Puri Jagannadh

Biography

Puri Jagannadh is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter who is noted for his works in the Telugu film industry. The recipient of three Nandi Awards and a Filmfare award for Best Director, Puri Jagannadh has directed more than 30 films since he made his directorial debut in 2000 with the Telugu film, Badri. 

Apart from directing popular Telugu films like Yuvaraja (2001), Appu (2002), and Pokiri (2006), Jagannadh has also produced several of his own directorial ventures under his production companies named, Puri Jagannadh Touring Talkies and Vaishno Academy. The director-producer also owns a music company known as Puri Sangeet.

After working with the acclaimed director, Ram Gopal Varma for several Telugu movies, Jagannadh made his debut as a director with the 2000 Telugu action-drama film, Badri starring the superstar Pawan Kalyan, Ameesha Patel. 

The film for which he wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues went on to become a box-office hit and it was later remade in Hindi as Shart: The Challenge starring Tusshar Kapoor, Gracy Singh, Amrita Arora, and Anupam Kher. 

Following the success of his directorial debut, in the same year, Jagannadh directed Bachi, which featured Jagapathi Babu, Master Teja, Prakash Raj, and Neelambari in pivotal roles. Although much was expected from the film, Bachi failed to meet the audience and critics' expectations and emerged to be a box-office flop.

The director started the year, 2002 on a high as his first directorial venture, Appu, a Kannada film starring Puneet Rajkumar and Rakshita in the lead roles was a massive success; it ran for more than 200 days in theaters across Karnataka. 

Following the success of the film, it was later remade in several languages; it was remade in Telugu as Idiot, in Tamil as Dum, and in Bengali as Hero. Later that year, the director cast Ravi Teja and Rakshita in the superhit Telugu film, Idiot, which also marked his debut as a producer.

 The following year, Jagannadh directed and produced two Telugu films, viz. Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi and Sivamani. Both the films turned out to be commercial and critical hits, with the former being remade in Tamil as M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi starring Jayam Ravi, Nadhiya, and Asin Thottumkal, the latter was dubbed in Hindi as Main Balwaan.

In 2011, the director made his debut in Bollywood with Bbuddah_ Hoga Terra Baap, an action comedy film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Sonal Chauhan, Raveena Tandon, Prakash Raj and Hema Malini. Upon release, the film initially got positive reviews from both critics and the audience and was declared a super hit at the box office. 

The following year, the director had quite a busy year as he had three releases, viz. Businessman, Devudu Chesina Manushulu, and Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu. Whilst the first two films received positive reviews, the latter was panned by the critics. 

In his solitary directorial venture in 2013, Jagannadh collaborated with the superstar Allu Arjun, Amala Paul, and Catherine Tresa for the Telugu romantic action film, Iddarammayilatho. The film was released in more than 1500 theaters around the world it was simultaneously dubbed and released in Malayalam as Romeo & Juliets and in Hindi as Dangerous Khiladi 2. The film received mixed to positive reviews and it grossed 80 crore INR in 8 weeks.

After having a successful year in 2013, the director continued to have a good run with his directorial ventures in 2014 and 2015. Starting with Heart Attack (2014), a Telugu-romantic film starring Nithiin, Adah Sharma, and Vikramjeet Virk, his other two movies were commercially and critically successful. Jagannadh`s 2016 release includes the Telugu crime-thriller film, Ism featuring Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Aditi Arya, and Jagapati Babu in the lead roles.


Puri Jagannadh has produced several of his own directorial ventures; after making his debut as a producer with Idiot in 2002, he went on to produce films like Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (2003), and Sivamani (2003) both of which were his directorial ventures and he had also written story, screenplay, and dialogues for the same. 

The director-turned-producer got his major breakthrough in 2006 as he produced the super hit film Telugu film, Pokiri. The film was declared a super hit at the box office and went on to win the Nandi Award for Bes