Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu

Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu

Born	(1887-10-15)October 15, 1887 Machilipatnam, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	15 March 1941(1941-03-15) (aged 53)
Occupation	Film Director, Film Producer
Family	Devika (granddaughter)

Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu (15 October 1887 – 15 March 1941), known widely as the father of Telugu cinema, was an Indian artiste and film maker.^[1]^[2] Naidu was a pioneer in the production of silent Indian films and talkies. Starting in 1909, he was involved in many aspects of Indian cinema's history, like travelling to different regions in Asia to promote film work. He was the first to build and own cinema halls in Madras. The Raghupati Venkaiah Award is an annual award incorporated into Nandi Awards to recognize people for their contributions to the Telugu film industry.^[3]^[4]

Biography

Early life

Venkaiah Naidu was the second son of an Indian Army official Subedar Appayya Naidu in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. His brother Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu was a famous educationalist and social reformer. His forefathers worked as Commanders in the Army of East Indian Company and Madras Army in Telaga Regiments. At the age of 18, he moved to Madras and started drawing pictures and carving sculptures at Mount Road and selling them. He then learned photography and started a photo studio.^[5]

Photographer

In 1909, he ordered a Chrono Mega phone, equipment that relates sounds with pictures, from John Dickinson and Company. To pay for the Chrono Mega phone he bought for Rs 30,000, he rented out his photo studio. He shot 12 short films and exhibited them in Victoria Public Hall. He also travelled to Bangalore, Vijayawada, Sri Lanka, Rangoon and Pegu to exhibit his films.^[6]

Theatre owner

In 1910, he established Esplanade Ten House to exhibit his films. In 1912, he constructed Gaiety Talkies on Mount Road, the first Indian-owned cinema theatre in Chennai. He later constructed Crown Theatre on Mint Street and Globe Theatre in Parasuwakka, Chennai. He also exhibited American and British films. Some of the first movies shown in his theatres were Million Dollar Mystery, Mysteries of Meera, Clutching Hand, Broken Coin, Raja's casket, Peral fish, and 'Great Bard'.

Film producer

In 1919, he started a production company called Star of East Films and a film studio called Glass Studio. He sent his son, Raghupati Surya Prakash Naidu, to study cinematography in London. Father and son made their first movie "Meenakshi Kalyanam" around actual locations of the Madurai Meenakshi temple. Later, they produced films like Gajendra Moksham, Mathsyavatharam, Nandanaar, and Bhishma Pratigna, the first Telugu mookie (i.e., movie with no playback voices).

Later career

In 1929, he was forced to sell his properties to pay off his debts. The Andhra Pradesh state government established the Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu Award, later changed to Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for lifetime contributors to the Telugu movie industry.^[7]

References

Telugu cinema
Directors Producers Screenwriters Actors Composers Cinematographers Production companies Playback singers Songs
Films by name	Telugu films A–Z
Films by decade	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Films by year	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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