Music director, director, actor, writer and producer · Telugu cinema
R. P. Patnaik
R. P. Patnaik movies: 29 Telugu films on file (27 as music director, 3 as director, 3 as actor, 2 as writer, 1 as producer), 1999–2025. Earliest on file: Nee Kosam (1999). Latest release: Coffee with a Killer (31 January 2025).
- Films on file
- 29 (27 as music director, 3 as director, 3 as actor, 2 as writer, 1 as producer)
- Years on file
- 1999–2025
- Born
- 10 March 1972 · March birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Aa Naluguru, Nijam, Eeshwar
- Record
- Q7273901 on Wikidata
R. P. Patnaik (Ravindra Prasad Patnaik) is an Indian music composer, singer, actor, screenwriter and film director. He works in Telugu, Kannada and Tamil films. He has won three Filmfare Awards and three Nandi Awards, and has toured widely with live shows.
Education and entry into films
Patnaik earned a Bachelor of Science at Rayagada Autonomous College in Odisha and a postgraduate degree in space physics at Andhra University. He came into the film industry hoping to become a director, but started as a music director with Nee Kosam. Director Teja, who began as a cinematographer, then gave him a break with Chitram.
Music career
Patnaik won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director three years running: in 2001 for Nuvvu Nenu, in 2002 for Santosham, and in 2003 for the Kannada film Excuse Me. Nuvvu Nenu also brought him the Nandi Award for Best Music Director in 2001. His Tamil work includes Jayam (2003), and he composed the background score for the Hindi film Yeh Dil (2002). He also recorded an album built around time signatures, Chaakra the Signature of Time, and submitted it for the Grammy Awards.
Singer
Apart from his own compositions, Patnaik has sung for many leading composers, including Ilaiyaraaja, and has recorded about 300 songs. He is also credited with introducing several singers, among them Ranjith, Mallikarjun, Ravivarma, Nihal and Kousalya.
Acting
Patnaik made his acting debut in the 2004 Telugu film Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi, playing a blind singer, and the role was well received. He later acted in his own films, including Broker (2010), Tulasi Dalam and Manalo Okkadu.
Director
His first work as a director was the experimental short 22 minutes, filmed as a single continuous scene. In it, the characters on screen never speak, and the characters who are heard are never seen. His first feature, Andamaina Manasulo (2008), is a musical love story that also carries a message about how an orphanage should be run. Broker (2010) was about political brokers and made the final shortlist for the National Awards. The two films won him the Nandi Award for Best Story Writer in 2008 and 2010. He went on to direct Friends Book (2012), about the power of social networks, and Amy (2013), a supernatural thriller set among the Amish community in the USA. In 2016 he produced, directed, acted in and scored Tulasi Dalam, and directed and acted in Manalo Okkadu, a film questioning the media. Manalo Okkadu won the Nandi Award for Third Best Feature Film. His later directing credits include Coffee with a Killer (2025).
Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.
R. P. Patnaik: quick facts
- Full name: Ravindra Prasad Patnaik (Wikipedia)
- First film as composer: Chitram (2000), directed by Teja (Wikipedia)
- First film as actor: Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi (2004), in which he played a blind singer (Wikipedia)
- First film as director: Andamaina Manasulo (2008) (Wikipedia)
- Awards: Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu for Nuvvu Nenu (2001) and Santosham (2002) (Wikipedia list); Nandi Award for Best Music Director for Nuvvu Nenu (2001) (Wikipedia list); Nandi Award for Best Story Writer for Andamaina Manasulo (2008) and Broker (2010) (Wikipedia list). Wikipedia says he won the Filmfare award three years running, the third for Excuse Me.
- Family: His brother Gautam Patnaik is a director, who debuted with Keratam (2011) (Wikipedia)
More R. P. Patnaik Telugu films listed on TMDB
These Telugu-language films are credited to R. P. Patnaik on TMDB but are not yet part of the filmography table on this page. The credit column is TMDB’s own listing; check the film’s page for full details.
| Year | Film | Credit listed on TMDB |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Appudappudu | Music |
| 2004 | Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi | Cast |
| 2008 | Andamaina manasulo | Director; Story; Screenplay; Music |
| 2023 | Ahimsa | Original Music Composer |
Career on file
R. P. Patnaik has 29 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1999 to 2025: 27 films as music director, three films as director, three films as actor, two films as writer and one film as producer. The earliest of them is Nee Kosam (1999), and the most recent release is Coffee with a Killer (2025). The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are Aa Naluguru (2004), Nijam (2003) and Eeshwar (2002). Other recent releases on file are Honeymoon Express (2024), Tulasi Dalam (2016) and Nuvvila (2011).
Music on 27 of them is by R. P. Patnaik. Chitram Movies produced three of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 17 different directors, 5 music directors and 92 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 17 of them; they average 141 minutes, and the longest is Nijam at 196 minutes. Three of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1990s (1), 2000s (22), 2010s (4) and 2020s (2). 2002 is the busiest single year, with eight films.
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.