Director, writer and actor · Telugu cinema
Boyapati Srinu
Boyapati Srinu movies: 12 Telugu films on file (11 as director, 10 as writer, 1 as actor), 2005–2025. Earliest on file: Bhadra (2005). Latest release: Akhanda 2 (12 December 2025).
- Films on file
- 12 (11 as director, 10 as writer, 1 as actor)
- Years on file
- 2005–2025
- Selected films on file
- Vinaya Vidheya Rama, Sarainodu, Legend
- Record
- Q4952230 on Wikidata
Boyapati Srinu (Boyapati Srinivas Chowdary, also credited as Boyapati Sreenu) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter in Telugu cinema. He is best known for large-scale mass action films, several of them made with Nandamuri Balakrishna. His work has earned him two state Nandi Awards.
Early life
Boyapati was born in Pedakakani in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. He earned his degree at JKC College in Guntur and did his postgraduate studies at Nagarjuna University. His family ran a photo studio, and he developed an early interest in photography. He also worked part-time as a reporter for the Eenadu newspaper.
Apprenticeship
To break into films, Boyapati moved to Hyderabad. On the advice of his cousin Posani Krishna Murali, he joined the direction department of Muthyala Subbaiah’s studio in 1997. There he assisted on films such as Oka Chinna Maata, Gokulamlo Seeta, Pelli Chesukundam, Pavitra Prema, Annayya and Manasunna Maaraju.
Early films as director
Boyapati made his directing debut in 2005 with Bhadra, starring Ravi Teja, Meera Jasmine and Prakash Raj. Tulasi followed. His third film, Simha (2010), was his first with Balakrishna, who played a dual role as father and son opposite Nayanthara and Sneha Ullal. The film opened to positive reviews, and Balakrishna won the Nandi Award for Best Actor for it. In 2012 he directed Dammu, starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Trisha and Karthika Nair.
Legend and the Balakrishna collaborations
Boyapati reunited with Balakrishna for Legend (2014), another dual-role action drama with Jagapathi Babu, Sonal Chauhan and Radhika Apte. Critics called it a mass entertainer with sentiment that would appeal to all audiences. According to the source, it grossed over ₹70 crore worldwide and became the fourth-highest-grossing Telugu film of 2014. It was also the second film to run for over 1000 days in South India. Boyapati won the Nandi Award for Best Director for Legend, and Balakrishna again won Best Actor. Their third film together was Akhanda (2021), in which Balakrishna played both an Aghori Baba and a farmer. The source describes it as a major box-office hit.
Other films and recognition
Not every film landed. Vinaya Vidheya Rama (2019), which Boyapati co-wrote and directed with Ram Charan in the lead, was panned and failed at the box office. Besides his Nandi Award for Legend, he received the B. N. Reddy National Award in 2016. He also won the Santosham Film Award for Best Director for Sarrainodu in 2017.
Career on file
Boyapati Srinu has 12 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 2005 to 2025: 11 films as director, ten films as writer and one film as actor. The earliest of them is Bhadra (2005), and the most recent release is Akhanda 2 (2025). Measured by how many Wikipedia language editions cover them, the best-known titles here are Vinaya Vidheya Rama (2019), Sarainodu (2016) and Legend (2014). Other recent releases on file are Skanda (2023), Akhanda (2021) and Jaya Janaki Nayaka (2017).
In the films Boyapati Srinu directed, Nandamuri Balakrishna appears most often (four films), ahead of Brahmanandam (3) and Jagapati Babu (3). Music on five of them is by Devi Sri Prasad, with S. Thaman (3) next. Dwaraka Creations produced two of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 6 music directors and 51 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 11 of them; they average 158 minutes, and the longest is Akhanda at 169 minutes. Five of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 2000s (2), 2010s (7) and 2020s (3).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.