Anarkali is a 1955 Indian Telugu-language historical romance film, written and directed by Vedantam Raghavayya. The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi. It is based on the legend of the romance between Mughal prince Salim and the eponymous court dancer.
Bhakta Potana is a 1943 Telugu-language biographical film directed by K. V. Reddy in his directorial debut. Based on the life of poet-saint Potana who translated Bhagavatham into Telugu language, the film was scripted by Samudrala Sr. The film had celebrated Jubilee runs all over the South India including Mysore state and Kerala. It was remade in 1966, starring Gummadi as Potana.
Tenali Ramakrishna is a 1956 Indian Telugu-language political drama film produced and directed by B. S. Ranga based on Ch. Venkataramaiah's stage play of the same name. Produced for the banner Vikram Productions, it stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, N. T. Rama Rao, V. Nagayya, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna and Jamuna in key roles. Ranga handled the cinematography with his brother-in-law B. N. Haridas while P. G. Mohan edited the film. Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy composed the soundtrack and background score.
Chenchu Lakshmi is a 1958 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film produced and directed by B. A. Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. Along with the Telugu version, it was simultaneously shot in Tamil, with most of the actors and scenes being the same in both the versions. Another Chenchu Lakshmi was earlier made in 1943 with a different cast and crew.
Panduranga Mahatyam is a 1957 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the life of Pundarika, produced by N. Trivikrama Rao under the National Art Theatres banner and directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Anjali Devi and B. Saroja Devi with music composed by T. V. Raju. The film was dubbed into Tamil as Annaiyum Pithavum Munnari Dheivam (1959) and it was again remade as the Telugu film Pandurangadu (2008).
Balaraju is a 1948 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler fantasy film produced and directed by Ghantasala Balaramayya under the Pratibha Productions banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, S. Varalakshmi, and Anjali Devi with music jointly composed by Ghantasala, Galipenchala Narasimha Rao and C. R. Subbaraman. The film was recorded as an Industry Hit at the box office and was the first Telugu Silver Jubilee film.
Vipra Narayana is a 1954 Telugu-language biographical film directed, produced and edited by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao under Bharani Studios banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Bhanumathi, and Relangi with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. The film is based on the life of Tamil Vaishnava saint Vipranarayana. He led his life in devotion to Lord Narayana and worked for the Lord by dedicating him with garlands. He is one of the twelve Alvars. The film is also dubbed in Tamil with the same title and released in 1955.
Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam is 1960 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by P. Pullaiah and produced by V. Venkateswarlu. It is based on the Venkateswara avatar of Vishnu at Tirumala. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Savitri, and S. Varalakshmi with music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. The film was dubbed into Tamil and released as Srinivasa Kalyanam.
Sri Seeta Rama Jananam is a 1944 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film, produced and directed by Ghantasala Balaramayya under the Pratibha Productions banner. The film stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Tripurasundari, Vemuri Gaggayya, Rushyendramani. Music was jointly composed by Prabhala Satyanarayana and Ogirala Ramachandra Rao. The film marks the debut of Akkineni Nageswara Rao as a lead actor. It is also the debut of Ghantasala as a chorus singer and in a character role. The film was a commercial failure.
Raavu Balasaraswathi Devi is an Indian singer and actress who performed from 1930 to the 1960s in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She was the first light music singer on All India Radio and the first playback singer in the Telugu cinema.
Rushyendramani was an Indian actress, singer, dancer, and playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She had more than 150 movies to her credit and acted in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films from the 1935 to 1986. Her notable films include Sri Seetarama Jananam (1944), Malliswari (1951), Vipra Narayana (1954), Chintamani (1956). Her last film was Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam (1986).
Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu is a 1963 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film, produced and directed by K. V. Reddy under the Jayanthi Pictures banner. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and B. Saroja Devi, with music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. The film was based on the Telugu play Gayopakhyanam written by Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham in 1890. It was later dubbed into Kannada and into Tamil.
C. R. Subbaraman also known as C. S. Ram (1916–1952) was a famous South Indian film music composer and producer. He was born to Ramasamy at Chintamani village in Thirunelveli, in present-day Tamil Nadu. Music director Shankar of Shankar–Ganesh duo was his younger brother. His ancestors were from the Krishna district of present-day Andhra Pradesh and due to this, his family spoke Telugu well.
Devata is a 1941 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by B. N. Reddy. The huge success of this film led to the making of more films with the same title in 1964 by B. Padmanabham and in 1982 by D. Ramanaidu. The film was remade in Malayalam as Pavappettaval (1967).
Sita Rama Kalyanam is a 1961 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by N. T. Rama Rao in his directorial debut. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Haranath, Geetanjali, B. Saroja Devi, Kanta Rao, Sobhan Babu. The film was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao on 'National Art Theatres' banner. The music composed by Gali Penchala Narasimha Rao.
Ramadasu is a 1964 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the life of Kancharla Gopanna, produced and directed by V. Nagayya. It stars Nagayya, with N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sivaji Ganesan and Anjali Devi in special appearances, with music composed by Ashwathama. The blockbuster film has garnered the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, and has garnered several state awards.
Marumagal (transl. Daughter-in-law) is a 1953 Indian Tamil-language drama film, produced by Lena Chettiar on Krishna Pictures banner and directed by D. Yoganand. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Padmini and Lalitha, with music composed by C. R. Subburaman. It was simultaneously shot in Telugu-language as Ammalakkalu.
Bhakta Markandeya is an Indian film based on Hinduism shot simultaneously in Tamil and Kannada languages by B. S. Ranga with a different supporting cast in each of the versions. Master Anand played the titular role of Markandeya in both the versions. The film was released in 1957.
Gruhalakshmi is a 1967 Telugu-language, comedy film, produced and directed by P. S. Ramakrishna Rao under the Bharani Pictures banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna with music composed by S. Rajeswara Rao. The film was remade as the Tamil movie Anbe Aaruyire (1975).
Indrajeet (Sati Sulochana) is a 1961 Telugu-language Hindu mythological film, based on the life of Indrajit from the epic Ramayana, produced by S. Rajinikanth, D. V. Subba Rao and Kancharla Madhava Rao under the Srikanth Productions banner and directed by S. Rajinikanth. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Anjali Devi with music composed by T. V. Raju. Sati Sulochana and Pendli Pilupu were released on the same day, both starred by NTR. The film is dubbed into Bengali in 1979 as Meghnad Badh/Vadh
