M. S. Raju is an

Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

producer, screenwriter, and director 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, Hy ...

. He is the founder and owner of the

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

company

Sumanth Art Productions Sumanth Art Productions is an Indian film production company in Hyderabad established by M. S. Raju. Successful films like ''Manasantha Nuvve'' (2001)'', Okkadu'' (2003)'', Varsham'' (2004)'', Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana'' (2005) were made und ...

. He won three

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

becoming the first producer to receive three consecutive

for the films ''

Okkadu ''Okkadu'' ( ''The One'') is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film written and directed by Gunasekhar. It stars Mahesh Babu, Bhumika Chawla and Prakash Raj. The film was produced by M.S. Raju while music was composed by Mani Sharma ...

'' (2003), '' Varsham'' (2004), and ''

Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana ''Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana'' (; ) is a 2005 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by Prabhu Deva in his directorial debut and produced by M. S. Raju under Sumanth Art Productions who gave the screenplay as well. The film stars ...

'' (2005). He also produced the successful films ''

Sathruvu ''Sathruvu'' () is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna and produced by M. S. Raju under Sumanth Art Productions. It stars Venkatesh, Vijayashanti, and Kota Srinivasa Rao with music composed by Raj–Ko ...

'' (1991), ''

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

'' (1999), ''

Manasantha Nuvve ''Manasantha Nuvve'' is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film directed by V. N. Aditya. This film stars Uday Kiran and Reema Sen in the lead roles. The film was written and produced by M. S. Raju and had music composed by R. P. ...

'' (2001), and ''

Nee Sneham ''Nee Sneham'' ( en, Your Friendship) is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film directed by Paruchuri Murali, and written and produced by M. S. Raju on Sumanth Art Productions banner. The film stars Uday Kiran, Aarti Agarwal, and Jat ...

'' (2002).

Early life

M. S. Raju's father Rayaparaju owned hundreds of acres of land in erstwhile West Godavari district of

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 ...

. Rayaparaju sold all the properties there and migrated to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Producer Arjuna Raju of Roja Movies is a cousin of his father. Inspired by him, his father became a film producer and made five to six films.

Career

M. S. Raju was interested in films right from his childhood. After completing his education, he started his career in films with the help of a friend. He made a film titled ''Manavadostunnadu'' (1987) with Arjun and Sobhana in the lead roles. His father's good will helped him in getting financiers. He established a new

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 ...

called 'Sumanth Arts' named after his son. The first film made on the banner was ''

'' (1991) starring

Venkatesh Venkatesh is a given name and family name from the Indian subcontinent derived from Venkateswara, a Hindu deity. Notable persons with the name include: * A. Venkatesh Naik (born 1936), member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India * A. Venkatesh (directo ...

Vijayashanti Vijayashanti (born 24 June 1966) is an Indian actress, producer and politician. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has acted in 187 feature films in a variety of roles in various languages predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, in addition to Hi ...

, and

Kota Srinivasa Rao Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor known for his work primarily in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He has also starred in a few films in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. As a former politician, Rao has s ...

and directed by

Kodi Ramakrishna Kodi Ramakrishna (23 July 1949 – 22 February 2019) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. One of the most prolific film directors of Telugu film industry, Kodi Ramakrishna has ...

. M. S. Raju himself provided the basic story idea of the film and Satyamurthy was roped in as a writer to develop the storyline. The film was also dubbed into

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 ...

. ''Sathruvu'' was commercially successful in both Telugu and Tamil. His next film was ''Police Lock-up'' (1993) starring Vijayashanti in a dual role. ''Police Lock-up'' also became a big hit. The Tamil dubbed version of the film was also successful. His next film was ''Street Fighter'' starring Vijayashanti with

B. Gopal Bejawada Gopal is an Indian film director who works in Telugu cinema. He has directed over 30 Telugu films, including successful films such as ''Bobbili Raja'', '' Lorry Driver'', ''Assembly Rowdy'', ''State Rowdy'', ''Rowdy Inspector'', ''Samar ...

as the director. ''Street Fighter'' was a box-office disaster.

Personal life

M. S. Raju has two children son

Sumanth Ashwin Sumanth Ashwin is an Indian actor who appears in Telugu films. Son of film producer and director M. S. Raju, Ashwin made his debut in 2012 with ''Tuneega Tuneega'' under his father's direction, for which he won CineMAA Awards Best Male Debut. ...

and daughter Rishita. Rishita was born before the release of ''

'' (1999) and there is 11-year gap between Sumanth and Rishita. Sumanth Ashwin made his acting debut with the film ''

Tuneega Tuneega ''Tuneega Tuneega'' is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by M. S. Raju. Starring Sumanth Ashwin and Rhea Chakraborty, the film is produced by Maganti Ramji under Padmini Arts banner. Distributed by Dil ...

'' (2012), under M. S. Raju's direction.

Filmography

As producer

*''Manavadostunnadu'' (1987) *''

'' (1991) *''Police Lockup'' (1993) *''Street Fighter'' (1994) *''

'' (1999) *''

Devi Putrudu ''Devi Putrudu'' () is a 2001 Indian Telugu-language fantasy-drama film written and produced by M. S. Raju under the Sumanth Art Productions banner, directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. It stars Venkatesh, Soundarya and Anjala Zaveri, with music comp ...

'' (2001) *''

'' (2002) *''

'' (2003) *'' Varsham'' (2004) *''

'' (2005) *'' Pournami'' (2006) *'' Aata ''(2007) *'' Vaana'' (2008) *'' Maska ''(2009)

As director

*'' Vaana'' (2008) *''

'' (2012) *'' Dirty Hari'' (2020) * '' 7 Days 6 Nights'' (2022)

Awards

;

Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. Eac ...

- ''

'' (2003) *Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) - '' Varsham'' (2004) *Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) - ''

'' (2005) ;

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 ...

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:Nan ...

- ''

'' (2003) *Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - ''

'' (2005)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raju, M.S Living people Telugu film producers 21st-century Indian film directors Indian film directors Film directors from Andhra Pradesh People from Andhra Pradesh Filmfare Awards South winners Indian film producers Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu film directors Nandi Award winners 1958 births