Chandra Sekhar Yeleti (born 4 March 1973) is an

Indian film The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on pr ...

director known for his works in

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

. He made his directorial debut with the Neo-noir

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

, ''

Aithe ''Aithe...'' () is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language thriller film written and directed by Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, and produced by Gangaraju Gunnam under his studio Just Yellow. The film's lead cast mostly consists of debutants including Mohit Chadd ...

'', which received the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Telugu Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kam ...

, and the Nandi Award for Best Story for that year. Another neo-noir film ''

Anukokunda Oka Roju ''Anukokunda Oka Roju'' () is a 2005 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Chandra Sekhar Yeleti. Produced by Gunnam Gangaraju and Venkat Dega under the Just Yellow banner, the film stars Charmy, Jagapathi ...

'' garnered two State

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

, including

Best Screenplay This list of screenwriting awards for film is an index to articles on notable awards given for film screenwriting. The list is organized by region and country of the awards venue or sponsor, but winners are not necessarily restricted to people fro ...

for Yeleti.

Early life

He was born in Tuni on 4 March 1973. He studied in Ganavaram St.Johns until 10th grade.

Career

Initial years and critical acclaim

He worked as an assistant director under his cousin,

Gangaraju Gunnam Gunnam Gangaraju is an Indian producer, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu television. He is best known as the creator and co-producer of the TV sitcom ''Amrutham'' (2001–2007), widely considered to be ...

, for ''

Little Soldiers ''Little Soldiers'' is a 1996 Telugu-language children's film written, directed, and produced by Gunnam Gangaraju. The film stars Kavya, Baladitya, Kota Srinivasa Rao Kota Srinivasa Rao (born 10 July 1942) is an Indian character actor k ...

'' (1996). He also directed the first 10 episodes of the cult Telugu TV series, '' Amrutham''. After working as an assistant director, he made his debut as a director with the small-budgeted film, ''

'' (2003). Made on a budget of about 1.5 crores, it opened to critical acclaim and performed well commercially, with a box-office collection of 6 crores. After almost two years, he directed his next film, ''

'' (2005). Like his debut film, ''Anukokunda Oka Raju'' too opened to critical acclaim and performed extremely well commercially. Both the films were produced by Gunnam Gangaraju and Venkat Dega, under Just Yellow Media. ''Aithe'' and ''Anukokunda Oka Roju'' are considered to be the two of the greatest Telugu films ever made.

Commercial fluctuations

After a gap of two years, he directed his third film with Gopichand as the protagonist, titled '' Okkadunnadu'' (2007). However, unlike his first two films, ''Okkadunnadu'' released to polarizing reviews upon release. Gopichand's attmept to cater to different sections of the audience was praised, however, the film underperformed at the box-office. In 2009, Yeleti directed his fourth film, '' Prayanam'', with

Manchu Manoj Manchu Manoj Kumar (born 20 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He first appeared at the age of ten as a child artist in '' Major Chandrakanth''. He made his film debut in a leading role with '' Donga Dongadi'' in 2004. He ...

as the lead actor. Though the attempt to revitalize the romantic comedy genre in

was praised, it underperformed at the box-office as well. After four years, he teamed up with Gopichand in the with action adventure thriller, '' Sahasam'' (2013). Unlike his previous two films, ''Sahasam'' opened to positive reviews from both the critics and audience, alike, and was commercially successful. In October 2015, Yeleti met

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

and narrated a family subject to him. The script was green-lit by Mohanlal, and Yeleti started production for the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

drama thriller, titled ''

Manamantha ''Manamantha'' () is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language anthology film written and directed by Chandra Sekhar Yeleti and produced by Sai Korrapati. It stars Mohanlal, Gautami, Viswant Duddumpudi, and Raina Rao and also marks the former's Telugu ...

'', with an ensemble supporting cast of

Gautami Gautami Tadimalla (born 2 July 1968) is an Indian actress, social worker, politician and Deputy Propaganda Secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. She has worked mainly in Tamil and Telugu cinema, in addition to Malayalam, Hin ...

Viswant Duddumpudi Viswant Duddumpudi is an Indian actor who works in Telugu films. He made his debut with ''Kerintha'' (2015). Early life Duddumpudi was born in Samarlakota, Andhra Pradesh. He started his schooling in Timpany School Visakhapatnam after which h ...

Nassar Nassar (), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer, or Nacer. People with the surname include: People with th ...

, Chandra Mohan,

Vennela Kishore Bokkala Kishore Kumar (born 19 September 1980), known professionally as Vennela Kishore, is an Indian actor and director who works in Telugu cinema. Known for his comedic roles, he earned the moniker "Vennela" after his first feature film ''Ven ...

Gollapudi Maruti Rao Gollapudi Maruti Rao (14 April 1939 – 12 December 2019) was an Indian actor, writer and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and Telugu literature. Maruti Rao acted in over 250 Telugu films in a variety of roles. Hi ...

Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao (born 21 June 1944) and Paruchuri Gopala Krishna (born 25 September 1947), collectively referred to as the Paruchuri Brothers, are a screenwriting duo whose work is predominant as story writers, dialogue writers, ac ...

Brahmaji Brahmaji (born 25 April 1965) is an Indian who works 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''. He appeared in Kri ...

, L. B. Sriram, and Ayappa P. Sharma. It received positive reviews from the both critics and audience, alike, upon release. After a long gap of five years in 2021 owing to the declining commercial viability of theatrical releases during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Yeleti released his seventh film, the prison drama ''

Check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * "The Check" (''The Amazing World of Gumball''), a 2015 episode of ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' ...

'', starring

Nithiin Nithin Kumar Reddy (born 30 March 1983), known professionally as Nithiin, is an Indian film actor, distributor and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema, Telugu films. Nithiin is a recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Awa ...

Rakul Preet Singh Rakul Preet Singh (born 10 October 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. Singh is a recipient of several accolades including a SIIMA Award, in addition to four nominations at the Filmfare Award ...

, and

Priya Prakash Varrier Priya Prakash Varrier (born 28 October 1999) is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. Her wink in the Malayalam film '' Oru Adaar Love'' (2019) went viral, making her the most searched-for personalit ...

. It opened to mixed reviews from both the critics and audience, alike, upon release and failed at the box-office.

Personal life

He got married on 19 May. Filmmaker

Gunnam Gangaraju Gunnam Gangaraju is an Indian producer, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu television. He is best known as the creator and co-producer of the TV sitcom ''Amrutham'' (2001–2007), widely considered to be ...

and costume designer

Rama Rajamouli Rama Rajamouli is an Indian costume designer and film stylist, who primarily works in Telugu cinema. Rama made her debut with the 2001 film Student No: 1. She is known for her work in the films '' Magadheera'' (2009), '' Eega'' (2012), '' Baah ...

are his cousins.

Filmography

Films

Television

*'' Amrutham'' (2001–2007): Directed 10 episodes

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

- ''

'' ;

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 ...

(Silver) - ''

'' *

Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer The Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer was commissioned by the Nandi Awards committee in 1977. The winner is awarded a "Copper Nandi", a cash award of ₹10,000 and a commendation certificate. Most number of Awards were received by Srinu Vait ...

- ''

'' *

Nandi Award for Best Story Writer The Nandi Award The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after ...

- ''

''(in

) *

Nandi Special Jury Award The Nandi Special Jury Award is given by the state government as part of its annual Nandi Awards for Telugu films since 1981. See also * Nandi Awards * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh References {{DEFAULTSORT:Nandi Special Jury Award Speci ...

- ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yeleti, Chandra Sekhar Nandi Award winners Living people 1973 births 21st-century Indian people Malayalam film directors Telugu film directors Indian male screenwriters Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Film people from East Godavari district Telugu screenwriters Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh