G. V. Rama Raju

GV Rama Raju is an Indian film director known for his contribution to Tollywood. His full name is Gottimukkala Venkata Rama Raju. Rama Raju was born in Bhimavaram under West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Before venturing into the cinema industry, he used to have different professions for the living. After his graduation, he had written various entrance examinations including the prestigious civil service test. In fact, he got qualified for the interview round. But, one of the judges advised Rama Raju to opt out of it as they considered him “weak” to handle the bureaucracy present in the system.

However, he encouraged the aspirant to follow his passion: movies. He came to know that Ram Gopal Varma Ram Gopal Varma is a famed Indian film director an >> Read More... is his distant relative. As Ram Gopal Varma made his mark in the Bollywood with flicks like Rangeela, Sathya, and Shiva, he decided to join the so-called “Ramu camp.” Raju worked in the direction unit for Devyam. At the same time, RGV suggested him to work on the scripts since it involves creativity. After some months, he began working in Oracle, one of the leading software companies in the world. But, he became disillusioned with his dull life and chose to return to Mumbai, where he teamed up with Anurag Kashyap Born on 10th September 1972, Anurag Kashyap has es >> Read More... and Eeshwar Nivas Eshwar Niwas is no ordinary director. He got natio >> Read More... for Shool.

He continued his collaboration with Kashyap for the latter’s projects such as Black Friday and Paanch. Both the films faced a stern opposition from the Censor Board due to its content. While Anurag’s directorial debut Paanch could not get a proper release, Black Friday released in 2007. Black Friday revolved around the investigation of the 1993 Bombay blasts which shook the entire world. Starring Kay Kay Menon, it received a much critical acclaim from the critics for its daring approach to such sensitive topic in the Indian crime history. Rama Raju got motivation from none other than Anurag Kashyap to try his luck in movie-making.

While he warned Raju of negligence in the Bollywood, he persuaded his friend to make a small but different Telugu movie. It inspired him to come back to his native state. In 2013, he directed Mallela Theeram Lo Sirimalle Puvvu. Despite having newcomers in the cast, people welcomed the outing. But, it was a Box-Office failure. The director blamed it on the distributors for their wrong advice. Nevertheless, he came up with Oka Manasu Click to look into! >> Read More... in the year 2016.

Rama Raju reposed his faith in youngsters with Niharika Kondella making her first appearance as the lead heroine. At the age of two, Raju suffered a personal tragedy as his mother died. Raju’s aunts who would tell him stories of his mother, which Raju listened to it carefully. Apparently, Raju imagined the yesteryears’ actress Savitri as his mother. When he made Mallela Theeram Lo Sirimalle Puvvu, he paid an emotional tribute to Savitri. He completed Oka Manasu in just 36 days.