Prasanth Varma

Prasanth Varma is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He is best known for directing Awe (2018), Kalki (2019), Zombie Reddy (2021) and Hanu-Man (2024). His debut film Awe won at the National film awards for Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up.

Personal life
Prasanth Varma was born on 29 May 1989 in Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh. His parents are Narayana Raju, a civil contractor, and Kanaka Durga, a government school teacher. He has a younger sister, Sneha Sameera. He completed his graduation at CVR College of Engineering in 2010. He married Sukanya Raju in 2020.

2011–2017: Initial career
Prasanth Varma began his career in 2011 by directing a short film Deenamma Jeevitham. He then directed advertisement films and a few short films, including A Silent Melody (2014) and Dialogue in the Dark (2017). In 2015, he directed a five-episode web series, Not Out, starring Brian Lara, which premiered on YuppTV. In an interview to Idlebrain.com, he acknowledged that Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Christopher Nolan, K. Viswanath and Mani Ratnam are his major influences.

2018–present: Debut in feature films, breakthrough and critical acclaim
In 2017, Prashanth Varma presented the storyline of Awe to actor Nani, securing its production through Wall Poster Cinema alongside Prashanti Tipirneni. Released in 2018, the film marked his directorial debut and garnered acclaim for its subversive depiction of psychological and social issues, including child abuse, sexual abuse, and drug abuse. Critics, including Baradwaj Rangan, praised his narrative and direction, with special emphasis on the portrayal of lesbian characters in the movie. His next release was Kalki (2019), starring Rajasekhar and produced by C. Kalyan. The original story, written by Saitej Desharaj, was initially crafted as a web series. Prasanth adapted the screenplay into a feature film format, a process that took eight months.

Prasanth Varma's third release was Zombie Reddy (2021), originally scheduled for 2020 but delayed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India. Marketed as the first zombie film in Telugu, it received positive reviews and performed well at the box office. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote that "In one stroke, director Prasanth Varma juxtaposes different worlds — a pandemic looming large, zombies, Rayalaseema faction rivalry — to hilarious effect" On 29 May 2021, he announced his next film Hanu-Man. The film is marketed as the first Telugu Superhero film. Starring Teja Sajja as Hanumanthu and Amritha Aiyer as Meenakshi, the film was released on 12 January 2024, coinciding with Sankranti. It served as the first installment of the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe (PVCU), inspired by Indian mythology. The film received highly positive reviews for its direction, screenwriting, performances, visualization, background score, VFX, production design and action sequences. With a global box office gross of over ₹350 crore, it became the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2024, the highest-grossing Indian film of 2024 and the eight highest-grossing Telugu film of all time.