Sudha Kongara

Indian film director and screenwriter

Sudha Kongara

Kongara at Irudhi Suttru thanksgiving meet in 2016

Born|

Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India

Other names| Sudha Kongara Prasad[1]
Alma mater| Women's Christian College, Chennai
Occupation(s)| Film director
screenwriter
Years active| 2002–present

Sudha Kongara Prasad, known professionally as Sudha Kongara, is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema.[2] She made her directorial debut with the Tamil film Drohi. In 2016, she directed the bilingual Irudhi Suttru (Saala Khadoos in Hindi) for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil. She subsequently directed the film's Telugu remake, Guru (2017). In her career, working over 3 languages, she has won two National Film Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and two South Indian International Movie Awards.

In 2020, she scripted, and directed Soorarai Pottru which was nominated for the Best Foreign Film at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. Soorarai Pottru was featured in the Panorama Section of the Shanghai International Film Festival. At the 68th National Film Awards, it won five awards including Best Feature Film, and Best Screenplay for Sudha Kongara.[3]

## Early life[edit]

Sudha Kongara was born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, into a Telugu-speaking family.[4] Sudha grew up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She obtained a degree in History and Mass Communication from the Women's Christian College, Chennai.[5]

## Career[edit]

Kongara worked as a screenwriter for the English film Mitr, My Friend (2002).[6] She worked as associate director for seven years with Mani Ratnam.[7][8][9][1][10]

During the production of her first Tamil directorial venture Drohi (2010), Kongara began writing a sports drama film on boxing which was titled Irudhi Suttru. In mid-2013, she approached Madhavan, who was on a sabbatical from Tamil films, to portray the lead role in the film and his presence in the project, helped take the financial viability of the venture to a higher level.[11] The pair had previously collaborated in Madhavan's films under the direction of Mani Ratnam, where Sudha had been an associate director.[12] She then remade Irudhi Suttru in Telugu as Guru. Her next film was Soorarai Pottru which is based on life of Air Deccan founder Captain GR Gopinath feature and it is produced by Suriya's 2D Entertainment and co-produced by Guneet Monga of Sikhya Entertainment.[13][14]

## Filmography[edit]

Key  †  | Denotes films that have not yet been released

|

Year  | Film  | Director  | Screenwriter  | Language  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

2002 | Mitr, My Friend | No | Yes | English |
2008 | Andhra Andagadu | Yes | Yes | Telugu | [15]
2010 | Drohi | Yes | Yes | Tamil |
2016 | Irudhi Suttru
Saala Khadoos | Yes | Yes | Tamil
Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil[16]
2017  | Guru | Yes  | Yes  | Telugu  |
2020  | Putham Pudhu Kaalai | Yes  | Yes  | Tamil  | Anthology film; segment: Ilamai Idho Idho[17]
Soorarai Pottru | Yes  | Yes  | Tamil  | National Film Award for Best Feature Film
SIIMA Award for Best Director - Tamil
Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil[18]
Paava Kadhaigal | Yes  | Yes  | Tamil  | Netflix Anthology film; segment: Thangam[19]
TBA  | Untitled Soorarai Pottru remake †  | Yes  | Yes  | Hindi  | Filming[20]
TBA  | Purananooru †  | Yes  | Yes  | Tamil  | Announced[21]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "It was a struggle to make 'Saala Khadoos': Director Sudha Kongara Prasad". The Indian Express. 26 January 2016.
2. ^ "Changing gears successfully". The Hindu. 3 September 2002. Archived from the original on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 13 August 2006.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
3. ^ "68th National Film Awards". The Hindu. 22 July 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
4. ^ Prema and Sudha Kongara (10 November 2020). Sudha Kongara with prema the Journalist - Full Interview #75. PREMA the Journalist. Event occurs at 10m5s.
5. ^ B, Jayabhuvaneshwari (5 July 2021). "All You Need To Know About The Soorarai Pottru Director Sudha Kongara!". Just for Women.
6. ^ "Sudha Kongara made her film debut with Mitr- My Friend". The Times of India.
7. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (10 September 2010). "Intriguing features". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X.
8. ^ "The girl brigade of Tamil cinema - Behindwoods.com - Tamil Movie Slide Shows - Drohi - Sudha - Anjana - Suhasini Mani Ratnam - Revathy - Priya - Madhumita - J S Nandhini".
9. ^ "Saala Khadoos Director on Mani Ratnam and Rajkumar Hirani". NDTVMovies.com.
10. ^ Vadla, Praveen Kumar (20 November 2020). "Sudha Kongara: ఎక్కడ మొదలై.. ఎక్కడి వరకు.. సుధా కొంగర సక్సెస్ జర్నీ." News18 Telugu.
11. ^ Gupta, Rinku (16 December 2014). "Madhavan's New Boxer Look Revealed". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
12. ^ "Hollywood Ho! - Hosur". The Hindu. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
13. ^ "Suriya's next with director Sudha Kongara titled 'Soorarai Pottru'". The News Minute. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
14. ^ "Suriya is best actor in our country: Guneet Monga". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
15. ^ https://telugu.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/interesting-facts-about-sudha-kongara-directorial-debut-movie-krishna-bhagavan-andhra-andagadu-121699940604342.html
16. ^ "Winners of the 64th Jio Filmfare Awards of Indian Cinema(South)". Filmfare.com. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
17. ^ "'Putham Pudhu Kaalai': Amazon Prime Video announces anthology of five Tamil short films". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
18. ^ "Soorarai Pottru and Asuran wins big at SIIMA 2020 and 2021!". Sify. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021.
19. ^ "Netflix announces its first Tamil film; Gautham Menon, Vetri Maaran, Vignesh Shivan, Sudha Kongara to direct". First Post. October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
20. ^ "Hindi remake of Sudha Kongara's Soorarai Pottru begins shoot in Mumbai". The News Minute. 25 April 2022.
21. ^ "Suriya, Dulquer Salmaan, Vijay Varma to unite for Sudha Kongara's next". The Hindustan Times. 26 October 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Director

1972–1990|

* P. Madhavan (1972)
* A. C. Tirulokchandar (1973)
* K. Balachander (1974)
* K. Balachander (1975)
* S. P. Muthuraman (1976)
* S. P. Muthuraman (1977)
* Bharathiraja (1978)
* Mahendran (1979)
* K. Balachander (1980)
* K. Balachander (1981)
* Balu Mahendra (1982)
* A. Jagannathan (1983)
* K. Balachander (1984)
* Fazil (1985)
* Mani Ratnam (1986)
* Bharathiraja (1987)
* Balu Mahendra (1988)
* K. Balachander (1989)
* Mani Ratnam (1990)

1991–2010|

* Mani Ratnam (1991)
* K. Balachander (1992)
* Shankar (1993)
* Shankar (1994)
* Mani Ratnam (1995)
* Agathiyan (1996)
* Cheran (1997)
* Cheran (1998)
* Bala (1999)
* Rajiv Menon (2000)
* Cheran (2001)
* Mani Ratnam (2002)
* Bala (2003)
* Cheran (2004)
* Shankar (2005)
* Vasanthabalan (2006)
* Ameer Sultan (2007)
* M. Sasikumar (2008)
* Priyadarshan (2009)
* Vasanthabalan (2010)

2011–present|

* Vetrimaaran (2011)
* Balaji Sakthivel (2012)
* Bala (2013)
* AR Murugadoss (2014)
* Mohan Raja (2015)
* Sudha Kongara (2016)
* Pushkar–Gayathri (2017)

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