Relangi Narasimha Rao

Relangi Narasimha Rao (30 September 1951) is an Indian film director and screenwriter predominantly known in Telugu cinema. He is well known for his comedy films, especially his collaborations with actors Chandra Mohan and Rajendra Prasad. His notable movies include Iddaru Pellala Muddula Police, Edurinti Mogudu Pakkinti Pellam, Police Bharya, Chinnodu Peddodu, Dabbevariki Chedu, Samsaaram, Mama Alludu, and Gundammagari Krishnulu.

He has directed over 70 films,^[1] mostly in Telugu and others in Kannada, as well as one film in Tamil. He also director two TV series in Telugu. He won a Nandi Award for screenwriting^[2] for the film Sundari Subbarao, which he directed too. He introduced writers like Diwakar Babu^[3] and Sankaramanchi Parthasarathy. He also introduced Telugu cinema actors like Suman,^[3] Revathy, and Kinnera.

His latest and his 75th film Eluka Majaka was released on 26 February 2016 across the two states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Early life

Narasimha Rao was born on 30 September 1951 to Relangi Sri Ranganayakulu and Siva Ramayamma in Palakol, a town in West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.

Career

Entry into film industry

Narasimha Rao entered the Telugu film industry in 1971 as an apprentice to the director B V Prasad for the film Mohammad Bin Tughluq. He worked as an assistant director under the director K S R Das for the movie Ooriki Upakari in 1972. He then joined under Dasari Narayana Rao for the film Samsaram Sagaram in 1973. He continued to work under the tutelage of Dasari Narayana Rao as an assistant director, associate director and co-director till the year 1980 when he turned director.

Director of comedy films

Narasimha Rao made his directorial debut in 1980 with the Telugu film Chandamama. It was a family drama. But the release of the film was delayed^[4] and was not screened until the year 1982. His second, third and fourth films, Nenu Maa Avida, Evandoi Sreemathigaru, and Illantha Sandadi, were all successful comedies and he earned a reputation for directing low-budget clean comedies.^[4] The films also incidentally started a successful collaboration with the actor Chandra Mohan with whom he went on to direct a total of 18 films. He has also worked with icons like Akkineni Nageswara Rao (Dagudumuthala Dampathyam, 1990), Sobhan Babu (Samsaaram,1988), and Krishnam Raju (Yama Dharma Raju, 1990).

Entry into Kannada and Tamil cinema

Two of Narasimha Rao's biggest hit comedies were the Telugu films Iddaru Pellala Muddula Police and Edurinti Mogudu Pakkinti Pellam, both from 1991. These hits paved the way for his foray into Kannada and Tamil cinema. Over the next five years, Narasimha Rao directed seven films in Kannada.^[4] He was invited to remake the two Telugu hits into Kannada in 1992. Iddaru Pellala Muddula Police was remade as Ibbaru Hendira Muddina Police and Edurinti Mogudu Pakkinti Pellam was remade as Edurmaneli Ganda Pakkadmaneli Hendthi. Both the films starred Kannada actor Shashi Kumar and both were runaway hits in Kannada. He went on to direct two more Kannada movies - Hendthi Helidare Kelabeku and Enondre. His another Kannada film, Geluvina Saradara (which had few comedy sequences taken from director's own Telugu movie Ketu Duplicatu) starred legendary Kannada actor Rajkumar’s second son Raghavendra Rajkumar. The success of this comedy movie paved way for his collaboration with the Rajkumar sons for two more films - one with elder son Shivrajkumar titled Raja and another titled Ibbara Naduve Muddina Aata incidentally starred both Shivrajkumar and his brother Raghavendra Rajkumar and till date remains the only movie in which the two brothers were seen on-screen.

Narasimha Rao directed one Tamil film,^[4] Rendu Pondatti Kaavalkaaran, in 1992, which was a remake of his own Telugu movie Iddaru Pellala Muddula Police with the actor Nagesh’s son Anand Babu in the lead role.

Successful collaboration

Narasimha Rao teamed up with the comedy actor Rajendra Prasad for 32 films,^[4] including hits like Gundammagari Krishnulu, Dabbevariki Chedu, Chinnodu Peddodu, Mama Alludu, Iddaru Pellala Muddula Police and Edurinti Mogudu Pakkinti Pellam.

Current Works

He is currently busy with the post-production of his 75th film Eluka Majaka starring Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore and Pavani. The story revolves around a mouse, played by Brahmanandam, who wreaks havoc in the life of a young man.^[5]

Other works and achievements

He was awarded the Nandi Award for Best Screenwriter^[2] along with writer Adi Vishnu for the film Sundari Subbarao. The film starred Chandra Mohan and Vijayashanti. It was produced by Ramoji Rao under the banner of Ushakiran Movies. Incidentally, it was the second movie for the banner.

He was also adjudged Best Low Budget Director in the year 1991 by the Delhi Telugu Academy.^[6]

He acted as the Asian Panorama Jury Member for the 15th International Children’s Film Festival by CFSI in 2007.^[7] He was also a Jury Chairman^[8] for the Nandi Television Awards for the years 2005-2006.

He directed a few TV series in Telugu including Bujji Bujjibabu^[1] for ETV in 2008.

Personal life

Narasimha Rao is married to Sailakshmi and has two sons, Kiran Relangi and Satish Relangi.

Filmography

Director

Assistant director

• Sita Ramulu (1980)

References

External links

• Relangi Narasimha Rao on IMDb