Who is Raj Nidimoru? Meet the filmmaker behind 'The Family Man' who just married Samantha

Dubai: Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu married filmmaker Raj Nidimoru on Monday morning in an intimate ceremony at the Linga Bhairavi Temple inside Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation, Coimbatore.
Only around 30 close family members and friends attended the private wedding, making it one of the most discreet celebrity unions in recent years.

The couple had been rumoured to be dating since 2024, with Samantha subtly “soft-launching” Raj on Instagram. Reports of them watching matches together, travelling, and even house-hunting had kept fans guessing for months. Both divorced earlier—Samantha from actor Naga Chaitanya (2017–2021) and Raj from Shhyamali De (2015–2022).

With the wedding pictures now out, attention is squarely on the man Samantha has chosen to marry.

Who is Raj?

Long before Raj Nidimoru found himself at the centre of India’s most talked-about celebrity wedding, he was just a quiet boy from Tirupati, the kind who dreamt big but spoke little.

Born on August 4, 1975, Raj grew up far from the glare of film studios or red carpets. His path began in engineering classrooms at SVU College of Engineering, where cinema wasn’t even a distant possibility — not until life nudged him onto an unexpected road.

After completing his studies, Raj moved to the United States, chasing a software career like many of his generation.

Key facts

• Born in Tirupati and trained as an engineer before switching careers.

• Met collaborator Krishna DK in the United States; both quit software jobs to enter films.

• One half of India’s acclaimed creator duo Raj & DK, known for redefining OTT storytelling.

• Directed or created hits like The Family Man, Farzi, Go Goa Gone, and Citadel: Honey Bunny.

• Known for blending dark humour, thrillers, social commentary, and genre twists.

• Widely credited with reshaping India’s streaming boom through innovative, character-driven narratives.

• Worked closely with Samantha Ruth Prabhu on The Family Man 2 and later Citadel: Honey Bunny.

• Rumoured relationship turned into marriage after months of quiet public appearances and speculation.

• Maintains a private, low-key lifestyle despite major success.

• Estimated net worth: Rs83–85 crore from films, OTT collaborations, and production ventures.

• Recently married Samantha in an intimate temple ceremony at the Isha Foundation, Coimbatore.

• Now part of one of India's newest and most influential creative power couples.

But America didn’t just give him a job; it gave him something better — a creative soulmate. There, he met Krishna DK, another engineer with an itch to tell stories. Two techies working nine-to-five slowly became two dreamers writing scripts at night, imagining a future where their ideas could breathe on-screen.

They quit their stable careers with no Plan B, packed their passion into film reels, and returned to India. Their world changed with their early films — Flavors, 99, Shor in the City — modest productions, but bold, irreverent, and unlike anything the industry was making. Soon, “Raj & DK” became shorthand for unpredictable storytelling: films laced with dark humour, social insight, and clever genre twists.

But it was streaming that made them legends.

With The Family Man, Raj helped create one of India’s biggest cultural phenomena — a show that turned Manoj Bajpayee into an everyday superhero and placed Raj & DK among the most significant voices in modern Indian entertainment. Farzi, Go Goa Gone, Stree, Citadel: Honey Bunny — each project added to his reputation as a fearless storyteller who refused to follow the formula.

Building worlds on screen

Through all this success, Raj remained private. He was the kind of filmmaker who let his work speak and his life stay quiet. But 2024 changed the equation. When Samantha Ruth Prabhu entered his professional orbit through The Family Man 2 and later Citadel: Honey Bunny, the relationship slowly shifted from creative partnership to something deeper. They were seen together at matches, outings, and quiet public moments — never confirming anything, never denying it either.

Raj, newly single after his 2022 divorce, stayed grounded amid the attention. Samantha, navigating her own journey after her separation from Naga Chaitanya, found in him someone who shared her discipline, ambition, and artistic hunger. Their bond grew quietly, away from the noise.

On Monday morning, at the Linga Bhairavi Temple inside the Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore, Raj Nidimoru — the engineer-turned-software-developer-turned-filmmaker — stood in a red-tinted sunrise, marrying one of India’s most loved actresses in a ceremony attended by barely thirty people.

For a man known for building worlds on-screen, this moment wasn’t scripted. It was simple, sincere, and deeply personal — exactly the way Raj has lived his life.

Today, as he steps into a new chapter with Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Raj Nidimoru stands not just as a pioneering storyteller, but as a man who has woven together ambition, reinvention, creativity, and now, unexpected love into the narrative of his own life.