Director and writer · Telugu cinema
Gunasekhar
Gunasekhar movies: 13 Telugu films on file (13 as director, 7 as writer), 1992–2026. Earliest on file: Laati (1992). Latest release: Euphoria (6 February 2026).
- Films on file
- 13 (13 as director, 7 as writer)
- Years on file
- 1992–2026
- Born
- 2 June 1964 · June birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Rudhramadevi, Varudu, Sainikudu
- Record
- Q5618508 on Wikidata
Gunasekhar (born 2 June 1964) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema across action, romance, mythology and historical drama. His films include Ramayanam (1997), which won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film, the blockbuster Okkadu (2003) and the historical epic Rudhramadevi (2015). He has won a National Film Award, several Nandi Awards, a Filmfare Award South and a Gaddar Award.
Early career
Gunasekhar worked as an associate director to D. V. Narsaraju, Kranthi Kumar and Ram Gopal Varma. During his early struggles he shared a room with Ravi Teja. His debut, the socio-political Lathi (1992), won the Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director.
Success in the 1990s
The romance Sogasu Chooda Tharamaa (1995) won the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. Ramayanam, a mythological film, won the national award and was shown at the International Children’s Film Festival. The action thriller Choodalani Vundi (1998), which introduced DTS sound to Telugu films, was a hit and was remade in Hindi as Calcutta Mail, and the political thriller Manoharam (2000) won Nandi Awards for Best Story and Best Feature Film.
Okkadu and after
Okkadu, with Mahesh Babu and Bhumika Chawla, was the highest-grossing Telugu film of its year, was remade in several languages and made Mahesh Babu a superstar. Arjun (2004) was an average grosser, while Sainikudu (2006), Varudu (2010) with Allu Arjun and Nippu (2012) with Ravi Teja were commercial disasters.
Later films
He produced and directed Rudhramadevi, with Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati and Allu Arjun, which drew mixed reviews but was an average grosser. His mythological romance Shaakuntalam, released on 14 April 2023, was panned and failed.
Personal life
He is married to Ragini, and they have two daughters.
Career on file
Gunasekhar has 13 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1992 to 2026: 13 films as director and seven films as writer. The earliest of them is Laati (1992), and the most recent release is Euphoria (2026). Measured by how many Wikipedia language editions cover them, the best-known titles here are Rudhramadevi (2015), Varudu (2010) and Sainikudu (2006). Other recent releases on file are Nippu (2012), Arjun (2004) and Okkadu (2003).
In the films Gunasekhar directed, Prakash Raj appears most often (six films), ahead of Brahmanandam (5) and Mahesh Babu (3). Music on six of them is by Mani Sharma. Vyjayanthi Movies produced two of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 8 music directors and 50 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 13 of them; they average 154 minutes, and the longest is Arjun at 174 minutes. Seven of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1990s (4), 2000s (5), 2010s (3) and 2020s (1).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.