Puri Jagannadh

Known for: Directing

Born: September 27, 1966 in Narsipatnam Mandal, Andhra Pradesh, India

Puri Jagannadh is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, who works primarily in Telugu cinema. He began his film career assisting Ram Gopal Varma on Shiva (1990), gaining insights into raw, urban storytelling before directing his debut Badri (2000). From there, he built a reputation for high voltage commercial cinema. Notable films include Idiot (2002), Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (2003), Pokiri (2006), Desamuduru (2007), Bujjigadu (2008), Businessman (2012), Temper (2015) and iSmart Shankar (2019). Puri's films emphasize mass heroism, punchy dialogues, stylish action and recurring themes of the mafia and underworld exploring gang empires, antiheroes, extortion rackets and moral ambiguity. Puri has won several prestigious awards throughout his career which includes the Filmfare Award and the Nandi Award.