Hello T-town lovers, I hope you all are doing great. Welcome again to the page of the Untold Story of Celebrities. Today, we bring you another story that will inspire you a lot. Here, you will learn about the story of an inspired and dedicated person named Venkatesh Gilakattula. Let’s shine a spotlight on his biography.
Introduction and Education
Venkatesh Gilakattula was born in April 1992 in Kadaparthy, Nalgonda, to Mr. Sathaiah Gilakattula and Mrs. Saraswathi Gilakattula. His father worked as a teacher, and LIC Agent, and his mother is a dedicated homemaker. Venkatesh grew up along with his two beloved sisters. Moreover, he is happily married to his beautiful wife Spandana Gilakattula.
He has completed his schooling at Netaji Vidya Niketan School in Nakrekal. He then pursued his B.Tech degree from Tirumala Engineering College and completed his Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Central Missouri, USA. Since then, he has been working in the tech industry and is currently a Senior Software Engineer at Oracle.
Childhood story and Memories
Venkatesh Gilakattula was a creative kid from a young age. He performed comedy skits at school and won the hearts of the audience which boosted his confidence and passion for writing and performing. Whenever there was an event at the school, he always performed to make the audience smile with his talent. During the college fest, he created a hilarious spoof called Bommarillu replacing the character of Prakash Raj with his Head of the Department. He played the role of a student who complained about the fest’s arrangements and more than 500 people came to see his skit, the performance was phenomenal. He still reminisces about how the audience responded to the dialogue “Motham mere chesaru sir”. The show was a blockbuster hit. Everyone enjoyed and laughed uncontrollably. That was the most memorable day for him and belief in his ability to write and entertain people. His show and the response of the audience brought him joy and inspiration to continue sharpening his skills which became a significant part of his life.
Venkatesh is a self-taught writer and director. He recalls his memorable experience from 2012 when his college hosted a short film competition. And he was asked to create a comedy genre but his HOD chose the theme of corruption for the short films. He took this as a challenge and wrote and directed a 33-minute short film for only 300 rupees. Without any training, he and his team tried and learned everything on their own. At that time, they didn’t know what a frame was but in the end, their short film was screened on the last day of the competition final day with a huge crowd and they won the first prize which boosted their confidence a lot. This incident inspired him a lot to pursue his passion further.
Hobbies
He likes to read books, especially the Telugu literature. His favorite writer is Mullapudi
A Difficult Phase of Life
When asked about his struggles of getting into the film industry, he shared that he did not face struggle much but it took a lot of time so he waited patiently for his time to come. He tried to get into the industry in 2013 but it was unsuccessful. No one was ready to give opportunities at that time. Then he started working at the editing studio about a month without pay but he was not even learning much there, so he quit and applied for the position of RJ at 101.9 FM (AIR) and he got selected. However, he also got his USA Visa at the same time. His father told him that he, “first make a career and then do whatever he wanted to do. If he failed in the industry, then you would need a backup plan for life”. Venkatesh took this advice and chose his career over Industry. He went for his MS in Computer Science in the USA. This decision proved to be good, and now he enjoys a successful career and has navigated his path through the industry. Venkatesh draws inspiration from Jandhyala, SS Rajamouli, and Tony Scott.
First Ever Experience
Let’s shed some spotlight on his first-ever experience. His journey began in 2014 when he wrote and directed his first comedy short film in 2014. It was his first step towards learning and making movies. He thanked Mr. Rajender who gave him this valuable opportunity at that time. Venkatesh Gilakattula narrated his script to Mr. Rajender at a roadside tiffin center at the L B Nagar Junction. Mr. Rajender was impressed by his narration and decided to produce and support the short film. This way, Venkatesh entered into the world of filmmaking and continues to inspire people through his talent.
After that, he came to the United States and completed his education there. In 2015, he started a YouTube channel called “L’Gang Studios” and created 30 projects including short films, music videos, cover songs, and poetry series. Venkatesh not only wrote but produced many of these projects. He worked as an RJ for an international Radio for over a year and a half. During his time at the company, he wrote and performed various Radio Plays (radio natakalu), and one of them performed on an Air live show featuring RJs from different countries at once. Through this, Venkatesh has showcased his ability and passion for storytelling, and connecting with the audience.
Now, his company “L’Gang Studios” was active until very recently. He feels very proud when he sees that every director, writer other technical professional who worked with them “L’Gang Studios” are now making successful feature films.
Even though he worked on a couple of feature films, but he never started filming. His first official debut in film is Mechanic Rocky starring the renowned actor Vishwak Sen. Since 2021, He has worked closely with the directors. He is grateful to his director “Raviteja Mullapudi” for his unwavering support and for recognizing them as writers and ensuring they received proper credit for their work.
It’s normal to experience ups and downs in a career. One time, he got frustrated when the hard work of a writer was not recognized. Not only did they fail to give credit, but they also didn’t even pay for the work he had done. This happened multiple times with different producers.
Awards and Achievements
In 2017, he received the Best Concept Award for the short film “Cigarette Aathma Katha” at the TANA International Short Film Festival.
He wrote and produced the movie. Additionally, his movie “Kathanayika” was nominated for Best Actress at the SIIMA Awards.
Current Projects
- A feature film, Mechanic Rocky
- A Web series that is completely shot in the USA, Jaavali.
Upcoming Projects
He is currently working as a writer on several feature films and is also in the process of preparing a script for his directorial debut, which he plans to shoot very soon. Additionally, he is working on another web series for an OTT platform. He is eager to return to India and continue making films soon.