M. S. Raju

M. S. Raju
M. S. Raju
Born	M. S. Raju; West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupations	Film producer; Film director;
Children	Sumanth Ashwin

M. S. Raju is an Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director who works in Telugu cinema. He is the founder and owner of the film production company Sumanth Art Productions. He won three Filmfare Awards — becoming the first producer to receive three consecutive Filmfare Awards — for the films Okkadu (2003), Varsham (2004), and Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005). He also produced the successful films Sathruvu (1991), Devi (1999), Manasantha Nuvve (2001), and Nee Sneham (2002).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Early life

M. S. Raju's father, Rayaparaju, owned hundreds of acres of land in erstwhile West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.^[4] Rayaparaju sold all of their properties there and migrated to Madras. Producer Arjuna Raju, of Roja Movies, is a cousin of his father. Inspired by him, his father became a film producer and made five to six films.^[4]

Career

M. S. Raju was interested in films right from his childhood. After completing his education, he started his career in films with the help of a friend. He made a film titled Manavadostunnadu (1987) with Arjun and Sobhana in the lead roles. His father's good will helped him in getting financiers.^[4]

He established a new production company called 'Sumanth Art Productions' named after his son. The first film made on the banner was Sathruvu (1991) starring Venkatesh, Vijayashanti, and Kota Srinivasa Rao and directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. M. S. Raju himself provided the basic story idea of the film and Satyamurthy was roped in as a writer to develop the storyline. The film was also dubbed into Tamil. Sathruvu was commercially successful in both Telugu and Tamil.^[4]

His next film was Police Lock-up (1993) starring Vijayashanti in a dual role. Police Lock-up also became a big hit. The Tamil dubbed version of the film was also successful. His next film was Street Fighter starring Vijayashanti with B. Gopal as the director. Street Fighter was a box-office disaster.^[4]

Personal life

M. S. Raju has two children — son Sumanth Ashwin and daughter Rishita. Rishita was born before the release of Devi (1999) and there is 11-year gap between Sumanth and Rishita.^[4] Sumanth Ashwin made his acting debut with the film Tuneega Tuneega (2012), under M. S. Raju's direction.^[5]^[6]

Filmography

As producer

Year	Title	Language
1987	Manavadostunnadu	Telugu
1991	Sathruvu	Telugu
1993	Police Lockup	Telugu
1995	Street Fighter	Telugu
1999	Devi	Telugu
2001	Devi Putrudu	Telugu
2001	Manasantha Nuvve	Telugu
2002	Nee Sneham	Telugu
2003	Okkadu	Telugu
2004	Varsham	Telugu
2005	Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana	Telugu
2006	Pournami	Telugu
2007	Aata	Telugu
2008	Vaana	Telugu
2009	Maska	Telugu

As director

Year	Title	Language	Notes
2008	Vaana	Telugu	Remake of Mungaru Male
2012	Tuneega Tuneega	Telugu
2020	Dirty Hari	Telugu
2022	7 Days 6 Nights	Telugu
2023	Malli Pelli	Telugu

Awards

Filmfare Awards

Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) - Okkadu (2003)
Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) - Varsham (2004)
Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) - Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005)

Nandi Awards

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - Okkadu (2003)
Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005)

References

^ "MS Raju". 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
^ "MS Raju". 6 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
^ "A satisfied father". The Hindu. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Interview with MS Raju by Jeevi". Idlebrain.com. 6 December 2002. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
^ "USA 1st Week Schedule : Tuniga Tuniga Overseas by 14 Reels through FICUS". 123telugu.com. 1 January 1998. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
^ "Tuneega Tuneega releases on July 20". Supergoodmovies.com. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.