Neelakanta always wanted to make films which eloquently depicted the psychological study of characters for the off-beat[4] his passion materialised with Show[5] followed by Missamma.

This film, produced by RamaRao Bodduluri, proved to be an above-average grosser.

He also wrote dialogues for a Telugu remake of the Hindi hit A Wednesday!, entitled Eeenadu.

In 2011, Neelakanta directed Virodhi, featuring Meka Srikanth and Kamalinee Mukherjee.

In 2013 he directed Chammak Challo, which gathered bad reviews for both the director and the film.