Teja is an Indian Film Cinematographer turned Director, predominant in Telugu Cinema. He made his debu into the film industry with blockbusters, including Chitram, Nuvvu Nenu, Jayam and Nijam.
Teja was born on 22 February 1966 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, to Jasti Balaram Krishna and Jasti Rani. His father was an industrialist, based primarily in Tokyo, Japan. Teja used to often travel between Tokyo and Madras.The Teja family was considered the richest in the Tamil Nadu state in the 1960s.
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 in a 2012 ABN-interview said that he had done all sorts of odd jobs for survival, including illegal frying and sale of marijuana.
When Teja was aged seven, for reasons unknown, both his parents died. His relatives split the family estate and properties among themselves and he was forced to move in with his aunt and uncle. According to Teja, his aunt and uncle mentally and psychically abused him and forcefully made him do labour work. Teja in a Maa TV interview recalled, being beaten with a belt night after night, and his aunt cursing that she should’ve gotten a higher share in his father’s estate for taking him in.
Teja unable to bear the harassment, ran away from home. He slept on road pavements, and did any and all sorts of odd jobs for survival, such as truck and car wash, rickshaw pulling, and also the illegal frying and sale of marijuana. Teja joked that he used to work for All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party in Chennai, and used to black mark any Hindi text found either on billboards, posters or on walls, and later it was the Hindi film industry that would become his life.
Teja enrolled himself in a government night school in Central Madras, and worked during the day to feed himself. Teja in many interviews recollected many traumatic events in his childhood, including being chased by gay police men, his sister being left at an orphanage by their uncle, him sleeping in rains on road pavements, and others.
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.
his next movie is Nene Raju Nene Mantri schedule to release in 2017.
