Prasanth Varma is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

who works primarily 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 best known for directing ''Awe'' (2018), ''

Zombie Reddy ''Zombie Reddy'' is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language action zombie comedy film directed by Prasanth Varma, and stars Teja Sajja, Anandhi, and Daksha Nagarkar. Produced by Apple Trees Studios, the film is marketed as the first zombie film in Telugu ...

'' (2021) and '' Hanu-Man'' (2024). His debut film ''Awe'' won at the

National film awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

for Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up.

Personal life

Prasanth Varma was born on 29 May 1989 in Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh. His parents are Narayana Raju, a civil contractor, and Kanaka Durga, a government school teacher. He has a younger sister, Sneha Sameera. He married Sukanyaraju in 2020. He completed his graduation at CVR College of Engineering in 2010.

Career

2011–2017: Initial career

Prasanth Varma began his career in 2011 by directing a short film ''Deenamma Jeevitham.'' He then directed

advertisement film A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s and a few short films, including ''A Silent Melody'' (2014) and ''Dialogue in the Dark'' (2017). In 2015, he directed a five-episode web series, ''Not Out'', starring

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing reco ...

, which premiered on

YuppTV YuppTV is an over-the-top (OTT) content provider for South Asian content including live television and films with recording and storage features. YuppTV allows broadcasters and content providers to reach an audience, and allows consumers to view ...

. In an interview to ''

Idlebrain.com Idlebrain.com is an Indian entertainment website that features information, news, and reviews on Telugu cinema. It is one of the oldest websites on the Internet focusing on Telugu films. The site is especially popular for its film reviews writt ...

'', he acknowledged that

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Cinema of the United States, Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. ...

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (born 19 February 1930) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema. He is recipient of five National Film Awards, seven state Nandi Awards, ten Filmfare Awards South ...

and

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

are his major influences.

2018–present: Debut in feature films, breakthrough and critical acclaim

In 2017, Prashanth Varma presented the storyline of ''Awe'' to actor Nani, securing its production through Wall Poster Cinema alongside Prashanti Tipirneni. Released in 2018, the film marked his directorial debut and garnered acclaim for its subversive depiction of psychological and social issues, including

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

, and

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

. Critics, including

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu'' ...

, praised his narrative and direction, with special emphasis on the portrayal of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

characters in the movie. His next release was ''Kalki'' (2019), starring Rajasekhar and produced by C. Kalyan. The original story, written by Saitej Desharaj, was initially crafted as a web series. Prasanth adapted the screenplay into a feature film format, a process that took eight months. Prasanth Varma's third release was ''

'' (2021), originally scheduled for 2020 but delayed due to the

COVID-19 lockdown in India On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21days, limiting movement of the entire 1.38billion (138 crore) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It wa ...

. Marketed as the first

zombie film A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror g ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, it received positive reviews and performed well at the box office. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' wrote that "In one stroke, director Prasanth Varma juxtaposes different worlds — a pandemic looming large, zombies, Rayalaseema faction rivalry — to hilarious effect" On 29 May 2021, he announced his next film '' Hanu-Man.'' The film is marketed as the first

Superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

. Starring

Teja Sajja Teja Sajja (born 23 August 1994) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Telugu films. He started his career in 1998 as child actor in the film ''Choodalani Vundi''. Sajja made his debut as an adult in 2019 with the film ''Oh! Baby''. Teja's deb ...

as Hanumanthu and

Amritha Aiyer Amritha Aiyer (born 14 May 1994) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu language films. She made her acting debut in the Tamil film ''Padaiveeran'' (2018), and her Telugu debut with ''Red'' (2021). Early life Aiy ...

as Meenakshi, the film was released on 12 January 2024, coinciding with

Sankranti Sankranti ( sa, संक्रान्ति ''saṁkrānti or saṅkramaṇa'') means transmigration of the Sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. Each Sankranti is marked as the beginning of a month in the sidereal solar calen ...

. It served as the first installment of the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe (PVCU), inspired by Indian mythology. The film received positive reviews for its direction, screenwriting, performances, visualization, background score, VFX, production design and action sequences. With a global box office gross of over ₹250 crore, it became the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2024 and the top-grossing Telugu film of the same year.

Filmography

Other works

Feature films

* All films are in Telugu

References

External links

* * {{Prasanth Varma Living people Film directors from Andhra Pradesh 21st-century Indian people People from Palakollu Telugu film directors Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Telugu screenwriters Indian screenwriters Indian advertising directors 1989 births Indian film directors