Popular director AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary, who directed the debut film of Sai Dharam Tej, passed away on Tuesday night following a cardiac arrest.
Suresh Kavirayani
sureshkavirayani@gmail.com
Popular Telugu film director AS Ravi Kumar Chowdary passed away on Tuesday night following a cardiac arrest. Hailing from Narakoduru village of Guntur district, Ravi Kumar began his career as an assistant to senior director Sagar. During this time, he worked alongside now-popular directors VV Vinayak and Srinu Vaitla, who were also assistants to Sagar. Ravi Kumar was known to be a good writer and contributed to a few films in that capacity.
He made his directorial debut with the film Manasutho, starring Jai Akash and Arzoo Govitrikar. Produced by V Anand Prasad under Bhavya Creations, the film was released in 2002 but did not fare well at the box office.
Ravi Kumar then got a significant opportunity to direct Yagnam with actor Gopichand. Produced by Pokuri Babu Rao of Eetharam Films, the film featured Sameera Banerjee as the female lead. Yagnam was the first commercial success for Gopichand as a lead actor. Released in 2004, the film was a big hit, and AS Ravi Kumar gained recognition as a director.
Following this success, Ravi Kumar got the opportunity to direct Nandamuri Balakrishna in the film Veerabhadra (2006). Produced by the Ambika Brothers, the film featured Tanushree Dutta and Sada as female leads. However, it was a major flop at the box office.
He then directed Aatadista (2008) with Nithiin and Em Pillo Em Pillado (2010) with Tanish as the lead actors. Unfortunately, both films did not perform well commercially.
After these failures, he took a brief hiatus and returned in 2014 with Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham. This film marked the official debut of Sai Dharam Tej, nephew of Chiranjeevi. Produced by Bunny Vas and Harshith Reddy, and starring Regina Cassandra as the female lead, the film became a major success. Interestingly, Sai Dharam Tej’s film Rey was initially supposed to be his debut, but it got delayed, and Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham was released first. The film’s success was seen as Ravi Kumar’s comeback.
However, he couldn’t sustain this momentum. He reunited with Gopichand for the film Soukyam, which also featured the work of well-known writers Kona Venkat and Gopi Mohan. Despite the strong team, the film failed at the box office. Released in 2015, it marked the start of a decline in his career.
His last film was Tiragabadara Saami, featuring Raj Tarun in the lead role. Released in 2022, the film also ended up as a box-office disaster. According to sources, Ravi Kumar had recently expressed a desire to narrate a story to actor Nara Rohit. Sadly, the director passed away before he could proceed further. He is survived by his daughter, who is currently pursuing engineering.
“Dear captain… you will be missed, praying for your family… Om Shanti. Can never forget those days of PNLJ,” wrote Sai Dharam Tej, paying his tributes to the director on social media.
Incidentally, Ravi Kumar also found himself embroiled in a controversy while promoting Tiragabadara Saami. During a promotional event, he suddenly kissed actress Mannara Chopra, cousin of Priyanka Chopra, without her consent. She was visibly shocked by the unexpected gesture during the live event. The video quickly went viral, and later Mannara clarified that it was not intentional—stating that he was simply over excited about her work and meant no harm.
