Director, writer, actor and producer · Telugu cinema
Kodi Ramakrishna
Kodi Ramakrishna movies: 51 Telugu films on file (47 as director, 32 as writer, 3 as actor, 1 as producer), 1982–2022. Earliest on file: Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya (1982). Latest release: Nenu Meeku Baaga Kavalsinavaadini (16 September 2022).
- Films on file
- 51 (47 as director, 32 as writer, 3 as actor, 1 as producer)
- Years on file
- 1982–2022
- Born
- 23 July 1949 · July birthdays (Wikidata)
- Died
- 22 February 2019
- Selected films on file
- Arundhati, 20va Shatabdam, Avatharam
- Record
- Q6425282 on Wikidata
Kodi Ramakrishna (23 July 1949 – 22 February 2019) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who worked in Telugu cinema. Over more than three decades he directed over 100 films, ranging from hard-hitting social dramas and family entertainers to big-budget supernatural thrillers, and he pioneered the use of advanced visual effects in South Indian cinema. He won ten Nandi Awards, two Filmfare Awards and the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award (2012) for his lifetime contribution to Telugu cinema.
Early life and training
Kodi Ramakrishna was born in Palakollu, West Godavari district. He began in films as an associate to Dasari Narayana Rao on Korikale Gurralaite (1979).
Debut and 1980s hits
His first film as director, Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya (1982), was a major commercial success and began a period of dominance through the 1980s and 1990s. His family dramas included Mangammagari Manavadu (1984), starring Nandamuri Balakrishna, Maa Pallelo Gopaludu (1985), Srinivasa Kalyanam (1987) and Muddula Mavayya (1989), and he also made the spy films Gudachari No.1 (1983) and Gudachari 117 (1989).
Social dramas
He was known too for socially charged films such as Ankusham (1989), Bharat Bandh (1991) and Shatruvu (1991), and later family films including Pelli (1997). He directed Vijayashanti in a dual role in Police Lockup, which won her a Filmfare Award.
Supernatural fantasies
His later “supernatural fantasy” phase, with Ammoru (1995), Devi (1999), Devullu (2000), Anji (2004) and the blockbuster Arundhati (2009), set new technical standards for the genre. Arundhati won ten Nandi Awards and became one of the highest-grossing Telugu films up to that time.
Later years
He also acted in several films, including Trimurthulu (1987), Atha Mechina Alludu (1989) and Rainbow (2008). In 2016 he began work on a biopic of Sathya Sai Baba. He died in Hyderabad on 22 February 2019. His elder daughter, Kodi Divya Deepti, became a film producer.
Career on file
Kodi Ramakrishna has 51 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1982 to 2022: 47 films as director, 32 films as writer, three films as actor and one film as producer. The earliest of them is Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya (1982), and the most recent release is Nenu Meeku Baaga Kavalsinavaadini (2022). The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are Arundhati (2009), 20va Shatabdam (1990) and Avatharam (2014). Other recent releases on file are Baba Sathya Sai (2017), Parama Veera Chakra (2011) and Sri Krishna 2006 (2006).
Brahmanandam is the most frequent co-star, sharing two films with Kodi Ramakrishna. In the films Kodi Ramakrishna directed, Nandamuri Balakrishna appears most often (seven films), ahead of Chiranjeevi (6) and Soundarya (6). Music on nine of them is by K. V. Mahadevan, with K. Chakravarthy (5) and Raj-Koti (5) next. Bhargav Art Productions produced eight of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 4 different directors, 20 music directors and 118 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 37 of them; they average 137 minutes, and the longest is Devi Putrudu at 162 minutes. Two of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1980s (20), 1990s (18), 2000s (9), 2010s (3) and 2020s (1).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.