Radhika Rajamani picks the Top Five Directors of Telugu cinema, who made some great movies in 2011.

We saw some interesting films in Telugu in 2011.

Here's our pick of the best directors of the year:

Director: Bapu

Film: Sriramarajyam

Bapu pulled off something few his age can do. Close to 80, he wrote and directed Sriramarajyam with his writer-friend, Mullapudi Venkataramana, who unfortunately passed away during the making of the film.

Sriramarajyam had high technical standards, sophisticated computer graphics and huge sets. Getting Ilaiyaraja to compose the music was a real winner.

Bapu was able to extract good performances from the actors, especially the lead pair Nandamuri Balakrishna and Nayanathara.

Films: Payanam/Gaganam

He made a daring attempt to make a bi-lingual film (Tamil-Telugu) sans song and dance. For the Telugu audience it was something new.

Radhamohan also scripted this suspense drama about a plane hijack and the characters caught up in it. He had done enough research to make it realistic.

Film: Golconda High School

Mohankrishna spun an appealing screenplay out of the book The Men Within by Harimohan Paruvu for Rammohan's production and made a riveting sports film.

He interspersed the game of cricket with interesting nuggets about life and education but had enough suspense to make it entertaining.  

Film: Ala Modalaindi

Nandini created waves in the industry with her debut film Ala Modalaindi. It's not easy for a woman to make a mark in the Telugu film industry, but Nandini did it.

She made a refreshing film with an engrossing and entertaining storyline.

Film: 100 % Love

This mathematician got the formula right and in fact scored 100 marks too. A simple, urbane love story, Sukumar made sure that his well-crafted film was cute and fun to watch.

He script was breezy and had pace. The film was enjoyable even though the second half was predictable.

Sukumar wove the songs into the narrative. Devisriprasad added zing with his peppy music.