Mahesh Rao

Mahesh Rao
Born	1982 (age 33–34) Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film director Screenwriter Dialogue writer
Years active	2008 – present
Spouse(s)	Kirthika M Rao (2012–present)
Children	Hasini M Rao

Mahesh Rao (born 14 February 1982) is an Indian Kannada film director, screenwriter & lyricist. He is most predominantly known for the movies Dheemaku, Murali meets Meera(2011) & Bhadra(2011). His next movie is with Yash & Radhika Pandit which is in pre-production stage to be produced by K.Manju.^[1]

Early life and education

Mahesh Rao was born on 14 February 1982 at Bangalore. He studied in St.Josephs High School Bangalore & did his graduation at PES College Bangalore. He was performing dramas since his school days. His friend Thilak introduced him to a theater performing dramas. He performed plays under Nataranga, Samudhaya, C.R.Simha's Vedike & Snehasamooha. In 2012 he married Kirthika, CO-producer of popular television serials Puttagowri Maduve & Akka.

Mahesh Rao started his career as an assistant director to acclaimed director K.M.Chaitanya for his T.V show Ee Prashne. He acted in veteran director Nagabharana's T.V serial Joku Joke. After this he assisted Sunil Kumar Singh for his serials Godhooli, Thulasi, Yava Janmada Maithri for 6 years along with acting in those serials too.

Film career

After his successful stint at Television Serials, Mahesh Rao made his debut through Dheemaku(2008) movie starring Naveen Krishna in lead role. The movie got rave reviews from critics and was an average grosser at box office. In 2009 he collaborated with Milana fame director Prakash for the screenplay of Gokula movie. His second film Murali Meets Meera, a romantic film based on novel was released in 2011, had Prajwal Devraj in the lead role. Murali Meets Meera too earned positive response from critics with The times of India & Bangalore mirror rating it 4/5 & Sify rating it 3/5. The movie subsequently went on to become a Sleeper hit after running for 50 days at the box office. Following the success of Murali Meets Meera Mahesh Rao's next was Bhadra, remake of Telugu movie Ranam & introduced Daisy Shah pairing with Prajwal Devraj. He made some changes to the screenplay to suit the nativity of the Kannada audience & the movie went on th become a super hit running 75 days at the box office with overall critics rating it as 3/5 & praising his direction skills. In 2013, he was roped in to direct Case No. 18/9 remake of Tamil hit Vazhakku enn 18/9. After release, the film received generally positive reviews from critics. The performances Niranjan Shetty, Sindhu Lokanath, Shwetha Pandit and Rangayana Raghu, and the film's direction, screenplay and narration received praise from critics. Case No. 18/9 was a profitable venture for the producers fetching 1.57 crores(US$230,000) only from Satellite rights from Suvarna TV. Then he went on to direct Endendu Ninagagi which was remake of Engeyum Eppothum movie & was a box office failure even after receiving positive reviews from critics. His next movie was Kwatle Satisha which was again a remake of Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom movie. Kwatle Satisha received positive reviews from critics & was a profitable venture for producer. His next stint was as dialogue writer for the Ganesh starrer movie Khushi Khushiyagi released in 2015 . Initially there were speculations that he would direct a movie starring Yash for the remake of Tamil movie Vaalu but eventually the remake idea was scrapped. Mahesh Rao wrote his own script & was finalised by producer K.Manju. This film got the final title Santhu Straight Forward and will go on floors February 2016 starring Yash & Radhika Pandit.^[2][3][4]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Screenwriter	Dialogues	Notes
2008	Dheemaku	Yes	Yes	Yes
2011	Murali Meets Meera	Yes	Yes	Yes
2011	Bhadra	Yes	Yes	No
2012	Case No. 18/9	Yes	Yes	No
2014	Endendu Ninagagi	Yes	Yes	No
2014	Kwatle Satisha	Yes	Yes	No
2016	Prachanda	Yes	Yes	No
2016	Santhu Straight Forward	Yes	Yes	Yes

Work for other director's movies

Year	Title	Director	Screenwriter	Dialogues
2009	Gokula	Prakash	Yes	No
2010	Vijaylakshmi Singh	Vaare Vah	No	Yes
2015	Yogi G Raj	Khushi Khushiyagi	No	Yes

Television Shows

E Prashne(quiz show)	Assistant Director
Godhuli	Associate Director
Thulasi	Associate Director
Yava Janmada Maithri	Episode Director
Utsava	Director
Chikkamma	Screenwriter
Lakumi	Screenwriter
Putta gowri Maduve	Screenwriter
Akka	Screenwriter

References

1. "MAHESH RAO TO DIRECT YASH". cineloka.co.in. 27 May 2015.
2. "Mr & Mrs back to rock!". deccanchronicle.com. 25 Nov 2015.
3. "Yash and Radhika Pandit together again!". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 19 Nov 2015.
4. "Radhika and Yash Back Again?". newindianexpress.com. 5 Oct 2015.