Deva Katta is an Indian American 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 directed cult classic Telugu movies such as ''

Vennela ''Vennela'' ( en, Moonlight) is a 2005 Telugu romantic comedy film written and directed by Deva Katta, starring Raja and Parvati Melton as well as Sharwanand and Ravi Varma. ''Vennela'' was well received among the young, urban audiences and s ...

'' (2005), ''

Prasthanam ''Prasthanam'' () is a 2010 Indian Telugu-language political action drama film written and directed by Deva Katta. The film was produced by Ravi Vallabhaneni under VRC Media & Entertainment banner. The film stars Sharwanand, Sai Kumar, Sundeep K ...

'' (2010), ''

Autonagar Surya ''Autonagar Surya'' is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Deva Katta. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, with Brahmanandam and Sai Kumar in pivotal roles. The film was produced by K. Atchi Reddy on Max I ...

'' (2014) and ''

Republic (film) ''Republic'' is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language political drama film written and directed by Deva Katta, and produced by JB Entertainments and Zee Studios. The film stars Sai Tej, Aishwarya Rajesh, Ramya Krishna, and Jagapathi Babu. The plot fo ...

'' (2021). In 2010, ''

'' was showcased in the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India. The film also won two Filmfare awards including Filmfare South Critics Award for Best film and

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film This is the list of winners of the Nandi Award for Best Feature Films since 1964. Best Feature Film - Gold Second Best Feature Film - Silver Third Best Feature Film - Bronze References See also * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh {{DEFAULTSORT:Na ...

in 2010.

Early life

Katta is a naturalized American citizen.

Career

Katta holds a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He worked as a vehicle

crashworthiness Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Depending on the nature of the impact and the vehicle involved, different crit ...

expert at General Motors. He graduated from film school before making a digital

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about Indian students in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, which was titled ''Valasa''. He then debuted as a successful writer and director with the romantic comedy flick ''

'', portraying Indian students in America. In 2015, Katta teamed up with actor

Vishnu Manchu Manchu Vishnu Vardhan Babu (born 23 November 1982) is an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema and television. Manchu had a brief stint as a child artist with the 1985 film ''Ragile Gundelu''. Years later, he starred in ...

for the film ''Dynamite''. It is a remake of the Tamil film ''

Arima Nambi ''Arima Nambi'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by debutant Anand Shankar. The film stars Vikram Prabhu, Priya Anand, and J. D. Chakravarthy. Drummer Sivamani made his debut as a music director in the film, wh ...

'' and Katta's only remake till date. Katta, however, said that he shot the film for nine days only and walked out due to creative differences. Katta was credited as the film's director nonetheless.

Filmography

Feature films

Web series

Short films

Acting roles

* ''

D for Dopidi ''D for Dopidi'' () is a 2013 Telugu-language heist comedy film directed by Siraj Kalla, starring Varun Sandesh, Sundeep Kishan, Naveen Polishetty, Rakesh and Melanie Kannokada. It was co-produced by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. and Telug ...

'' (2013) as A.C.P. Krishnamachari

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Katta, Deva Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Wayne State University alumni Indian emigrants to the United States American people of Telugu descent Telugu film directors American film directors of Indian descent Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Naturalized citizens of the United States Telugu screenwriters