Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.
Agyaat is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, starring Nithiin, Gautam Rode, Rasika Dugal, and Priyanka Kothari in the leading roles. It follows a filmmaking crew stuck in a forest and struggling to survive after becoming the target of an unknown entity.
Bejawada or Bezawada is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action crime film based on the Vijayawada Gang Warfare, directed by Vivek Krishna and produced by Ram Gopal Varma and Renny Johnson. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Amala Paul. The movie was received negatively at the box office but positively at the television and OTT as it accurately depicted the historical gang war in Vijayawada. Later it was dubbed in Hindi as Hero: The Action Man (2013) and also in Tamil as Vikram Dhadha. It marked Amala’s Telugu debut.
The Attacks of 26/11 is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, based on the book Kasab: The Face of 26/11 by Rommel Rodrigues about Ajmal Kasab, perpetrator of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The film stars Sanjeev Jaiswal in his film debut, playing the role of terrorist Ajmal Kasab, with art direction by Uday Singh. It also features Nana Patekar in a pivotal role. A seven-minute promo of the film was released over the Internet on 23 November 2012.
Satya 2 is a 2013 Indian crime film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. Shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu languages, the film stars Puneet Singh Ratn (Hindi), Sharwanand (Telugu), Anaika Soti and Mahesh Thakur. The film tells the story of Satya, an immigrant who comes to Mumbai aiming to refashion the mumbai underworld. The film is the fourth installment of the Gangster series, unrelated to the original trilogy.
Rowdy is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. It stars Vishnu Manchu and his father Mohan Babu with Jayasudha and Shanvi Srivastav in important roles. Sai Karthik composed the music for this film, while Satish Mutyala handled the cinematography. The principal photography commenced on 26 December 2013 and ended on 21 February 2014 in 30 working days. It was dubbed into Hindi as Rowdy.
Veerappan is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language biographical action crime film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film is based on the real-life Indian bandit Veerappan and the events leading to Operation Cocoon, a mission to capture and kill him. The film is a remake of the Kannada film Killing Veerappan (2016) starring Shiva Rajkumar. The film stars Sandeep Bharadwaj, Sachiin J Joshi, Lisa Ray and Usha Jadhav.
Vangaveeti is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language biographical action film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film is based on the life of politician Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, and his elder brother Vangaveeti Radha Krishna and their altercation with communist dominated Vijayawada of the 1970s-80s in Andhra Pradesh.
12 'O' Clock is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and starring Mithun Chakraborty, Flora Saini, Manav Kaul, Krishna Gautam and Makarand Deshpande. The film was first announced with the name Geher, but the following trailer revealed it had been renamed 12 'O' Clock on 3 July 2020. It was released in India on 8 January 2021.
God, Sex and Truth is a 2018 Indian short monologue documentary directed by Ram Gopal Varma and starring American pornographic actress Mia Malkova. The film is a short documentary about the strength of female sexuality and beauty. It is scored by M. M. Keeravani, and produced by Strike Force LLC, USA. It was released on 27 January 2018, on Vimeo OnDemand.
Officer is a 2018 Indian Telugu-language action film produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma on his R Company Production banner. The film stars Nagarjuna Akkineni, Myra Sareen in the lead roles and music composed by Ravi Shankar. The Tamil dubbed version, Simtaangaran was released on 1 January 2021.
Lakshmi's NTR is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language biographical drama film based on the life of former film actor and chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, N. T. Rama Rao from the perspective of his second wife, Lakshmi Parvati as well as Rao during his last days. It is co-directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and Agasthya Manju.
Anketa Maharana, credited as Apsara Rani, is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Telugu films.
In November 2019, the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinary doctor in Shamshabad, near Hyderabad, sparked outrage across India. Her body was found in Shadnagar on 28 November 2019, the day after she was murdered. Four suspects were arrested and, according to the Cyberabad Metropolitan Police, confessed to having raped and killed the doctor.
Coronavirus is a 2020 Indian Telugu-language thriller drama film produced by Ram Gopal Varma and directed by Agasthya Manju. The film is about a family exposed to the virus during the COVID-19 lockdown in India.
Murder is a 2020 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller film directed by Anand Chandra, and produced by Ram Gopal Varma and Anuraag Kancharla.
Sonia Akula is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu language films. Sonia made her debut with the 2019 Telugu film George Reddy.
Konda is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language political crime thriller film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma, and produced by Sushmitha Patel. The film explores the political-criminal-nexus between Indian politician couple Konda Surekha, Konda Murali, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, and Maoist Ramakrishna, alias R.K. Konda was released on 23 June 2022 to mixed reviews.
Dhahanam is a 2022 Telugu language streaming television series written by Kalyan Raghav, produced by Ram Gopal Varma and directed by Agasthya Manju. It stars Abhishek Duhan, Ashwat Kanth, Abhilash Chaudhary, Isha Koppikar, Kancharapalem Kishore, Naina Ganguly, Parvathy Arun, Pradeep Rawat and others.
Vyuham, also known as Vyooham, is a 2024 2 part Indian Telugu-language biographical political thriller film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film revolves around the unexpected events that led to the untimely death of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and the subsequent events surrounding the creation of the YSR Congress Party, led by his son Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The first part of the film was theatrically released on 2 March 2024, and the Part II titled Shapatham is going to release on 8th March 2024.
