India – 2011
|
| 2013 | Chammak Challo | Direction | |
| 2014 | Maaya[11] | Screenplay, direction | [12] |
| 2023 | Circle | Direction | |
| TBA | Zam Zam | Direction | Malayalam film; Remake of Hindi film Queen |
- National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu – 2002 – Show
- National Film Award for Best Screenplay – 2002 – Show
- "Interview with Neelakanta". Idle Brain.
- "Awards of Neelakanta". Cine Radham. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014.
- "నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)" [A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)] (PDF) (in Telugu). Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- "Directors show all the way". Idle brain.
- "Sada mee sevalo is a dud". Rediff.
- "120 km away from routine flicks". cinegoer.
- "writer sleeping under tree". tupaki.
- "Nothing flashy about this". 123 telugu. 15 February 2013.
- "IFFM neglected Telugu films". sisi enterprises. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015.
- "For 'Maaya', Harshvardhan Rane follows caveman's diet". CNN-IBN. 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- "Maaya is Neelakanta's new film". action cut. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
- Neelakanta at IMDb