Allu Aravind

In this Telugu name, the surname is Allu.

Allu Aravind (born 10 January 1949) is an Indian film producer, film distributor, and businessman. He is regarded as one of the most successful producers in South Indian cinema.^[6] He is the founder of Geetha Arts, a major film production house in the Telugu film industry. He is also the co-owner of Aha, an online streaming service, and the Indian Super League club, Kerala Blasters FC.^[7] Aravind won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement and two Nandi Awards for his work as a producer.^[8][3]

Allu Aravind
Born	(1949-01-10) 10 January 1949 (age 76) Palakollu, Madras Province, India
Occupation	Film producer
Spouse	Allu Nirmala
Children	Allu Venkatesh Allu Arjun Allu Sirish
Parents	Allu Ramalingaiah Allu Kanakaratnam
Family	Konidela–Allu family

Some of his notable works as a producer include Bantrothu Bharya (1974), Subhalekha (1982), Pasivadi Pranam (1987), Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu (1989), Mappillai (1989), Master (1997), Ninaithen Vandhai (1998), Mangalyam Tantunanena (1998), Annayya (2000), Jalsa (2008), Ghajini (2008), Magadheera (2009), Sarrainodu (2016), Ala Vaikuntapuramulo (2020).^[2][3]

Early life

Allu Aravind is born on 10 January 1949 in Palakollu, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. His father, Allu Ramalingaiah is a noted Telugu comic actor who acted in over 1000 films.^[2][9] His sons, Allu Arjun and Allu Sirish are Telugu film actors.^[10] His sister Surekha is the wife of Telugu actor Chiranjeevi.^[4] Aravind is the maternal uncle of Ram Charan.^[9]

Career

Allu Aravind founded Geetha Arts, a film production and distribution company in 1972.^[11] The company was named after the Hindu philosophical text Bhagavad Geeta which inspired Allu Aravind.^[12] Geetha Arts marked its beginning through the 1974 Telugu film Bantrothu Bharya.^[2][13]

Aravind has produced many films over the years. Jalsa, a 2008 Telugu film starring Pawan Kalyan was the second-highest grosser in Telugu cinema at the time. Their next, Ghajini, a Bollywood film starring Aamir Khan grossed over $45 million at box office, making it the highest grossing Indian film.^[14] Magadheera, a big-budget sword-and-sandal epic grossed $25 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time at the time of its release.^[15]

Filmography

Producer

Telugu

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
1974	Bantrotu Bharya	Co-produced with Dasari Narayana Murthy	[13]
1975	Devude Digivaste	Director - Dasari Narayana Rao
1979	Maavullo Mahasivudu	Director - Raja Chandra
1982	Subhalekha	Co-produced with V. V. Sastry under "Prashanthi Creations"
	Yamakinkarudu	Director - Raj Bharat
1984	Hero
1985	Vijetha
1987	Aradhana
	Pasivadi Pranam	Director - A. Kodandarami Reddy
1989	Attaku Yamudu Ammayiki Mogudu
1991	Rowdy Alludu	Co-produced with K. Venkateswara Rao and Panja Prasad under "Sri Sai Ram Arts"
1993	Mechanic Alludu
1994	S. P. Parasuram	Co-produced with G. K Reddy and Mukesh Udeshi under "Sai Charan Combines"
1996	Pelli Sandadi	Co-produced with C. Ashwini Dutt and K. Raghavendra Rao under "Shri Raghavendra Movie Corporation"
	Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi
1997	Master
1998	Paradesi	Co-produced with C. Ashwini Dutt and K. Raghavendra Rao under "Shri Raghavendra Movie Corporation"
2000	Annayya	Co-produced with K. Venkateswara Rao under "Sri Sai Ram Arts"	[13]
2001	Daddy
2003	Pellam Oorelithe	Co-produced with C. Ashwini Dutt under "Siri Media Arts"
	Gangotri	Co-produced with C. Ashwini Dutt and K. Raghavendra Rao under "United Producers" Marking as KRR's 100th Film
	Johnny
2004	Intlo Srimathi Veedhilo Kumari	Co-produced with C. Ashwani Dutt under "Siri Media Arts"
2005	Bunny	Co-produced with M. Satya Narayana under "Siri Venkateswara Productions Pvt. Limited"	[13]
	Andarivaadu
2006	Happy
2008	Jalsa	Santosham Best Film Award
2009	Magadheera	National Film Award for Best Special Effects Nandi Award for Best Popular Feature Film Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu CineMAA Award for Best Film Santosham Best Film Award
2011	100% Love
	Badrinaath		[13]
2014	Kotha Janta
	Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham
2016	Sarrainodu		[5]
	Srirastu Subhamastu
	Dhruva		[13]
2020	Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo		[13]

Hindi

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
1990	Pratibandh		[13]
1994	The Gentleman
1997	Mere Sapno Ki Rani	Co-produced with C. Ashwani Dutt and K. Raghavendra Rao under "Sri Raghavendra Movie Corporation"
1999	Kaun?	Co-produced with Mukesh Udeshi under "Kshitij Production Combines"	[13]
2000	Kunwara
2002	Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai		[5]
2003	Calcutta Mail	Co-produced with C. Ashwani Dutt and Mukesh Udeshi under "Siri Media Arts"
2008	Ghajini	Stardust Hottest New Film Award	[16]
2022	Jersey		[5]
2023	Shehzada	Co-produced with Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Aman Gill, S. Radha Krishna and Kartik Aaryan

Tamil

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
1989	Mappillai		[5]
1998	Ninaithen Vandhai	Co-produced with C. Ashwani Dutt and K. Raghavendra Rao under "Sri Raghavendra Movie Corporation"
2003	Magic Magic 3D	Presenter of the film along with Navodaya Appachan
2015	Darling		[5]

Kannada

Year	Title	Notes	Ref
1998	Mangalyam Tantunanena		[5]
2016	Sundaranga Jaana

Actor

• Maa Voollo Mahasivudu^[17] (1979) as Sub-Inspector of Police
• Hero (1984)^[2]
• Mahanagaramlo Mayagadu (1984)^[2]
• Chantabbai (1986)^[2]

Distributor

• Ghajini (2005) (Dubbed version)

Awards and honours

Nandi Awards

• Best Home Viewing Feature Film - Pelli Sandadi^[8]
• Best Popular Feature Film - Magadheera (2009)

Filmfare Awards South

• Best Film - Telugu - Magadheera (2009)
• Lifetime Achievement Award (2022)^[3]

Other Awards

• Champions of Change Award in 2019, for his exceptional work in social welfare in the state of Andhra Pradesh.^[18][19]
• Santosham Dasari Smarakam Award (producer) at 15th Santosham Film Awards.

Other works

Allu Aravind is one of the minority stake holders of the football club Kerala Blasters FC that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of Indian Football. He is a key person and co-owner of aha, a Telugu-streaming over-the-top service.^[20][21]