Tallapaka Annamacharya, also popularly known as Annamayya, was a Telugu musician, composer, and a Hindu saint. He is the earliest known Indian musician to compose songs called samkirtanas. His devotional samkirtanas were in the praise of Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu. Annamayya is said to have composed as many as 32,000 samkirtanas (songs) in the praise of Venkateswara of which only about 12,000 are available today. He wrote the highest number of Kirtanas of all time in the praise of Lord Vishnu The musical form of the kirtana songs that he composed, which are still popular among Carnatic music concert artists, have strongly influenced the structure of Carnatic music compositions. His compositions are classified as Adhyatma (spiritual) and Sringara (romantic). Annamacharya is remembered for his saintly life, as one of the greatest musicians and is honoured as a great devotee of Vishnu by devotees and saintly singers. He was one of the first few who opposed the social stigma towards the untouchable castes in his era.
Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao, known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest paid South Indian actor, Nagarjuna has appeared in over 90 films. He is a recipient of two National Film Awards for Ninne Pelladata (1996) and Annamayya (1997), ten state Nandi Awards and three Filmfare Awards South.
Koduri Marakathamani Keeravaani, professionally known as M. M. Keeravani, is an Indian music composer, singer and lyricist, primarily associated with Telugu cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, Keeravani has earned numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, two National Film Awards, eleven Nandi Awards, eight Filmfare Awards, and a LAFCA Award. In 2023, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema.
Sri Ramadasu is 2006 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the life of musician saint Kancharla Gopanna. A reboot of V. Nagayya's 1964 film Ramadasu; the film is written and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. Produced by Konda Krishnam Raju, the film starred Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Akkineni Nagarjuna in lead roles, while the music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Cinematography and editing were handled by S. Gopal Reddy and Sreekar Prasad respectively.
Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao is an Indian filmmaker known primarily for his work in Telugu cinema, besides a few Hindi films. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has directed over a hundred films across various genres, including romantic comedies, fantasies, melodramas, action thrillers, biographical dramas, and romances. He has received numerous accolades, including four Nandi Awards and five Filmfare Awards South.
Gharana Mogudu is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language masala film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Chiranjeevi, Nagma and Vani Viswanath with Rao Gopal Rao and Kaikala Satyanarayana in supporting roles. The music was composed by M. M. Keeravani, and cinematography was handled by A. Vincent. It is a remake of the 1986 Kannada film Anuraga Aralithu.
Nedunuri Krishnamurthy was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1991.
Ganesh is a 1998 Indian Telugu-language action-drama film produced by D. Suresh Babu under the Suresh Productions banner, directed by Thirupathisamy. It stars Venkatesh, Rambha and Madhu Bala, with music composed by Mani Sharma.
Gharana Bullodu is a 1995 Telugu-language film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and written by Vijayendra Prasad. It stars Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishna, Aamani playing the lead roles and music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film was produced by K. Krishna Mohan Rao under RK Film Associates. The film was recorded as a Blockbuster Hit at the box office.
Seetharamayya gari Manavaralu is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Kranthi Kumar, and produced by V. Doraswamy Raju under the VMC Productions banner. The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Meena and Rohini Hattangadi with the music composed by M. M. Keeravani. Based on the novel Navvina Kanneelle by Manasa, the plot follows Seetha (Meena) who arrives from the US to visit her grandparents, Seetharamayya (Rao) and Janakamma (Hattangadi) who are uninformed of her parents' accidental death.
Amara Deepam is a 1977 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Krishnam Raju, Murali Mohan and Jayasudha. It is a remake of the Malayalam film Theekkanal (1976) which was earlier remade in Tamil as Dheepam (1977). The film was released on 29 September 1977. Krishnam Raju received the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu and Nandi Award for Best Actor.
Pelli Sandadi is a 1996 Indian Telugu-language musical romance film co-written and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Srikanth, Ravali and Deepti Bhatnagar. It was the second-highest grossing Telugu film of 1996 after Ninne Pelladata.
President Gari Pellam is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy and produced by V. Doraswamy Raju under VMC Productions. It stars Nagarjuna and Meena, with music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The movie was later dubbed into Tamil as Thalaivar Pondatti. This film recorded as a super hit.
Allari Priyudu is a 1993 Indian Telugu-language musical romantic comedy film written and directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars Rajasekhar, Ramya Krishna and Madhoo. The film was featured at the 25th IFFI Indian panorama mainstream section. The film was dubbed into Tamil as Yaarukku Mappillai Yaaro. It was remade in Kannada as Chora Chittha Chora, The film was recorded as a Blockbuster at the box office. The film won two Filmfare Awards and two state Nandi Awards.
Shirdi Sai is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, produced by A.Mahesh Reddy on AMR Sai Krupa Entertainments banner, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. Starring Nagarjuna as the 19th-20th century spiritual guru Sai Baba of Shirdi who lived in western India, it is the cinematic depiction of some of his landmark life episodes, his teachings and his way of life. Music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Shirdi Sai was released worldwide on 6 September 2012, and has received mixed to positive reviews while Nagarjuna received critical acclaim for his performance in the title role with most reviewers hailing this as one of his career best performances.
Premabhishekam is a 1981 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao.This film is inspired from Send Me No Flowers 1964 Hollywood movie by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore and Produced by Annapurna Studios, it stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Jayasudha, Sridevi, Murali Mohan, Mohan Babu and music composed by Chakravarthy.
Seetharama Raju is a 1999 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by Y. V. S. Chowdary. Produced by Nagarjuna, and D. Sivaprasad Reddy, it stars Nandamuri Harikrishna, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Sakshi Shivanand, and Sanghavi with music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film won two state Nandi Awards.
Om Namo Venkatesaya is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language Hindu devotional biographical film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by A. Mahesh Reddy on AMR Sai Krupa Entertainments banner. The film stars Nagarjuna as Hathiram Bhavaji, alongside Anushka Shetty, Jagapathi Babu, Saurabh Raj Jain, and Pragya Jaiswal. Sai Kumar, Rao Ramesh, Sampath Raj, Ashmita Karnani, Brahmanandam, and Ajay play supporting roles. It has music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film was dubbed in Tamil as Akhilandakoti Brahmandanayagan. The film failed at the box office.
V. Doraswamy Raju was an Indian film producer, distributor, and politician. He produced and distributed several Telugu films under his banner VMC Productions. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Telugu Desam Party representing Nagari constituency, Andhra Pradesh between 1994 and 1999. He won two Nandi Awards and two Filmfare Awards.
