Sukumar (director)

Sukumar
Sukumar promoting 1: Nenokkadine (2014) in a press meet.
Born	Sukumar Bandreddi (1970-01-11) 11 January 1970 (age 47) Mattaparru, East Godavari district Andhra Pradesh India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film director, Producer, Screenwriter
Years active	2004–present
Spouse(s)	Thabitha (m. 2009)
Children	2

Sukumar (born Sukumar Bandreddi, 11 January 1970) is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Born in Mattaparru near Razole, East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Sukumar worked as a mathematics and physics lecturer at the Aditya Junior college, Kakinada for nearly six years before pursuing a career in films. He began working as a writer and assisted Mohan and V. V. Vinayak.

Sukumar made his directorial debut with Arya in 2004, whose success catapulted him to stardom. Sukumar won the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu and Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer for his work in Arya. His other notable films include Jagadam (2007), Arya 2 (2009), 100% Love (2011), 1: Nenokkadine (2014), and Nannaku Prematho (2016). Sukumar is known for his complex, multi-layered screenplays which earned him the reputation of being an intelligent screenwriter. He is also known for infusing grey shades in the character sketches of the protagonists in his films.

Under the banner Sukumar Writings, he made his debut as a film producer with Kumari 21F (2015), whose story and screenplay were penned by him. He received the K. V. Reddy Memorial award for his contributions to Telugu cinema in the year 2014.

Sukumar was born on 11 January 1970, in Mattaparru, a village near Razole in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. His father Tirupathi Naidu was a rice trader and his mother Veera Veni was a homemaker. Sukumar was the youngest of the six children of Naidu and Veni. At the age of 6, following the slaughter of a rooster he loved, Sukumar began practising vegetarianism. He did his schooling from a Zilla Parishad High School, Razole and graduated with a master's degree in mathematics. He later worked as a mathematics and physics lecturer in Aditya Junior college, Kakinada. After six years, Sukumar and his junior Prakash Toleti decided to do something creative as they opined that their life has become too mundane as a lecturer.