Dhanraj Sukhram & Venu Tillu Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 2010s belonged to 4 Letters; the 2020s to Bujji... Ila Raa. Dhanraj Sukhram acted in every film; Venu Tillu acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Dhanraj Sukhram and Venu Tillu first met on the sets of a short film in 2017. Venu was the assistant director; Dhanraj was a supporting actor. They bonded over their shared love for old Telugu comedy films and decided to write a script together that night. That script became '4 Letters' (2019).
• In 'Power Play' (2021), Venu Tillu wrote the dialogues while Dhanraj directed. Venu would pace around the set delivering lines in different rhythms, and Dhanraj would pick the one that matched the camera movement. They never rehearsed a scene the same way twice.
• During the shoot of 'Bujji... Ila Raa' (2022), the two had a rule: no phones on set. If either caught the other checking Instagram, they had to buy the entire crew dinner. Dhanraj ended up paying for 11 dinners across the schedule.
• Venu Tillu once said in a 2022 podcast: 'Dhanraj is the only director who lets me ruin his shot. He knows I'll fix it in the next take. That trust is why we keep making films.'
• The success of '4 Letters' (2019) directly led to a wave of low-budget, dialogue-heavy Telugu thrillers in 2020-21. At least three indie directors have cited that film as the reason they shifted from action to conversational storytelling.