those days it was tough to make a short film mainly unknown to people). It was praised by writer, actor Tanikella Bharani later who became his mentor in films recommended to director Ram Gopal Varma as an Associate to him after watching his short film Varma instead of offering an Associate he offered to direct his film called 'Madhyanam Hathya'. Later at the finishing stage they both got creative differences and he left the film later Varma remade the film again under his direction. Later he made his first feature film Grahanam though it was first drafted in 1997, his amateurish skills in constructing the screenplay didn't help much at that time. This draft was based on Doshagunam, a short story written by Gudipati Venkatachalam (popularly known as Chalam), a controversial yesteryear Telugu writer and philosopher. Since screenplay writing was his specialisation in his Master of Fine Arts course at York University, he reworked the script by the time he returned to Hyderabad. To bring this script to cinema, he approached several producers to help him finance it. Even though all of them were fascinated by his story, they were hesitant about its commercial viability. After three years of futile search and despair, Indraganti decided to produce the film with his own money. Chalam's daughter gave him permission to make a film from one of her father's literary works. When Bharani was also joined in the film with a promising role and a request for enacting without any compensation, he agreed to do so. Out of goodwill, he introduced Indraganti to one of his producer friends who agreed to produce the movie. His debut film fetched him 11 awards with the prominent ones being the National Film Award, Nandi Award bestowed by Government of Andhra Pradesh and Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Award. In 2006, his second directorial venture, Mayabazaar, featured Bhumika Chawla and Raja in the lead roles. His next film, Ashta Chamma, which featured Colours Swathi, Nani, Srinivas Avasarala and Bhargavi, was released in 2008 and was a huge success at box office. His later films, Golkonda High School and Anthaka Mundhu Aa Tharuvatha, did well at box office. Filmography Awards National Film Award Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director – Grahanam (2005) Nandi Awards Nandi Award for Best First Film of a Director – Grahanam – 2005 Nandi Award for Best Story Writer – Anthaka