Bejawada Gopal is an Indian film director who works in Telugu cinema. He has directed over 30 Telugu films, including successful films such as Bobbili Raja, Lorry Driver, Assembly Rowdy, State Rowdy, Rowdy Inspector, Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, Indra, Maska. He won Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu for the film Samarasimha Reddy. He also directed two Hindi films, Insaaf Ki Awaaz and Kanoon Apna Apna.

B. Gopal
Born
Bejawada Gopal

24 June
OccupationDirector
Years active1977 – present

Childhood and early years

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B. Gopal was born at M. Nidamanuru village near Tangutur, Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh to B. Venkateswarulu and Mahalakshmi. He has two siblings, one brother Subba Rao and sister Suseela. He did his schooling in Karumanchi. Later he attended C.S.R.Sarma college in Ongole. After finishing his education, With his father permission he chose to pursue his career in movies.[1] He is the uncle of Telugu film Actor Venu Thottempudi.[citation needed]

Career

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He started his career working as an assistant director under P. C. Reddy. After working in two films under his guidance, he got an opportunity to work as an assistant director in Adavi Ramudu, under K. Raghavendra Rao.[2] He considers K. Raghavendra Rao as his mentor and guru in the industry. He worked under him for almost 12 years, inAdavi Ramudu, Devatha, Justice Chowdary, Agni Parvatam etc. In 1982, while he was working as an associate director for Devatha, he was spotted by the producer of the film, Dr. Daggubati Ramanaidu. Impressed by his work and knowledge, Ramanaidu offered him the chance to direct a film under his banner. This led to B. Gopal's debut as a director with Prathidvani, starring Sharada, Arjun and Rajani. It released in 1986.

Afterwards, he went on to direct many commercially successful and cult films like Bobbili Raja, Lorry Driver, Assembly Rowdy, Rowdy Inspector, Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, Allari Ramudu, and Indra. His association with Paruchuri Brothers is well known in Telugu cinema. They have worked together on many successful films. He is also famously known for his collaboration with Nandamuri Balakrishna. He was the only director to have 3 industry hits, those being: Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, and Indra. This record was nearly untouched for, till the release of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, in 2017. S.S.Rajamouli became the second director to have 3 industry hits, those being: Magadheera, Baahubali: The Beginning, and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Gopal's career hit a rough patch when his subsequent ventures after Allari Ramudu: Palnati Brahmanayudu, Adavi Ramudu, and Narasimhudu became major disasters at the box office.

After a gap of four years, he directed Maska with Ram Pothineni, which released in 2009. It was commercially successful.[3] In 2011, it was announced that he would again collaborate with Balakrishna in a project called Hara Hara Mahadev, but it was stalled after the launch.[4] In 2012, he replaced director Boopathy Pandian for Aaradugula Bullet, starring Gopichand and Nayanthara. It was initially titled as Jagan Mohan IPS. However, due to financial problems, it was delayed till 2021, finally releasing on October 8, that year, to highly negative reviews.

Awards

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Filmography

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  • All films are in Telugu unless otherwise noted
Year Film Cast Notes
1986 Prathidvani Arjun, Rajani
1986 Insaaf Ki Awaaz Rekha, Anil Kapoor, Richa Sharma Hindi
1987 Collector Gari Abbai Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Nagarjuna
1988 Raktha Tilakam Venkatesh, Amala
1988 Aswathama Krishna, Vijayashanti
1989 Vijay Akkineni Nagarjuna, Vijayashanti
1989 State Rowdy Chiranjeevi, Radha, Bhanupriya
1989 Kanoon Apna Apna Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit Hindi
1990 Lorry Driver Nandamuri Balakrishna, Vijayashanti
1990 Bobbili Raja Venkatesh, Divya Bharti
1991 Assembly Rowdy Mohan Babu, Divya Bharti
1992 Chinarayudu Venkatesh, Vijayashanti
1992 Brahma Mohan Babu, Aishwarya, Shilpa Shirodkar
1992 Rowdy Inspector Nandamuri Balakrishna, Vijayashanti
1993 Mechanic Alludu Chiranjeevi, Vijayashanti
1994 Gangmaster Rajasekhar, Nagma
1995 Street Fighter Vijayashanti
1995 Khaidhi Inspector Suman, Maheswari
1997 Collector Garu Mohan Babu, Sakshi Sivanand
1997 Adavilo Anna Mohan Babu, Roja
1999 Samarasimha Reddy Nandamuri Balakrishna, Anjala Zaveri, Simran, Sanghavi
2000 Ravanna Dr. Rajasekhar, Soundarya
2000 Vamsi Mahesh Babu, Namrata Shirodkar
2001 Narasimha Naidu Nandamuri Balakrishna, Simran, Preeti Jhangiani
2002 Allari Ramudu N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Aarthi Agarwal
2002 Indra Chiranjeevi, Aarthi Agarwal, Sonali Bendre
2003 Palnati Brahmanaidu Nandamuri Balakrishna, Aarthi Agarwal, Sonali Bendre
2004 Adavi Ramudu Prabhas, Aarthi Agarwal
2005 Narasimhudu N. T. Rama Rao Jr, Ameesha Patel, Sameera Reddy
2009 Maska Ram, Hansika, Sheela
2021 Aaradugula Bullet Gopichand, Nayanthara Releasing after 4 years

References

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  1. ^ "B. Gopal Video Interview". Guest Hour (Interview). Interviewed by TeluguOne. Youtube. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Adavi Ramudu". telugucinema. Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Maska's soaring profits - Telugu News". 27 January 2009.
  4. ^ "Balayya-Gopal-Paruchuri teaming after 7 years - Telugu News". November 2011.
  5. ^ "నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)" [A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)] (PDF). Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 21 August 2020.(in Telugu)
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