Chandoo Mondeti is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

. He has directed films like '' Karthikeya'' (2014), ''

Premam ''Premam'' (transl. Love) is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language coming of age romance film written and directed by Alphonse Puthren. Produced by Anwar Rasheed, it features Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi in the prominent roles. The plot follows Geo ...

'' (2016), ''

Bloody Mary Bloody Mary originally referred to: * Mary I of England (1516–1558), Queen of England and Ireland, so called because of her persecution of Protestants Bloody Mary may also refer to: Film * '' Urban Legends: Bloody Mary'', a 2005 horror fi ...

'' (2022), and ''

Karthikeya 2 ''Karthikeya 2'' is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language mystery action-adventure film written and directed by Chandoo Mondeti. The film serves as a sequel to the 2014 film '' Karthikeya'' and stars Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran, and Anu ...

'' (2022). For his work on ''Karthikeya'', he was nominated for "Best Director – Telugu" at the

62nd Filmfare Awards South The 62nd Filmfare Awards South ceremony honouring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2014 was an event held on 26 June 2015 at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. Awards and nominees Main awards Winners are listed ...

and the 1st IIFA Utsavam awards.

Early life and career

Chandoo Mondeti was born in Vemuluru near

Kovvur Kovvur is a town in East Godavari district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the mandal headquarters of Kovvur mandal in Kovvur revenue division. Etymology This Town was earlier referred as ''Govur''. Accordin ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. He debuted as a director with ''Karthikeya'' in 2014. It was a

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

starring

Nikhil Siddhartha Nikhil Siddhartha (born 1 June 1985) is an Indian actor of the Telugu film industry. He played minor roles in various films before being cast in ''Happy Days'' (2007) as one of the four male leads. The film was successful and became his breakth ...

and

Swathi Reddy Swathi Reddy (born 19 April 1987) is an Indian actress and television presenter who predominantly works in Telugu films, along with Tamil and Malayalam films. Her nickname ''Colours Swathi'' comes from her stint in the Telugu television show ' ...

in the lead roles. The film revolves showcases the life of a curious medico Karthik who investigates the mystery surrounding a closed Karthikeya temple in the village of Subrahmanyapuram. An incident which happened in Talupulamma Temple in

Kakinada district Kakinada district is a district in the Coastal Andhra Region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With Kakinada as its administrative headquarters, it was proposed on 26 January 2022 to become one of the resultant twenty six districts in the ...

inspired Chandoo Mondeti to pen the story of ''Karthikeya''. The film released on 24 October 2014 as a Diwali release to positive reviews from critics, and collected more than , on a budget of . He then directed ''

'' (2016), a remake of 2015 Malayalam film of the same name. The film was commercially successful. Later he directed '' Savyasachi'' (2018) starring

Naga Chaitanya Akkineni Naga Chaitanya (born 23 November 1986) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He made his acting debut with '' Josh'' (2009) and his breakthrough came with Gautham Vasudev Menon-directed ''Ye Maaya Chesave'' (2010). ...

and

Madhavan Madhavan may refer to: People * James Madhavan (died 1973), Fijian politician * Kavya Madhavan (born 1985), Indian actress * Mahesh Madhavan (born 1963/64), Indian businessman, CEO of Bacardi * N. S. Madhavan (born 1948), Indian writer * O. Madha ...

(in his Telugu debut) which did not perform well at the box office. He later directed the

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

film ''

'' (2022) stars

Nivetha Pethuraj Nivetha Pethuraj (born 30 November 1990) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her acting debut with ''Oru Naal Koothu'' (2016). Her successful films include ''Podhuvaga En Manasu Thangam'' (2017)'', Men ...

Brahmaji Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian actor best known for his work in Telugu cinema. He is a regular actor in director Krishna Vamsi's films. Brahmaji appeared in an important role in Krishna Vamsi's debut film as a director, '' Gulabi''. ...

, Ajay, and

Kireeti Damaraju Kireeti Damaraju is an Indian Telugu film actor. He has learned acting and done Theatre before venturing into films. He has played supporting and well noted roles in films such as ''Uyyala Jampala'' (2013), ''Yevade Subramanyam'' (2015), ''Vun ...

. Set in

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, the plot follows three orphaned childhood friends—Mary, Raju, and Basha who find themselves embroiled in a murder case. The film was digitally released on 15 April 2022 on the streaming platform Aha. His next project ''

,'' the sequel to ''Karthikeya'', was officially launched in March 2020 in

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

with a puja ceremony. Filming took place in India, predominantly in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

, in addition to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It starred

, Anupama Parameswaran, and Anupam Kher in prominent roles. ''Karthikeya 2'' was released on 13 August 2022 and received positive reviews from critics and became the highest grossing film in Chandoo Mondeti's career.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* Telugu film directors Year of birth missing (living people) Film directors from Andhra Pradesh People from West Godavari district 21st-century Indian film directors Living people Telugu screenwriters Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh {{India-film-director-stub