The Cinema of Andhra Pradesh (also known as Telugu cinema or Tollywood) is a part of Indian cinema based in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. The Telugu language film industry is the second largest in India in terms of infrastructure and holds a memorandum of understanding with Motion Picture Association of America to combat video piracy.As per the CBFC report of 2011, the industry stood second in India, in terms of films produced yearly. The industry holds the Guinness World Record for the largest film production facility in the world.
Contents
1 Industry 2 History 2.1 Early development: 1912–30 2.2 Rise of the talkie: 1931–1947 3 Commercial stance 4 Critical reception 5 Cast and crew 6 Distribution 7 Guinness Records 8 State awards 9 Regional awards 10 Studios IndustryMoola Narayana Swamy and B. N. Reddy founded Vijaya Vauhini Studios in 1948 based in Chennai. Indian film doyen L. V. Prasad, who started his film career with Bhakta Prahlada, founded Prasad Studios in 1956 based in Chennai. However, through the efforts of D. V. S. Raju, the Telugu film industry completely shifted its base from Chennai to Hyderabad in the early 1990s, during N. T. Rama Rao's political reign.
Veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao relocated to Hyderabad and has developed Annapurna Studios. The Telugu film industry is one of the three largest film producers in India. About 245 Telugu films were produced in 2006, the highest in India for that year. Film studios in Andhra Pradesh, developed by D. Ramanaidu and Ramoji Rao, are involved in prolific film production and employment. There is a fair amount of dispersion among the Indian film industries. Many successful Telugu films have been remade by the Hindi and Tamil film industries. The industry also remakes a few Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam movies. Many Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films are dubbed into Telugu on release.
The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad is one of the biggest IMAX 3D screens in the world. The digital cinema network company UFO Moviez marketed by Southern Digital Screenz (SDS) has digitized several movie theater's in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Film and Television Institute of Andhra Pradesh, Ramanaidu Film School and Annapurna International School of Film and Media are some of the largest film schools of India.
HistoryEarly development: 1912–30
The Telugu film industry originated with silent films in 1912, with the production and release of Bhisma Pratighna in 1921 The film was directed by Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu and his son R. S. Prakash. The two, with Yaragudipati Varada Rao, would go on to produce and direct dozens of films throughout the decade, casting theater actors in major roles. They established a long-lasting precedent of focusing exclusively on religious themes; Nandanar, Gajendra Moksham, and Matsyavatar, three of their most noted productions, centered on religious figures, parables, and morals.
Rise of the talkie: 1931–1947
Promotional poster of the 1931 film Bhakta Prahlada the first south Indian talkie directed by H. M. Reddy to have a theatrical release
Promotional poster of Tyagayya directed by Chittor V. Nagaiah, one of the first multilingual film actor, singer, music composer, producer and director's in India. He was known as the Paul Muni of India in the media.
Actress Savitri in the landmark film Mayabazar
On September 15, 1931, the first Telugu film with audible dialogue, Bhakta Prahlada, was produced by H.M. Reddy. Hence, every year, Telugu Cinema Day is observed on September 15, commemorating its release. Popularly known as talkies, films with sound quickly grew in number and popularity. In 1934, the industry saw its first major commercial success with Lavakusa. Directed by C. Pullaiah and starring Parupalli Subbarao and Sriranjani in lead roles, the film attracted unprecedented numbers of viewers to theaters and thrust the young industry into mainstream culture.
By 1936, the mass appeal of film allowed directors to move away from religious and mythological themes. That year, under the direction of Krithiventi Nageswara Rao, Prema Vijayam, a film focusing on social issues, was released. Its success prompted the production of dozens of other immensely successful 'social films', notably 1939's Vandemataram and Maala Pilla. Touching on societal problems like the status of Untouchables and the practice of giving dowry, Telugu films increasingly focused on contemporary living: 29 of the 96 films released between 1937 and 1947 had social themes.
The outbreak of World War II and the subsequent resource scarcity caused the British Raj to impose a limit on the use of filmstrip in 1943 to 11,000 feet, a sharp reduction from the 20,000 feet that had been common till then. As a result, the number of films produced during the war was substantially lower than in previous years. Nonetheless, before the ban, an important shift occurred in the industry: Independent studios formed, actors and actresses were signed to contracts limiting whom they could work for, and films moved from social themes to folklore legends.
Commercial stanceAs one of the commercially consistent film industries in India, Telugu cinema had its influence over commercial cinema in India. As one of the revenue generating film industries, Telugu film production accounts for one percent of the gross domestic product of Andhra Pradesh.
Pokiri has been remade in Hindi, Tamil and Kannada in two years owing to the film's commercial success.It was screened at the IIFA film festival held in Dubai in 2006. Walt Disney Pictures co-produced Anaganaga O Dheerudu, making it the first South Indian production by Disney. As of 2012, Eega is the highest grossing Telugu film of all time.
Critical receptionThe industry is one of the largest producers of folklore, historical, fantasy and mythological films. Kadri Venkata Reddy and B. Vittalacharya were pioneers of this genre. Mayabazar and Patala Bhairavi got critical acclaim at the inaugural International Film Festival of India in the 1950s. Nartanasala won the best art direction award at the Afro Asian film festival in Jakarta. Donga Ramudu directed by K. V. Reddy was archived in the curriculum of the Film and Television Institute of India,
Sankarabharanam won the Prize of the Public at the Besancon Film Festival of France in the year 1981. Thilaadanam won the New Currents Award at the 7th Busan International Film Festival of South Korea. B. Narsing Rao's Daasi and Matti Manushulu won the Diploma of Merit award at the Moscow International Film Festival in 1989 and 1991 respectively. Maa Ooru directed by him won the Media Wave Award at the Hungary International festival of visual arts. Seeta Kalyanam got critical acclaim at the BFI London Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival.
Swati Mutyam (1986) is the only Telugu film to be sent by India as its official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards. Swati Mutyam and Sagara Sangamam got critical acclaim at Asia Pacific Film Festival. Oka Oori Katha has won special awards at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and Carthage Film Festival. Vanaja won several international awards including the first prize in the live-action feature film category at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival.
Cast and crewFurther information: Category:Telugu film directors
Further information: Music of Andhra Pradesh
Chittor V. Nagaiah was one of the most influential actors of South Indian cinema. S. V. Ranga Rao is one of the first Indian actors of the time to receive international award at Indonesian Film Festival, held in Jakarta for Narthanasala in 1963. Chiranjeevi was one of the most commercially successful Telugu actors of his time.[59] K. N. T. Sastry has garnered international recognition for his pioneering work in Telugu Parallel Cinema. Akkineni Kutumba Rao's Patha Nagaramlo Pasivadu received Cairo International Film Festival's, Merit Certificate for best feature. Dasari Narayana Rao has directed Meghasandesam, which got critical acclaim at Cannes and Moscow Film Festival. Noted film editor from the state, A. Sreekar Prasad, known for his initial works in Telugu films of the 1980s, has garnered national recognition for film editing across multiple languages of Indian cinema.
S. V. Ranga Rao, Kanta Rao, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, Savitri and Sobhan Babu are the actors who received the erstwhile Rashtrapati Award for best performance in a leading role. Sharada, Archana, Vijayashanti and P. L. Narayana are the actors to receive the National Film Award for best performance in acting from this industry.
Brahmanandam, a Telugu actor, holds a Guinness World Record for acting in the most films in the same language. S.P. Balasubrahmanyam is a multilingual playback singer from Telugu film industry has won National Film Awards across four languages. He holds the record of having recorded the most number of songs for any male playback singer and has received 25 Nandi Awards from Andhra Pradesh. Sri Sri was one of the influential Telugu film lyricists of his time, who garnered national honours like Sahitya Akademi Award, Best Lyricist and Soviet Land Nehru Award for his pioneering work in Telugu poetry and film lyrics.
Hyderabad International Convention Center has been the Hyderabad home for Filmfare Awards South from 2007
Distribution As of 2012, Dookudu had one of the largest worldwide opening for a Telugu film, releasing globally in 1,600 screens, including 71 in Hyderabad, India. The film became the first Telugu project to release in Botswana and was opened in a single screen with one show by the Telugu Association of Botswana. Dookudu was released over 79 theaters in the United States; the Los Angeles Times quoted Dookudu as "the biggest hit you've never heard of."
Further, it was released in Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Dubai and Finland, the first for a Telugu film, and in regular overseas markets like Singapore, Malaysia and UK[78] The producers approached the high court for a John Doe order to prevent piracy of the film. It set a box office record for the Telugu film industry by collecting a gross of more than INR1 billion.
Guinness Records Guinness Record had been awarded to the largest film studio complex in the world is Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, India, which opened in 1996 and measures 674 ha (1,666 acres). With 47 sound stages, it has permanent sets ranging from railway stations to temples.
Movie producer D.Rama Naidu holds the Guinness World Record as the most prolific producer with 130 films.
Telugu actor Brahmanandam holds the Guinness World Record for acting in the most number of films in a single language.
Play back singer S. P. Balasubramanyam possesses a Guinness World Record of having sung the most number of songs for any male playback singer in the world, while a majority of his songs being sung in Telugu.
In 2002, the Guinness Book of Records named Vijaya Nirmala as the female director with most number of films; she made 47 films. In a career spanning approximately two decades, she acted in over 200 films with 25 each in Malayalam and Tamil. She has also produced 15 films.
State awards Nandi Awards
Raghupathi Venkaiah Award
NTR National Award
B. N. Reddy National Award
Nagi Reddy Chakrapani National Award
Regional awards Sangam Academy Award
CineMAA Awards
Allu Rama Lingaiah Award
Gollapudi Srinivas Award
FNCC Awards
Santosham Film Awards
T. Subbarami Reddy Award
ANR National Award
Studios Ramanaidu Studios
Saradhi Studios
Ramakrishna Studios
Fire Fly Creative Studios
Makuta Graphics Studios
Padmalaya Studios
Annapurna Studios
Ramoji Film City
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