Velamakucha Venkata Ramana Reddy (born 17 December 1970), known professionally as Dil Raju, is an Indian film producer and distributor known for his 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, Hy ...

. He has also financed some

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

films and owns the

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

Sri Venkateswara Creations. Raju has won two National Film Awards and was honoured with the Nagi Reddy–Chakrapani National Award in 2013 for his contributions to popular cinema. He is also expected to make the next outing of Avatar the song of fire with James Cameron.

Early life and career

Dil Raju was born in Narsingpalli in

Nizamabad district Nizamabad district is a district located in the north-western region in the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Nizamabad is the district headquarters.It was known as " Indur " which was supposed to have originated from the name of the King ...

of present-day

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

. He was educated in Mudakpally and Nizamabad, and was interested in films from a young age. He later moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and did automobile business with his brothers. He ventured into film distribution in the 1990s with the film '' Pelli Pandiri'' (1997) and started '' Sri Venkateswara Film Distributors'' in 1999. Raju married Anita and has a daughter Hanshita Reddy. Anita died in 2017 due to

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. Raju later married Tejaswini in 2020. Tejaswini's name was changed to Vygha Reddy following her marriage as per

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

. They have a son born in 2022.

Film production

Sri Venkateswara Creations Collaborations Matinee Entertainments (subsidiary) Collaborations with other producers Dubbed films Other language productions

Awards

; National Film Awards * Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Golden Lotus (producer) – ''

Sathamanam Bhavati ''Sathamanam Bhavati'' () is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by Satish Vegesna. The film is produced by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations and stars Sharwanand, Anupama Parameswaran, Prakash Raj and Jay ...

'' – (2016) * Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Golden Lotus (producer) – ''

Maharshi Maharishi is a Sanskrit word, written as "महर्षि" in Devanagari (formed from the prefix mahā- meaning "great" and r̥ṣi - sage, poet or a singer of sacred hymns), indicating members of the highest order of ancient Indian sages, po ...

'' – (2019) ;

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named after ...

Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

(Gold) – ''

Bommarillu ''Bommarillu'' () () is a 2006 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Bhaskar in his directorial debut, and produced by Dil Raju. The film stars Siddharth, Genelia, Prakash Raj and Jayasudha. The film primarily ...

'' (2006) * Best Feature Film (Bronze) – ''

Parugu ''Parugu'' (), titled ''In the Name of Love'' in the UK, is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film written and directed by Bhaskar. The film stars Allu Arjun, Sheela Kaur and Prakash Raj. The film is produced by Dil Raju on Sri Venka ...

'' (2008) * Akkineni Award for Best Home-viewing Feature Film – ''

Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu ''Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'' (), also known by the initialism ''SVSC'', is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language family drama film written and directed by Srikanth Addala. It was produced by Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations, and stars V ...

'' (2013) * Nagi Reddy-Chakrapani National Award for contributions to popular cinema – (2013) ;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu The Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The award was first given in 1964 for films released around 1963. Here is a list of the award winners a ...

– ''

'' (2006) ;

Santosham Film Awards Santosham Film Awards, currently known as Santosham South Indian Film Awards are one of the most popular awards given for Tollywood films and Telugu Music Artistes. Background The awards first began in 2004 by the annual ''Santosham'' magazine ...

* Santosham D. Ramanaidu Smarakam Award (2019) ;Other Awards * Nagi Reddy Memorial Award for the Best Telugu Family Entertainer of the year 2011 – '' Mr. Perfect''Mr. Perfect wins Nagireddy award
123telugu.com (1 January 1998). Retrieved on 11 May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raju, Dil Film producers from Telangana Nandi Award winners Filmfare Awards South winners Telugu film producers Living people People from Nizamabad, Telangana Producers who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award 1965 births Santosham Film Awards winners