Ace director Surender Reddy, who has made a name for himself for adding his stylish touch to ordinary stories, has been introducing the Tollywood audience to something new, right from the beginning of his career. The leading characters in his movies are very different and fans love him for that. As one of the top directors in the Telugu film industry, Surender Reddy's movies turn heads regardless of their hits and flops.
Surender Reddy was born on December 7, 1975, in Jammikunta, Karimnagar. Surender Reddy, who was drawn to movies right from his childhood, discontinued his studies and came to Hyderabad to pursue his interest. He was pursuing his degree when he stopped education. Surender Reddy worked as an assistant director to T Prabhakar Reddy for almost 9 years. After that, he worked as an assistant director for some films under producer and director Kranti Kumar.
In 2004, Surender Reddy started running behind producers with the story of the film 'Atanokkade'. NTR Jr was the first person he met and introduced himself as a director and narrated the story of the film. However, the film went to Kalyan Ram who liked it and made him a hero and a producer. The film was produced by Kalyan Ram with a budget of around Rs 10 crore. It was a blockbuster hit with a super hit talk right from the first day of its release. The film has grossed over Rs 20 crore. The film was remade by Vijay in Tamil and became a super hit.
Next, Surender Reddy got the opportunity to direct NTR. The film that came in their combination was 'Ashok'. The film was released with huge expectations. The film grossed Rs 10 crore in the first week of its release. At that time 10 crores was a big deal. But the film later failed to garner collections. Ashok eventually became an average hit.
Mahesh Babu, who earned huge craze among fans, failed to deliver a hit with the film Sainikudu. However, his next film with Surrender Reddy "Atidhi' garnered huge expectations before the release. Produced by Bollywood company Yum TV, the film stars Bollywood heroine Amrita Rao opposite Mahesh Babu. The songs from the movie, which released amidst huge expectations, were not upto the mark. The film was released on a large scale in 2007. Produced with the biggest budget in Telugu at the time, the film became a huge flop after its release.
After the disaster of the film Athidi, Surender Reddy took a gap of 2 years and returned with a blockbuster. The film 'Kick' which came out in their combination, is one of Ravi Teja's top films in his career so far. The film, directed by Surender Reddy, was a huge success. The film grossed up to Rs 30 crore at the time and showed what an incredible actor Ravi Teja is. Kick took Ravi Teja a step further as an actor. The film was released on May 8, 2009. Surender Reddy, who was already lagging behind with flops like Athidi and Ashok, prepared Kick and approached several heroes for the narration. But, he faced several rejections. The story was written by Vakkantam Vamsi, who did not write it with Ravi Teja before in mind. Surender Reddy approached Prabhas and Young Tiger NTR at first. But the actors rejected it for some reason. The story then went to Ravi Teja. The entry of the Mass Maharaja changed the whole look of Kick. The film got a huge boost with Ravi Teja's entry and Brahmanandam's comedy took it to another level. The film's climax with the emotional angle of the baby, Ileana's glamor and the talent of the new actor Shyam, together made the film a massive hit. The film grossed over 25 crores. Kick still holds great ratings every time it comes on TV. Even though the film was rejected by NTR and Prabhas, fans were happy that the film fell in the hands of the right hero.
With the huge boost given by Kick, Surender Reddy directed the movie Oosaravelli with NTR. NTR's performance as Tony in this movie received a lot of applauds. However, the film did not play as expected. But on the first day of its release, Oosaravelli punched16 crores at the box office and created a record at that time.
Next came Allu Arjun's Race Gurram. The film directed by Surender Reddy had all commercial elements blended well with the sentiment of brotherhood. Allu Arjun's style, Sonu Soo's antiques as a villain, Sruti Hassan's character and Bramhanandam's comedy as Kill Bill Pandey appealed to the masses. It's an unforgettable movie in Bunny's career. The film went on to become a super hit. Allu Arjun's Race Gurram is one of the biggest blockbusters in Telugu. Interval Fight is a big highlight of this movie. The film, which has grossed nearly 60 crore shares, is one of the biggest hits of Allu Arjun's career.
Everyone knows how big a hit the movie Kick starring Ravi Teja has become. Fans thought that the sequel of the film would see similar results. The sequel Kick 2, directed by Surender Reddy, had Ravi Teja and Rakul Preet as the leads. Hero Kalyan Ram produced the film. However, the film was a disaster and there were a lot of comments on Ravi Teja's look in the film.
Surender Reddy's next movie after Kick 2 was 'Dhruva' starring Ram Charan. 'Dhruva' stands out in the career of mega power star Ram Charan. This film, which hit screens as an action thriller, changed the image of the actor tremendously. Surender Reddy was inspired by the Tamil film 'Tani Oruvan’ starring Jayam Ravi and directed by his brother Mohan Raj. The film was a super hit. Surender Reddy made some changes for this and made the film in Telugu. Along with Ram Charan style and action, Aravind Swamy's role as the villain accounted to the huge success of the film in Telugu. Earlier, actor Raashekhar was considered to play the stylish villain in this movie. However, the role went to Arvind Swamy in the last minute.
After Dhruva, Surender Reddy got the chance to direct megastar Chiranjeevi Garu. The movie Saira Narasimha Reddy was made in their combination. The film has a huge star cast including Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, Kollywood sensation Vijay Sethupathi and Kannada top hero Kichha Sudeep. Released on October 2 in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, Saira Narasimha Reddy's film has received a mark of 106 crores in the Telugu states. The Dussehra holidays served the film well. The film grossed a total of 240 crore. Saira collected 143 crores per share worldwide. But the super hit talk for this movie did not last long. Overall, Saira was disappointing for Chiranjeevi, film wise. The producers of this movie spent almost Rs 188 crore on it. However, Saira did well only in Telugu and earned a share of 106 crores. However, some areas in the Telugu states saw losses because of the film. The film garnered 32 crores in Nizam .. 18 crores in Seeded .. 54 crores in Andhra. There were just one or two places where the film broke even and earned profits. In other languages, ‘Saira Narasimha Reddy’ turned out to be terribly disappointing. The situation was much worse overseas. The film only made 2.5 million overseas. But this film is a very special film in the career of Chiranjeevi Garu. The actor, even at the age of 60, impressed fans with his stunts.
Surender Reddy is currently working on a film with Akkineni Akhil. The movie is named as Agent.
Personal Life
Surender Reddy married Deepa Reddy in 2010. This wedding was attended by stars of the Telugu industry. Surender Reddy and Deepa Reddy have two children, Arik and Ayansh.
Surender Reddy met Deepa Reddy for the first time at a family function. The two met and fell in love eventually, and they got married soon. Deepa Reddy graduated in Business Management. She founded the Ulavacharu restaurant in Gachibauli.
Surender Reddy won the Nandi Award for 'Athanokkade' as the Best Debut Director. Also, Surender Reddy won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for Race Gurram.
