Hemanth M. Rao

Hemanth M. Rao is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Kannada cinema. He rose to fame following the success of his directorial debut Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2016).[2]

Hemanth M. Rao
Born (1983-09-04) 4 September 1983[1]
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationFilmmaker

Career

After a brief stint in journalism, Rao ventured into the film industry in 2005.[2] He began as an assistant director with Girish Kasaravalli on the 2008 film Gulabi Talkies. He then worked in similar capacities with Jacob Varghese on Savaari and Prithvi.[3] He worked as an assistant director with Girish Kasaravalli in the latter's 2008 film Gulabi Talkies, before working with Jacob Varghese in Savaari (2009) and Prithvi (2010).[4]

He made his directorial debut in 2016 with Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, a Kannada drama feature about a man searching for his missing father with Alzheimer’s, with a script that he co-wrote. that had Rakshit Shetty and Anant Nag playing the respective roles. The film, produced by Pushkar Films, was a box office success and received critical acclaim upon release. [2]

Under his banner Lost & Found Films, he co-produced Humble Politician Nograj—a political satire comedy inspired by The Campaign.[5] The film was produced by Pushkar Films and Paramvah Studios and was released in January 2018.

Rao’s next writing venture was Andhadhun (2018), which was also his first venture into Hindi cinema. He co-wrote the script with Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti (who was also the editor of the film), Arijit Biswas, and Yogesh Chandekarand. The film also garnered tremendous praise and popularity, while also quickly garnering a cult following. They all collectively won a Filmfare Award and National Film Award for their screenplay.[6]

His second directorial was Kavaludaari (2019), which was also the maiden production venture of Puneeth Rajkumar under production house, PRK Productions.[7] Kavaludaari won Best Movie in "Kannada Cinema Competition" at 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2020[8]

Rao continued to work in the thriller space with Maestro, which released in 2021. His next directorial, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, is a romantic drama which he wrote a long time back. Owing to the expansive timeline of the screenplay, it was split into two parts: Side A and Side B. Side A released on 1 September 2023 to critical acclaim from both the critics and audience, alike. Side B is slated to release on 27 October 2023.

Filmography
Year Film Credit as Note Ref.
Director Screenplay Producer
2016 Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu Yes Yes Yes Co-produced with Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah [2]
2018 Humble Politician Nograj No No Yes Co-produced with Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah, Rakshit Shetty
2018 Andhadhun No Yes No Hindi Film; National Film Award for Best Screenplay [9]
2019 Kavaludaari Yes Yes No [10]
2020 Bheemasena Nalamaharaja No No Yes Released on OTT [11]
2023 Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A Yes Yes Yes
Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side B† Yes Yes Yes Post-production

Awards and nominations
Film Award Category Result Ref.
Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu 64th Filmfare Awards South Best Film- Kannada Nominated [12]
Best Director- Kannada Nominated
Raghavendra Chitravani Award 2017 Best Screenplay Won [13]
Gollapudi Srinivas Award 2017 First Time Best Director Won [14]
6th SIIMA Awards Best Film Nominated [15]
Best Debut Director Won
Andhadhun 66th National Film Awards Best Adapted Screenplay (jointly) Won [16]
64th Filmfare Awards Best Screenplay (jointly) Won [17][18]
24th Star Screen Awards Best Screenplay (jointly) Won [19][20]
20th IIFA Awards Best Screenplay (jointly) Won [21]
Kavaludaari 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2020 Best Film in Kannada Cinema Won [8]
Critics’ Choice Film Awards 2020 Best Director Nominated [22]
Best Writing Nominated
9th SIIMA Awards Best Director Nominated [23]

References
  1. "Read about Rakshit Shetty's books of dreams". The Times of India. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  2. Yerasala, Kyatha (8 June 2016). "Hemanth Rao and the masters of film verse". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  3. Waseem, Mohammed (24 January 2017). "It's easy to direct intelligent actors". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  4. Nathan, Archana (16 April 2016). "I tried to keep my ego out of the equation". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  5. "Voices of reason in humble politician Nograj". The New Indian Express.
  6. "Nominations for the 64th Vimal Elaichi Filmfare Awards 2019". filmfare.com.
  7. "Rishi as police officer in thrilling Kavalu Daari". The New Indian Express.
  8. "Awards :: Bengaluru International Film Festival - BIFFES". biffes.in.
  9. "Sriram Raghavan is 'floored' with audience reaction to Andhadhun". 21 October 2018.
  10. "Hemanth Rao's next titled as Kavalu Daari". The Times of India. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  11. "Bheema Sena Nala Maharaja cooks up a storm". The Times of India.
  12. "Winners: 64th Jio Filmfare Awards 2017 (South)". Times of India. 19 June 2017.
  13. "Awards for Thithi, Godhi Banna... directors". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  14. "Kannada director Hemanth Rao wins 2017 Gollapudi Srinivas award". The Hindu. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  15. "SIIMA 2017 Day 1: Jr NTR bags Best Actor, Kirik Party wins Best Film". India Today. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  16. "66th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  17. "Nominations for the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". filmfare.com. 12 March 2019.
  18. "Winners of the 64th Vimal Filmfare Awards 2019". Filmfare. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  19. "Star Screen Awards 2018 complete winners list". Hindustan Times. 17 December 2018.
  20. "Winners of Star Screen Awards 2018". Bollywood Hungama. 16 December 2018.
  21. "IIFA 2019 full winners list: Alia Bhatt's Raazi wins big".
  22. "Critics' Choice Film Awards 2020: Complete nominations list". The Indian Express. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  23. "The 9th South Indian International Movie Awards Nominations for 2019". South Indian International Movie Awards. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
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