Akkineni Nageswara Rao, widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his work majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became one of the most prominent figures of Telugu cinema. Akkineni received seven state Nandi Awards, and five Filmfare Awards South. He is a recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of Art and Cinema.
Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.
Ninne Pelladata is a 1996 Indian Telugu-language romantic family drama film, produced by Nagarjuna under the Annapurna Studios banner and directed by Krishna Vamsi. It stars Nagarjuna and Tabu, and music composed by Sandeep Chowta. The film was remade in Kannada as Preethsod Thappa. The film has received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year. This film recorded as Industry Hit at box office.
Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao, known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and entrepreneur. Nagarjuna has acted predominantly in Telugu cinema, along with a few Hindi and Tamil films. He received two National Film Awards namely, for Ninne Pelladata (1996), which he produced won the Best Feature Film in Telugu and a Special Mention as actor for Annamayya (1997); nine state Nandi Awards, and three Filmfare Awards South.
Pasupuleti Venkata Bangarraju, known professionally as Krishna Vamsi, is an Indian film director, producer and choreographer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Vamsi started his career as an assistant director to Ram Gopal Varma. He made his directorial debut with the 1995 crime film Gulabi, starring J. D. Chakravarthi. He has received two National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and four Nandi Awards.
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad. As of 2021, Telugu cinema is the largest film industry in India in terms of box-office. Telugu films sold 23.3 crore tickets in 2022, the highest among various film industries in India.
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, Nagarjuna, Suman, Sneha and music was composed by M. M. Keeravani. Cinematography and editing were handled by S. Gopal Reddy and Sreekar Prasad respectively. Upon release, the film got positive reviews.
Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema besides having directed a few Hindi films. He has garnered four state Nandi Awards and five Filmfare Awards South. In a film career spanning more than four decades, Rao has directed more than a hundred feature films across multiple genres such as romantic comedy, fantasy, melodrama, action thriller, biographical and romance films.
The Filmfare Best Actor Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The awards were extended to "Best Actor" in 1972. The year indicates the year of release of the film. Chiranjeevi is the most nominated with 21 nominations and the most awarded with seven times winning the award.
Amala Akkineni is an Indian actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, and activist. She has predominantly worked in Tamil films, in addition to Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada-language films. She was a leading actress in the Tamil film industry from 1986 to 1992 and has appeared in many blockbusters in Tamil and other languages. She has won two Filmfare Awards South, namely Best Actress – Malayalam for the 1991 film Ulladakkam and Best Supporting Actress – Telugu for the 2012 film Life Is Beautiful. Amala is the co-founder of Blue Cross of Hyderabad, a non-government organisation (NGO) in Hyderabad, India, which works towards the welfare of animals and preservation of animal rights in India.
Tanikella Bharani is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet, playwright and director who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including some in Tamil and Hindi; while he was also screenwriter for 52 films. He has won three Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Awards.
Anjali Devi was an Indian actress, model and producer in Telugu and Tamil films. She was well known for her role as the Devi Sita in Lava Kusa as well as for the title roles in movies like Chenchu Lakshmi, Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali.
Sisindri is a 1995 Indian Telugu-language comedy film directed by Siva Nageswara Rao and produced by Nagarjuna. The film stars Nagarjuna's son Akhil Akkineni. Nagarjuna Akkineni, Giri Babu, Tanikella Bharani, Sudhakar, Aamani, Sarath Babu and Subhalekha Sudhakar play supporting roles. Music is composed by Raj, his debut film. The film is inspired by the American film Baby's Day Out (1994).
Akkineni Naga Chaitanya, known professionally as Naga Chaitanya, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He has received one Filmfare Award South and one Nandi Award for his work.
Siva is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language crime action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and produced by Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra under their banners of Annapurna Studios and SS Creations. The film explores the concepts of student exploitation by anti-social elements and the impact of crowd psychology.
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.
Bhai (transl. Brother) is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film, produced by Nagarjuna Akkineni under Annapurna Studios and directed by Veerabhadram Chowdary in association with Reliance Entertainment. It stars Nagarjuna Akkineni and Richa Gangopadhyay, with music composed by Devi Sri Prasad.
Akhil Akkineni is an American actor of Indian descent known for his works in Telugu cinema. Akhil was born in San Jose, California, and was raised in Hyderabad, India. Akhil debuted into films as a child artist in the children's film Sisindri (1994), for which he won a Filmfare Special Award. He is also the captain of Telugu Warriors cricket team that competes in Celebrity Cricket League.
The five-song soundtrack album and background score of the Telugu-language crime action film Siva (1989) is composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film, directed by Ram Gopal Varma and produced by Annapurna Studios and SS Creations, stars Nagarjuna, Amala Akkineni, Raghuvaran and J. D. Chakravarthy. Veturi Sundararama Murthy and Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry wrote lyrics for the songs, while S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki, K. S. Chithra, S. P. Sailaja and Mano were the singers. The soundtrack was successful and was acclaimed as one of Ilaiyaraaja's best works in Telugu cinema.
