Sekhar Kammula (Telugu: శేఖర్ కమ్ముల) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema. His first film, Dollar Dreams, was a critical success, and won him the National Film Award for best debutant director. He won two Filmfare Awards, and six state Nandi Awards. Sekhar was among the director's delegation to represent Indian Cinema at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Sekhar Kammula is making his Bollywood debut with a film starring Salman Khan.
His second film, Anand, was a blockbuster in 2004. His next film, Godavari, was praised by critics and was a hit. Happy Days, which was released on 28 September 2007, was declared a smash hit. It was remade in Tamil and Kannada. He was a writer for Tamil version which was released in 2010. He then directed Leader released on 19 February 2010 to positive reviews. His next venture Life is Beautiful was a box office hit too. All his films are made on a low budget and are content driven.
Kammula directed the Telugu remake of 2012 Bollywood hit Kahaani in which Nayantara played Vidya Balan's character. Sekhar Kammula is going to direct his first Hindi film which is a remake of Happy Days. The Hindi version will be produced by renowned film maker Shekhar Kapoor. The film will feature several new faces and Sekhar Kammula will start scouting for new faces in Mumbai and Pune, through the same process which he employed for the Telugu film. The screenplay for the film is being written by Mumbai-based writer Nikhil Mahajan.
Awards
National Film Award
Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director – Golden Lotus Award – Dollar Dreams (2000)
Nandi Awards
2011 – Nandi Award for Best Story – Leader
2007 – Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film – Happy Days
2006 – Nandi Award for Best Director – Godavari
2006 - Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film – Godavari
2004 – Nandi Award for Second Best Feature Film – Anand
2004 – Nandi Award for Best Director – Anand
Filmfare Awards South
2007 – Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) – Happy Days
2007– Filmfare Best Director Award (Telugu) – Happy Days
Other awards
Dasari Best Film Director Award – Happy Days
(This is his official number)
