Puja Kolluru is a filmmaker from the Telugu film industry. She has garnered attention for her directorial debut, Martin Luther King a 2023 Indian Telugu-language political satire film, a remake of Mandela.
Puja Kolluru | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Puja Aparna Kolluru 11 November [1] |
| Education | Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film |
| Alma mater | Ringling College of Art and Design |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Educator |
| Notable work | Martin Luther King Reflection A Woman Who Climbs Trees |
Early life
editPuja grew up in Vijayawada[2][3] and after Class X, wanted to become a physicist. She enrolled in an International Baccalaureate programme at UWC Mahindra College.[2] Along with physics she studied films as well for 2 years, before pursuing her passion for filmmaking by earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Film with a specialization in Screenwriting and Directing, from Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida, USA.[2]
Career
editPuja Kolluru's directorial journey began with her thesis film, Reflection, which earned her accolades, winning both Best Film and Best Director Awards at the Ringling film festival.[4]
She shot her first feature documentary, A Woman Who Climbs Trees,[5] centered around the life of Dr. Meg Lowman, a renowned National Geographic Scientist in the Amazon rainforests in Peru as a one-woman production team.[6] The documentary received the Special Jury Award at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival in 2020. The documentary was also officially selected at the Sarasota Film Festival, USA.
Puja is actively involved in the academics, mentoring and teaching as a guest faculty in screenwriting and production at Annapurna College of Film and Media. She is also a co-founder of Write Right Club, contributing to the literary and creative landscape. Moreover, Puja has served as a visiting professor at Annapurna College of Film and Media and as a documentary filmmaker at TREE Foundation.
In addition to her work as a director, Kolluru worked on the Telugu remake of the Tamil film Mandela (2021), titled Martin Luther King (2023).[7] The film was later released on SonyLIV on November 29, 2023.[8]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Reflection | English | short |
| 2018 | A Woman Who Climbs Trees | documentary | |
| 2023 | Martin Luther King | Telugu | Also editor[9] |
References
edit- ^ "Puja Kolluru | V CINEMA - Biography, Photos, Movies, Age, Height, Family". www.vcinema.com. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
- ^ a b c Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (2023-10-17). "Director Puja Kolluru: 'Martin Luther King' is 'Mandela' on steroids and the politics is relevant; Sampoornesh Babu is an actor without baggage and is perfect for the film". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ Sursala, Ramesh. "Vijayawada girl gets 1.2-crore scholarship". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013.
- ^ "Ringling Student's "Canopy Meg" Film Available for Viewing & Voting During Extended Virtual Sarasota Film Fest". Tree Foundation. May 5, 2020.
- ^ "VIJAYAWADA: Chase your dream, young filmmaker urges girls". The Hindu. 9 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018.
- ^ "Documentary Filmmaker Puja Aparna Kolluru Talks About Meg Lowman, the Subject of Her Upcoming Film "A Woman Who Climbs Trees"". The Hindu. 10 June 2018 – via canopymeg.
- ^ TeamIH (2023-10-21). "Martin Luther King will be a laugh riot with an underlying message in it: Director Puja Kolluru". IndustryHit.Com. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ "Martin Luther King gets OTT release date". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ Pecheti, Prakash (2023-10-19). "'Martin Luther King' is not just a political satire, but reflects the present political upheaval: VK Naresh". The South First. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
External links
edit- Puja Kolluru at IMDb