Venky Atluri is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works predominantly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is known for directing Tholi Prema (2018), Sir / Vaathi (2023) and Lucky Baskhar (2024). The lattermost is his highest grosser and has won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay – Dialogue Writer.
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Early life and career
Venky Atluri was named Atluri Venkateswara Rao after his grandfather and graduated in B. Tech from DVRCET. Venky Atluri married Pooja Chowdary in 2023.
Career
His acting debut was Gnapakam (2007) directed by Uppalapati Narayana Rao co-starring Vishakha Singh. The film was a box office failure.
His first film as a writer was Sneha Geetham (2010). Venky Atluri later starred in Madhura Sreedhar Reddy directed film It's My Love Story (2011). He then turned writer for Sai Kiran Adivi’s Kerintha, which was a super hit. When he got clarified about his skills in writing, he decided to become a director and made his directorial debut with the 2018 film Tholi Prema (2018), which was a blockbuster hit.
He made his Tamil debut with Vaathi (2023) starring Dhanush in the lead role, and the bilingual drama was also released along with the Telugu version. Next, Lucky Baskhar, which was released in October 2024, starred Dulquer Salmaan a mild-mannered banker in 1980s Bombay who becomes entangled in financial fraud. The film won Atluri the [[National Film Award for Best Screenplay
|National Award for Best Dialogue]] at the [[National Film Award for Best Screenplay
|72nd National Film Awards]]. In 2026, Vishwanath & Sons has received positive reviews from critics and audiences.
Filmography
As a writer
Note: all films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.
As an actor
Note: all films are in Telugu, unless otherwise noted.
