Karuna Kumar

Karuna Kumar is a Telugu film director and screenwriter, best known for Palasa 1978 (2020). Sridevi Soda Centre (2021) and Metro Kathalu (2020) are among his other notable films. His top honour is the Best Debut Director (Telugu) award at the South Indian International Movie Awards in 2020. Kumar directed Dhrona in 2009. His name became widely known with Palasa 1978 in 2020. Along with directing it, he wrote its story, screenplay and dialogue. The same year he made Metro Kathalu, again writing the screenplay himself, and he played a supporting role in Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya. Sridevi Soda Centre followed in 2021. In 2022 he directed Kalapuram, where he also handled the screenplay and the choreography. He then took acting parts in Naa Saami Ranga (2024) and Katha Kamamishu (2025). He went back behind the camera with Honey in 2026, a film he directed from his own story. Kumar is a filmmaker who writes much of his own material, often shaping the story, screenplay and dialogue of the films he directs. Palasa 1978 remains the work most closely linked to his name. Besides his SIIMA win, it brought him a nomination for Best Director (Telugu) at the Filmfare Awards South in 2021.