Hemanth M. Rao

After a brief stint in journalism, Rao ventured into the film industry in 2005.^[2] He began working as an assistant director to Girish Kasaravalli on Gulabi Talkies (2008). He then worked in a similar capacity with Jacob Varghese on Savari (2009) and Prithvi (2010).^[3]

He made his directorial debut in 2016 with Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, a Kannada drama feature about a man searching for his missing father with Alzheimer’s, with a script that he co-wrote. that had Rakshit Shetty and Anant Nag playing the respective roles. The film, produced by Pushkar Films, was a box office success and received critical acclaim upon release.^[2]

Under his banner Lost & Found Films, he co-produced Humble Politician Nograj—a political satire comedy inspired by The Campaign.^[4] The film was produced by Pushkar Films and Paramvah Studios and was released in January 2018.

Rao’s next writing venture was Andhadhun (2018), which was also his first venture into Hindi cinema. He co-wrote the script with Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti (who was also the editor of the film), Arijit Biswas, and Yogesh Chandekarand. The film also garnered tremendous praise and popularity, while also quickly garnering a cult following. They all collectively won a Filmfare Award and National Film Award for their screenplay.^[5]

His second directorial was Kavaludaari (2019), which was also the maiden production venture of Puneeth Rajkumar under production house, PRK Productions.^[6] Kavaludaari won Best Movie in "Kannada Cinema Competition" at 12th Bengaluru International Film Festival 2020^[7]

Rao continued to work in the thriller space with Maestro, which released in 2021. His next directorial, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, is a romantic drama which he wrote a long time back. Owing to the expansive timeline of the screenplay, it was split into two parts: Side A and Side B. Side A released on 1 September 2023 to critical acclaim from both the critics and audience, alike. Side B was released on 17 November 2023.

As director and screenwriter

More information Year, Film ...

Year	Film	Credited as		Note	Ref.
		Director	Writer
2016	Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu	Yes	Yes		[2]
2018	Andhadhun	No	Yes	Hindi Film; National Film Award for Best Screenplay	[8]
2019	Kavaludaari	Yes	Yes		[9]
2023	Sapta Saagaradaache Ello: Side A	Yes	Yes
	Sapta Saagaradaache Ello: Side B	Yes	Yes
2026	666 Operation Dream Theater †	Yes	Yes	Filming
TBA	Bhairavana Kone Paata †	Yes	Yes	Delayed

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As producer

More information Year, Film ...

Year	Film	Notes	Ref.
2016	Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu	Co-produced with Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah	[2]
2018	Humble Politician Nograj	Co-produced with Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah and Rakshit Shetty
2020	Bheemasena Nalamaharaja	Released on Amazon Prime Video	[10]
2025	Agnyathavasi	Co-produced with Prachura P. P. and Jayalakshmi	[11]

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