Director and writer · Telugu cinema
Merlapaka Gandhi
Merlapaka Gandhi movies: 7 Telugu films on file (6 as director, 6 as writer), 2013–2026. Earliest on file: Venkatadri Express (2013). Latest release: Korean Kanakaraju (7 August 2026).
- Films on file
- 7 (6 as director, 6 as writer)
- Years on file
- 2013–2026
- Selected films on file
- Maestro, Krishnarjuna Yudham, Venkatadri Express
- Record
- Q37446132 on Wikidata
Merlapaka Gandhi (born Merlapaka Che Guevara) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He made his debut with Venkatadri Express (2013) and went on to direct Express Raja (2016) and Krishnarjuna Yudham (2018), starring Nani.
Early life and name
Gandhi was born in Vedulla Cheruvu village, near Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh. His father, Merlapaka Murali, was a Telugu novelist and a contemporary of Yandamuri Veerendranath. His father named him Che Guevara out of admiration for the revolutionary. Friends and relatives found the name hard to pronounce, so when the boy was five his father renamed him Gandhi, after Mahatma Gandhi.
Education
He went to school in Tirupati and earned a B.Tech in Allagadda. Wanting to direct since the tenth standard, he joined the L. V. Prasad film institute in Chennai for cinematography but moved to the direction course.
Short films
His short film Karmara Devuda won best film at the 2011–12 Hyderabad Short Film Festival and was praised by director Harish Shankar.
Venkatadri Express
Gandhi pitched Venkatadri Express to Sundeep Kishan, who liked it and found a producer. The 2013 comedy, about a young man in a family run by a discipline-obsessed father, was released on 450 screens. It was well reviewed and a commercial success, and critics said the debut director showed good writing skills.
Later films
He followed it with Express Raja (2016) and Krishnarjuna Yudham (2018), in which Nani plays a dual role. The latter was partly shot in Prague and drew mixed reviews. Critics praised Nani but criticised the formulaic story, and according to the source it recovered only ₹14.50 crore on a ₹30 crore budget.
Career on file
Merlapaka Gandhi has 7 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 2013 to 2026: six films as director and six films as writer. The earliest of them is Venkatadri Express (2013), and the most recent release is Korean Kanakaraju (2026). Measured by how many Wikipedia language editions cover them, the best-known titles here are Maestro (2021), Krishnarjuna Yudham (2018) and Venkatadri Express (2013). Other recent releases on file are Like, Share & Subscribe (2022), Ek Mini Katha (2021) and Express Raja (2016).
Music on two of them is by Praveen Lakkaraju. UV Creations produced two of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 7 music directors and 17 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 6 of them; they average 142 minutes, and the longest is Krishnarjuna Yudham at 154 minutes. Four of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 2010s (3) and 2020s (4).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.