Lights, camera, action…Tollywood

HYDERABAD: Like them or loathe them but Telugu films, with their sheer number of releases annually, are keeping the national film industry ticking. Even Bollywood is amazed at how the cinema crazy people in Andhra Pradesh flock to the theatres and deify their stars.
Telugu films are pointing the way ahead for Bollywood which is borrowing not only stories but also the style of filmmaking that has proven to be such a surefire winner.The beginnings of Telugu cinema are as old as cinema in the country itself and, therefore, Telugu filmmakers use the art with a kind of authority only they can wield.
It was in 1931 when the country’s first talkie, ‘Alam Ara’, was released on March 14. Interestingly, Telugu actor LV Prasad even played a role in the film. The movie was produced and directed by Ardeshir Marwar Irani. Prasad, who earlier acted in silent films, subsequently went on to earn a big name for himself in films.
In the very same year, the first Telugu talkie ‘Bhakta Prahlada’ was released, directed by HM Reddi and starring Munipalle Subbaiah and Surabhi Kamalabai. This movie, too, was produced by Irani and opened on September 15.
A volume brought out by the Telugu Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) titled ‘Telugu Chalanachitra Nirmathala Charitra’ also mentions GK Mangaraju as being involved in the production of the movie. After the first Telugu film came out, there has been no looking back for Tollywood. The very first movie was made in Mumbai, another was then made in Kolkata and finally, in 1934, ‘Seetha Kalyanam’ was made in Chennai. Telugu films began to thrive and there came a time when it was felt that the Telugu film industry should move base to Hyderabad.
Film historian Udayawarulu points out that it was during the 100-day function for the 1962 film ‘Manchi Manasulu’, starring Akkineni Nageshwara Rao and Savithri and directed by Adurthi Subba Rao, that the state government, then headed by Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, hit upon the idea for the shift to Hyderabad.
What, however, was important was for the big stars and film personalities of the day to show interest. Akkineni Nageshwara Rao took the lead and established Annapurna Studios at Banjara Hills. Sarathi Studios at Ameerpet and Ajanta studio in Old City were already functioning but it was Annapura Studios which got film shoots to move from Madras to Hyderabad.