Nag Ashwin

Singireddy Nag Ashwin Reddy, known professionally as Nag Ashwin, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Born on April 23, 1986, in Hyderabad, Telangana, to a family of doctors, he completed his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Manipal Academy of Higher Education before studying film direction at the New York Film Academy. He began his filmmaking career working as an assistant director under filmmaker Sekhar Kammula on films like *Leader* (2010) and *Life Is Beautiful* (2012). He made his feature directorial debut with the philosophical coming-of-age drama *Yevade Subramanyam* (2015), starring Nani and Vijay Deverakonda, which was partially filmed at the Everest Base Camp and won him the Nandi Award for Best Debut Director. He achieved widespread critical acclaim and major box-office success with the biographical drama *Mahanati* (2018), chronicling the life of legendary actress Savitri. The film emerged as one of the most celebrated biopics in Indian cinema, winning three National Film Awards, including Best Feature Film in Telugu, and earning Ashwin the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. Ashwin expanded into futuristic storytelling by directing the segment "xLife" in the Netflix anthology *Pitta Kathalu* (2021) and produced the blockbuster comedy *Jathi Ratnalu* (2021) under Swapna Cinema. In 2024, he directed the epic mythological sci-fi spectacle *Kalki 2898 AD*, featuring an ensemble cast including Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, and Deepika Padukone, which became a historic global box-office success and one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.