Sekhar Kammula

Sekhar Kammula is an Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema.[1][2] As a Master of Fine Arts holder from Howard University, he made his directorial debut with the independent film Dollar Dreams (2000), 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.[3] Kammula has garnered two Filmfare Awards South, and six state Nandi Awards for his works.[4] Kammula was among the director's delegation to represent Indian Cinema at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[5]

This is a Telugu name; the family name is Kammula.

Sekhar Kammula
OccupationFilm director, producer, screenwriter
Years active1999–present
Spouse(s)Sri Vidya Kammula
ChildrenVandana Kammula, Vibhav Kammula
AwardsNational Film Award
Websitewww.sekharkammula.in

His second film, Anand, was a blockbuster in 2004. His next film, Godavari, was praised by critics and was a hit. Happy Days, which was released on 28 September 2007, was declared a smash hit. It was remade in Tamil and Kannada. He was a writer for Tamil version which was released in 2010. He then directed Leader released on 19 February 2010 to positive reviews.

Career

Kammula graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, completed his M.S 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.[6]

Sekhar Kammula in Cinivaram, Ravindra Bharathi, Hyderabad

He made his directorial debut with the independent film Dollar Dreams (2000), 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.[3] He garnered two filmfare Awards South, and six state Nandi Awards for his works.[4] Kammula was among the director's delegation to represent Indian Cinema at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[7]

His second film, Anand, was a blockbuster in 2004. His next film, Godavari, was praised by critics and was a hit. Happy Days, which was released on 28 September 2007, was declared a smash hit. It was remade in Tamil and Kannada. He was a writer for Tamil version which was released in 2010. He then directed Leader released on 19 February 2010 to positive reviews.

He directed Anaamika, a Telugu remake of 2012 Bollywood hit Kahaani in which Nayantara played Vidya Balan's character. Sekhar Kammula is going to direct his first Hindi film which is a remake of Happy Days. The Hindi version will be produced by renowned film maker Shekhar Kapoor. The film will feature several new faces and Sekhar Kammula will start scouting for new faces in Mumbai and Pune, through the same process which he employed for the Telugu film. The screenplay for the film is being written by Mumbai-based writer Nikhil Mahajan.[8] Shekhar Kammula's Fidaa, starring Varun Tej and Sai Pallavi turned out to be a blockbuster hit with 50+ crores gross in 10 days.[9]

Filmography
Year Film Language Credited as Notes
Writer Director Producer
1999Dollar DreamsEnglish, Telugu Won national award in 1999.
2004AnandTelugu Also choreographer
2006GodavariTelugu
2007Happy DaysTelugu Also choreographer Won 6 Film fare Awards south in 2007 and 3 Nandi Awards. Film Fares for Best Film and Director.
2008Avakai BiryaniTelugu
2010Leader Telugu
2012Life Is BeautifulTelugu
2014MukundaTelugu Cameo appearance
AnaamikaTelugu, Tamil Also Screenplay
2017FidaaTelugu
2020Love StoryTelugu

Awards

National Film Award

Nandi Awards

  • 2004 – Nandi Award for Best Director – Anand
  • 2004 – Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film – Anand
  • 2006 - Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film – Godavari
  • 2006 – Nandi Award for Best Director – Godavari
  • 2007 – Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film – Happy Days
  • 2011 – Nandi Award for Best Story – Leader

Filmfare Awards South

  • 2007 – Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) – Happy Days
  • 2007 – Filmfare Best Director Award (Telugu) – Happy Days

Other awards

References
  1. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo (12 August 2012). "Life & Style : Return to innocence". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  2. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-27/news-interviews/45625585_1_film-poster-samantha-nenokkadine
  3. "47th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  4. "Kammula". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  5. Prashanth Bhat (12 May 2011). "Sekhar Kammula at Cannes – Times of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  6. "Telugu Cinema interview - Sekhar Kammula - Telugu film director". www.idlebrain.com. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. Prashanth Bhat (12 May 2011). "Sekhar Kammula at Cannes". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  8. Sarah Salvadore (22 May 2011). "Shekar calling Sekhar – Times of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  9. "Varun Tej and Sai Pallavi's next film is titled 'Fidaa' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  10. "Happy Days". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  11. Hooli, Shekhar H. (1 January 2018). "Zee Telugu Golden Awards 2017 winners list and photos". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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