Anil Ravipudi and Heroine Sreeleela's Family Connection

Unexpectedly, filmmaker Anil Ravipudi revealed that he and movie star Sreeleela had a family relationship that had never been revealed. The extraordinary actress and the director revealed in a recent interview that their friendship goes beyond the usual director-actress dynamic.

It turns out that the village of Ponguluru, which is close to Ongole, is the same as the hometown of Anil Ravipudi and Sreeleela's mother, Dr. Swarna. Sreeleela was raised in both Bangalore and the United States, but she made a yearly trip to Ponguluru to visit her grandmother. They became aware of their kinship while collaborating on the movie "Bhagwant Kesari," directed by Anil Ravipudi and starring Sreeleela as Nandamuri Balakrishna's daughter.

Sreeleela addresses Anil as "director gaaru" in front of everyone on the movie sets, but when they are among close friends, she lovingly refers to him as "maama" (uncle). The special relationship between Anil Ravipudi and Sreeleela is a result of their mother's cousin sister relationship.