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Sesha Sindhu Rao
Sindhu at a promotional event for Choosi Choodangaane
Sesha Sindhu Rao is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works primarily in Telugu language feature films and web series.[1] Sindhu began her career assisting[2] stalwart directors in the Telugu Film Industry - such as Krish Jagarlamudi and Sukumar - in screenwriting, direction, costumes and even cinematography and editing.
Sindhu made her directing debut with the coming of age film Choosi Choodangaane (2020) starring debutant Shiva Kandukuri and Varsha Bollamma.[3] The film garnered praise for its strong characterization of the female lead and supporting cast, and new wave direction.[4]
In 2021, Sindhu founded the production company - Gopi Talkies[5] - and turned producer[6] for her colleague - Padmavathi Malladi’s - Gandhi Tatha Chettu (2025) which went on to win accolades all over the globe including the Best Film Award at the 30th Minsk International Film Festival[7] and the Noida International Film Festival.
She has also written and directed an upcoming period drama - Kanyasulkam, premiering on SonyLiv in 2025[8] - featuring an ensemble cast of Anjali, Naresh, Murli Sharma and others, while also donning the writer’s hat for an upcoming Telugu web series on Netflix.
Early Life and Background
Sesha Sindhu Rao was born in January 1988 in Khor Fakhan, UAE, to Y Venkata Shobana Chalapathi Rao and Sridevi Chalapathi Rao, as the second of three daughters. Receiving her early schooling in the UAE, while interacting with many Indian expatriates in the area, Sindhu developed fluency in Hindi, Telugu and English.[9]
While in the Middle East, Sindhu developed a fondness for watching old Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu films, and from an early age, harboured a desire to work in films. Sindhu has stated that one of her earliest memories of her childhood was watching Shah Rukh Khan’s movies one after another, and recreating scenes from those films - with a keen focus on design and costumes. She cites her fandom for Shah Rukh Khan, and the possibility of someday working with him, or receiving an award from him on stage, as one of the main reasons for joining the film industry.[10]
Sindhu graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology from CMR College of Engineering in Hyderabad, and was about to pursue a postgraduate degree in food studies from Australia, but her admission was deferred by a semester. For those six months, she enrolled in a photography course in Hyderabad and pursued costume design from INIFD, Hyderabad. Sindhu states that gathering these practical experiences changed her life.[11]
Film Career
Humble Beginnings (2011-2012)
Having assisted some friends and a Casting Director for photoshoots and film projects, Sindhu found herself being attracted to camerawork and cinematography. She was referred to cinematographer Bharani K. Dharan who was working on Money Money More Money (2011) at the time.[12] Dharan inducted her into his team from day one. Sindhu also became an apprentice in the Direction Department of the film led by J.D. Chakravarthy, and also helped the actors with their dialogues. Working with an ensemble cast - including Brahmanandam, J.D Chakravarthy and Brahmaji - taught her how to accommodate different processes and styles within one unit.[13] Post the release of Money Money More Money, Sindhu began working as an Assistant Director for NS Naidu on Mr. Premikudu. The film was eventually shelved as the lead actor Yasho Sagar died after meeting with an accident.[14]
Growth in technical roles (2012-2015)
Sindhu eventually met with leading Telugu director Krish Jagarlamudi who at the time was assembling his directorial team for the film Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum (2012) starring Nayanthara and Rana Daggubati.[15] Krish proved to be a mentor for Sindhu, as she learnt different facets of direction under him.[16] She also closely followed V.S Gnanasekhar, the cinematographer of the film, under whom she learnt further about camerawork. During the filming of Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum, Sindhu recalls a mishap with the costumes, which led to the director, Krish, asking Sindhu to “figure it out” and manage costume design for the film. Sindhu took it upon herself to deliver, and was later also credited as a Costume Designer on the film.[17] Sindhu also edited a “Behind the Scenes” or “making” video for the film at the behest of Director Krish. She credits his attitude of throwing his assistants into new situations and his confidence in their ability to learn a new craft for her knowledge of technical filmmaking.
In 2014, Sindhu met with director Sashi Kiran Tikka who was directing a romantic comedy Areyrey at the time.[18][19] Sindhu recalls working with Sashi Kiran as her introduction to new-age filmmaking. In contrast to Krish’s style, Sashi Kiran - who was a graduate from the New York Film Academy demanded that his Direction team be well versed in filmmaking software such as CeltX, StudioBinder and FinalDraft among others.[20]Areyrey was shelved seven months into pre-production, but Sindhu emerged as a more sound technician as she credits this project with learning how to stay up-to-date with modern technologies in filmmaking.
A few months later, Sindhu was introduced to Palnati Surya Pratap who was directing Kumari 21F - the first film under the newly minted banner, Sukumar Writings.[21] The film was being written by Sukumar himself, and wanted Assistant Directors who were adept at screenwriting. As an AD, Sindhu wrote close to eight to ten scenes everyday, translated the script to English for Rathnavelu - the cinematographer, and created workshops for the actors to get them ready for filming.[22] During one such writing session, Sindhu took a scene she wrote to the director, who advised her to narrate it to Sukumar himself. Initially nervous about the narration, Sindhu wowed Sukumar with her understanding of the characters’ depth, and found herself being rewarded with the story re-written with that scene. Sindhu also worked on the film’s promotions by creating minimalist poster designs. Kumari 21F proved to be a turning point for everyone associated with the film. Made on a modest budget, the film went on to become a critical and commercial success. With numerous films and projects under her belt, Sindhu decided to take the plunge into direction for herself.[23]
Career breakthrough & Directorial debut
Sindhu began writing the script for her directorial debut in late 2015. Around this time, she was introduced to a filmmakers’ collective being mentored and guided by Aparna Malladi.[24] It was here that she was introduced to Venkatesh Maha, Padmavathi Malladi, Vamsi Patchipulusu, Santosh ‘Santo’ Mohan Veeranki among others. These individuals later made significant contributions to the Telugu film industry in the following years. With the group, Sindhu worked on many collaborative projects - sometimes as a writer,[25] sometimes as a producer,[26] even directing an ad film for Anganwadi[27] and a few YouTube shorts and series. At the time, aspiring directors would create a short film, and use the content and experience gained to pitch themselves as directors.
Having finalized her script over many narrations, Sindhu embarked upon creating a pitch video for her film. Her 8+ years of experience garnered her collaborations with popular names in the industry such as cinematographer Sujith Sarang, and publicity designer duo Anil-Bhanu. Sindhu created a 6 minute pitch video for her film. The pitch was entitled “Atu Itu”[28] ("Here and There" in English) and starred Dimple Hayathi (who later went on to star opposite Ravi Teja in Khiladi) and Sai Sushant Reddy (who rose to fame with Ee Nagariniki Emaindhi).
The pitch video finally landed in the offices of Raj Kandukuri, who immediately greenlit the production of Sindhu’s directorial debut - Choosi Choodangaane.[29] The film starred Varsha Bollamma and debutant Shiva Kandukuri in the lead roles, and Anish Kuruvilla, Pavithra Lokesh, Malavika Satheesan and Venkatesh Kakumanu in supporting roles. Sindhu and her team - which comprised predominantly female crew members - were extremely particular about finishing the filming and the edit on time, and resorted to cost effective and economical ways to do it. A large part of the film was filmed at the crew’s own homes, and the college scenes were filmed at Sindhu’s Alma Mater - CMR College of Engineering in Hyderabad.[30] The film released on 31 January 2020 with praise directed at the story, female gaze, multi-layered female characters and its music.[31]
Forays into production and Kanyasulkam
In 2021, Sindhu decided to produce her frequent collaborator - Padmavathi Malladi’s - directorial debut, Gandhi Tatha Chettu.[32] Padma had previously worked with Sindhu as a screenwriter for Choosi Choodangaane. Sindhu decided to crowdfund the film’s production to the tune of USD 114,000,[33] and also found the film’s lead actor, Sukriti Veni Bandreddi - the daughter of Sindhu’s mentor, Sukumar. Sindhu founded her production company - Gopi Talkies, named after her mother - and put all her efforts and weight behind the film, believing in the story and the impact it could create on the new generation of children, bringing them face to face with Gandhian principles in the 21st Century. Once the filming was complete, Sindhu and Padma were invited to take Gandhi Tatha Chettu to Film Festivals all over the world, where it won numerous awards, including Best Film at the 30th Minsk International Film Festival.[34] Particular praise was directed at the performance of Sukriti as the lead character - a 15 year old girl named "Gandhi". For her efforts, Sukriti won a number of accolades.
While working on Gandhi Tatha Chettu, Sindhu was simultaneously working on a project brought to her by her mentor - Krish Jagarlamudi. He offered her the chance to write and direct a multi-episodic web series, entitled “Kanyasulkam”, an adaptation of a Telugu language epic, written by Gurajada Apparao. Kanyasulkam has also been made into a movie of the same name in the year 1955, starring legends of the Telugu Film Industry - N.T. Rama Rao, Savitri and Sowcar Janaki. Sindhu spent a considerable time writing and re-writing dialogues along with the screenplay. Kanyasulkam is slated to release in 2025 on SonyLiv,[35] and stars an ensemble cast including Anjali, Naresh, Srinivas Avasarala, Jissu Sengupta and Varsha Bollamma.
Future Projects
Sindhu is currently writing for Santo Mohan Veeranki’s untitled series scheduled to release on Netflix.
Style of Direction
Sindhu is known to be well-versed in all aspects of film direction. Despite not receiving formal film education, Sindhu learnt the process of cinematography, editing, dialogues, screenwriting and direction while on the sets of films she was assisting in.[36] Sindhu has mentioned that women in the film industry are hired to either take care of costumes or assist actresses while on set. Not to be sandboxed into one role, she herself took on roles by asserting herself into other facets.[37]
Sindhu is known to bring her own life experiences into her stories and direction. Normalizing depicting a stay-at-home father while the woman of the house earns the bread was something she set out to do with Choosi Choodangaane, and was lauded for it.[38] She is also known to work with the resourcefulness and tactics that are typical to an independent filmmaker, choosing to shoot over 24 hours in some cases to ensure that the budget and schedule are adhered to.
Personal life
Sindhu currently lives in Hyderabad, India.
Sindhu’s mother was a popular author who under the pen name - Rachakonda Sridevi - published several books such as Nandini and Ankita from 1978 to 1982.[39][40] Sindhu’s father was an Electrical Engineer who worked at the Ministry of Electricity in Dubai, and later in construction in Hyderabad. Being born in a culturally inclined family, Sindhu credits her father’s adventurous life for inspiring her to join the film industry.[41] She recalls wanting to be either a doctor or a dentist while she was growing up, as she was known to be good at science.
Sindhu’s older sister, Shanthi Rao, is an actress in the Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam industries.[42]
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