Pharma executive to Tollywood director, Kothagudem lad Raj Thalluri set to make mark

He is now set to tell a movie to the audience with his first film as a director. The movie, a crime suspense thriller, starring Venkat and Natasha Singh- Miss Tourism International India-2016, is being produced under the banner of My3arts.

Kothagudem: Creative zeal and a strong desire to prove his artistic skills landed this youngster from Kothagudem in Tollywood and finally, he is making his directorial debut. Meet Raj Thalluri, an M.Sc. graduate, whose journey from being an executive in a pharmacy company in Hyderabad to movie sets has been dotted with hardships, which he overcame with grit to realise his dream.

He is now set to tell a movie to the audience with his first film as a director. The movie, a crime suspense thriller, starring Venkat and Natasha Singh- Miss Tourism International India-2016, is being produced under the banner of My3arts.

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Its producers are Dr. Praveen Reddy and Dr. Dikkala Lakshmana Rao. Having completed his schooling, intermediate education and graduation in Kothagudem, Raj moved to Hyderabad to pursue M Sc (Biochemistry).

Moving to Hyderabad helped him to get close to his favourite Tollywood. Sharing his creative journey with Telangana Today, Raj said since his school days he had actively involved himself in writing and directing skits for cultural events. The same continued in his college days and when he was working in a private firm in Hyderabad.

While working in a pharmacy firm he used to spend his leisure time in movie sets to learn the craft of filmmaking. He left the job in 2014 to dedicate his time to films and after long years of learning and efforts he got the opportunity to work as an assistant and associate director for six movies. He worked as an assistant director for the movie ‘Kinnerasani’ and as a ghost director for the movie ‘Ganna’.

“My nine years of efforts have reached fruition now and I have become a movie director. At some point of time I even lost hope, but by divine providence I am able to realise my dream and my work as a director would impress the audience” Raj averred. The movie is now in post-production stage.

The movie’s poster is going to be released next week in Hyderabad by R&B and Cinematography Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy along with noted director Sukumar. Music director Mani Zenna composed music for the movie.

Raj has also written the story, dialogues and screenplay for the movie he directed. The movie cast includes Hebba Patel, Saloni and comedian Ali among others. The film is scheduled to be released in August last week.