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Teja is an Indian film cinematographer turned director, predominant in Telugu and Hindi cinema. He made a slam bang entry into the film industry with a string of blockbusters, including Chitram, Nuvvu Nenu, Jayam and Nijam
After working as a cinematographer in Hindi and Telugu cinema from 1989 to 2000, he made his directorial debut in Telugu cinema with Chitram. Chitram is considered a path breaking film which went on to revolutionise Telugu cinema.
Teja is famous for casting only debutant actors for all roles in his films. He introduced over one thousand actors and technicians to Indian cinema, including Uday Kiran, Nitin, Sadha, Kajal Agarwal, Navdeep and Sunil.
He has garnered many awards, notably- Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Award for Best Director and Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu for Nuvvu Nenu.
Teja is not only famous for his film work, but also infamous for his short-temper and eccentricity.He is known to often use unconventional ways to obtain satisfactory performances from actors on sets.
Teja doing any work he could get, ended up working in Tamil film shoots as a lighting assistant.According to Teja the only reason he joined the film industry was because they served free breakfast and lunch at shoots, and he didn’t have to worry about sleeping hungry at night.
Teja in only a year worked his way up. After working in lighting and sound departments he moved into the camera department and worked under Ravikant Nagaich, and W.B. Rao. He then took up assignments for documentaries presented in National Geographic Channel.
Teja started growing popular among film personalities, after shoots and during breaks he used to tell his gang of friends short stories and movie ideas, one of whom was Ram Gopal Varma, ‘Ramu’ impressed with Teja’s ideology, took Teja along with him to work on the latter’s directorial debut Shiva.Teja was hired as the first assistant director for the film, he also designed posters and handled the publicity. Teja’s innovative poster designs gained him great popularity. The use of silhouettes and colouring the film’s title in blood red raised eyebrows. He also played a pivotal role in the filming of the major action sequences of the film, those including the extremely famous cycle chain scene and others.
Teja later collaborated with Ram Gopal Varma on Kshana Kshanam, Rangeela, Raat, Raatri, Drohi, Antham, Gaayam, Money, Govinda Govinda, and Rangeela.
eja debuted as cinematographer in 1992 with Raat, for which he won Nandi Award for best cinematography.He worked as cinematographer for all of the following Ram Gopal Varma films. Aamir Khan, impressed seeing Teja’s work gave him his next big break and employed him as the cinematographer for Baazi. Following which Teja had many simultaneous and back to back releases including Teerpu, The Don, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain, Krodh, Krishna, Shsahtra, Rakshak, Tere Mere Sapne, Vishwavidhaata.
Directorial debut:
Working as cinematographer, Teja used to frequently schedule Hindi film shoots in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh as to spend more time with his wife and son. Many schedules were planned in Ramoji Film City. Chitram, Teja’s directorial debut was planned entirely in Ramoji Film City on budget of forty lakh rupees. Chitram, became a huge hit and paved way for a variety of new age romantic films in Tollywood.Teja’s next venture was Family circus, Starring Jagapathi babu, Rajendra Prasad, high comedy-drama. It had an average run at the box office
Teja gained tremendous popularity post the release of Nuvvu Nenu.Nuvvu Nenu, an all-time blockbuster, was the year’s highest grosser.Nuvvu Nenu received six Nandi Awards and had a total run of three seventy five days.
Nuvvu Nenu was remade in Hindi starring Tushar Kapoor and Anita Hassanandani, although it was huge success in the south, it failed at the Hindi box office.
In 2002, Teja founded the motion picture production company Chitram Movies and its subsidiaries. He is also the sole owner and chairman of the motion picture exhibition company Jayam Movies Pvt. Ltd. which owns a string of movie theaters in Southern parts of India.
Post Jayam, Teja became one of the Telugu’s few star directors.His name started pulling humongous crowds to theatres. Jayam (2002) is a Telugu film directed and produced by Teja, starring Nitin, Sadha, and Gopichand in the lead roles. It was massively successful at the box office. The film was shot on very low budget of rupees two crore, It had a gross revenue of rupees thirty eight crore.
A unique publicity campaign was launched for Jayam (Telugu), a hand mark of blood, was put all over the state, underlined with a text stating “Jayam choodandi”
Teja next venture was Nijam, released in 2003, starring Mahesh Babu and Rakshitha in lead roles. Nijam was a Average at the box office but gained critical appraise. Later Nijam garnered Cult following over the years. In the following years, Teja made Jai.Actor Navdeep’s debuted with this film, he was paired with Santhoshini and Ayesha Julka. It was dubbed in Tamil as Jairam. The film had an average run in both languages.
Teja later directed Dhairyam, and Avunanna Kadanna, simultaneously. Halfway through Dhairyam’s shoot Teja dropped the project stating that the producer N. Sudhakar Reddy had changed and edited a part of the film without his consent. Teja returned his remuneration, arranged a press meet and declared he had nothing to do with the film. Dhairyam failed at the box office, whereas Avunanna Kadanna had a seventy-five-day run and was declared a hit.
