Trivikram Srinivas (born Akella Naga Srinivasa Sarma; 7 November 1971) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema.
Recognised for his witty dialogues, humour, and philosophical themes, he is among the highest-paid directors in South Indian cinema.
[8] A university gold medalist with a master's degree in nuclear physics, Trivikram began his career as a screenwriter before transitioning to directing.
[10] His films are characterised by fast-paced repartee, humorous content, action elements, mythological references, and themes exploring relationships and the significance of women in society.
His notable directorial works include Athadu (2005), Jalsa (2008), Khaleja (2010), Julayi (2012), Attarintiki Daredi (2013), S/O Satyamurthy (2015), A Aa (2016), Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018) and Ala Vaikuntapuramulo (2020).
Trivikram Srinivas was born as Akella Naga Srinivasa Sharma into a Telugu Brahmin family, in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh.
In the city he spent every day of his stay watching movies; all the while, he made sure his parents never knew of his intention to become a film director.
He completed his two-year M.Sc degree course in nuclear physics in 15 months and graduated with a gold medal from Andhra University.
[15][16][17][18] Trivikram then started to work as a high school teacher in Bhimavaram, teaching math, physics, and chemistry.
[17] His friend, actor Sunil, who was then struggling for chances in film industry, wanted someone to support him as a source of strength and requested Trivikram to join him in Hyderabad, to which he obliged.
He then started taking classes for students there, living on the income from tuition fees, and spent his spare time trying to find opportunities for himself to enter the film industry.
[15][19] Srinivas met writer Kommanapalli Ganapathi Rao, and on his suggestion, published his short story "Road" in Andhra Jyothi, a leading Telugu newspaper.
After meeting up with Posani, Trivikram was asked if he knew how to write scripts and dialogues, to which he said yes like an experienced professional, the fact being he did not know anything about it at all.
Posani then went into another room to attend a phone call, and it was during this time that Trivikram looked into a film script and understood the format of writing scenes anddialogues on paper.
Under the tutelage of Posani, during a stint of 20 months, Trivikram learned a lot and gained a vast experience in writing for films of all genres.
They believed in the gist of his story, which Trivikram condensed into one single dialogue: "Prema ane swargam nundi, 7 adugula dooramlo vunde narakame pelli".
He then received a call from Sravanthi Ravi Kishore to accompany him to Chennai for buying the remake rights of the Malayalam film Niram (1999), which would be remade as Nuvve Kavali.
[15][21] After the success of Swayamvaram and Nuvve Kavali (2000), Trivikram went on to write the story and dialogues for Chirunavvutho (2000), Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), Manmadhudu (2002), Malliswari (2004), and Jai Chiranjeeva (2005).
[20] Even before he became a director, his writings set high standards in Telugu films, which his contemporaries found tough to match.
[citation needed] Trivikram's third directorial, Jalsa, became the most anticipated film of the year 2008, with a release of 325 prints in 1000 theatres.
[citation needed] Trivikram provided the dialogues and screenplay for the film, Teen Maar (2011), starring Pawan Kalyan and Trisha[24] in a remake of Love Aaj Kal.
[28] 2018 was a mixed bag for Trivikram, as his Agnyaathavaasi starring Pawan Kalyan, Keerthy Suresh, and Anu Emmanuel was a disaster at the box-office, while his Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava starring NTR Jr. and Pooja Hegde became a hit, collecting ₹95.2 crore distributor share worldwide.
[30] His next projects were Bheemla Nayak (2022) and Bro (2023), remakes for which he wrote the screenplay and dialogues, starring Pawan Kalyan alongside Rana Daggubati and Sai Dharam Tej respectively.
[citation needed] In 2002, Trivikram married Sai Soujanya, niece of Telugu lyricist, Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry.