Jaladi Raja Rao

Jaladi Raja Rao (Telugu: జాలాది రాజా రావు) (9 August 1932 – 14 October 2011) was a versatile writer, playwright and lyricist in Telugu cinema.

Life

Jaladi was born in a Telugu Christian family on 9 August 1932 in Gudiwada in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.^[1] He was the fourth son of Amrutamma and the late Jaladi Emmanuel, a member of the Krishna District Board and Indian freedom fighter.

He passed his S.S.L.C. with Telugu as special course. He started his career as a drawing teacher in District Board Schools. He worked in various districts and learned the slang used in different areas of the State. He resigned his job during his stint at Veeraghattam in Srikakulam district in 1968 and went to chennai to try his luck in films.

He entered the realm of films as a lyricist for the movie Palle Sema in 1950. His debut song Churattakku Jarutadhi Sittukku Sittuku is tuned by K V Mahadevan. He wrote several social, philosophical, patriotic and folk songs in Telugu movies. His songs consist of only Telugu words of various regions of Andhra Pradesh.

Being from a Dalit background (Mala community), he always liked to write about Poverty, village life and folk type of songs. He penned nearly 1,500 songs in more than 270 movies and remained popular for his folk-oriented songs, which had an exotic rural touch.^[2]

He also wrote books like Viswamohini and Kakulamma and plays like Amarajeevi, Tandri, Samadhi and Karumeghalu. He died on 14 October 2011 in Visakhapatnam.^[3]

Awards and Achievements

• Best writer award from the Vijayawada Cultural Association for his play `Karu Meghalu' in 1957.
• Conferred Twin Cities Cultural Award and the Hyderabad Film Fare Award in 1970
• Conferred The Kalasagar Award, Madras in 1987.
• Conferred The Cine Herald Award, Hyderabad in 1987
• Nandi Award of the Government of AP in 1990.<sup>[4]</sup>
• Was given the title `Navarasa Kavi Samrat' by the Prabhu Chitra Arts Association of Eluru in 1991.
• Was given the title `Kalasagar' for the song `Punya bhoomi naa desam namonamami' in the film Major Chandrakanth.
• Served as a member of the AP Film and TV (Nandi) Awards Committee for 1990-91 and 1994-95.
• Became member of the Executive Council of Sri Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, in 1997.
• Honored with Kala Prapoorna award from Andhra University, 2008.

Filmography

These are some of the popular songs penned by him for Telugu films.^[5]

References