Dasari Narayana Rao was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 feature films in a variety of genres. He holds the Limca World Record for directing the most number of films in the world. For some reason he is known by the moniker Darsaka Ratna. His works emphasize social injustice, corruption and gender discrimination. Narayana Rao has received two National Film Awards, nine state Nandi Awards including the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award, and four Filmfare Awards South including the Lifetime Achievement. During his career he had also acted in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films.
Kanneboina Srinivasa Rao Yadav, known professionally as Vandemataram Srinivas, is an Indian music director and playback singer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has won two Filmfare Awards and six Nandi Awards. He got the prefix "Vandemataram" from the title song of the film Vande Mataram (1985).
Narra Venkateswara Rao was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema. He hailed from Agraharam village (Ramachandrapuram) in Zarugumalli Mandal, Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
K. Chakravarthi was an Indian music director who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. He made his debut in 1971 with Mooga Prema and went on compose music for over 1000 films, predominantly in Telugu language, followed by Kannada. He won two Nandi Awards.
Sundeep Kishan is an Indian actor and producer who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil language films.
Tirumala Sundara Sri Ranganath was an Indian actor known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu Theater, television, and a few Tamil films. In a film career spanning more than forty years, Ranganath starred in more than three hundred feature films in a variety of roles. He made his debut with the 1969 Telugu film Budhimantudu.
Hamsavardhan is an Indian actor who has acted in Tamil language films.
Erra Cinema refers to a collection of films in Telugu attributed to various left oriented political ideologies. Although it cannot be understood as a genre, it owes its nomenclature to the popular coinage and reference. The Communist parties in Andhra Pradesh are popularly referred to as the 'Erra partilu' or 'Erra jenda partilu'. This reference is extended to films which portray the struggles of the oppressed and the downtrodden often banded under the aegis of a 'Red flag' party. Significant here is the ambiguity in the affiliation to the ideologies of specific political parties who commonly use red flags as symbols. This cinema is not always of an art-house variety. As with other cinemas in India, Telugu cinema attracted the cultural workers of the left and the left leaning intellectuals. Erra Cinema regularly uses their literature and particularly songs penned or performed by them. Due to the portrayal of the triumph of the proletarian collective over the hegemonic order these films are considered to be anti-establishment. This view may have strengthened with the portrayal of Naxalites or Maoists in these films. These films are also referred to as Naxalite films. K. B. Tilak, Dhavala Satyam, Vejjella Satyanarayana, Madala Ranga Rao, T. Krishna, R. Narayana Murthy, Dasari Narayana Rao, N. Shankar are some of the directors who have produced films categorised under Erra Cinema.
Krishnam Raju (1940-2022) was an Indian actor who acted in more than 190 films. Krishnam Raju entered Tollywood in 1966 with the film Chilaka Gorinka, directed by Kotayya Pratyagatma alongside Krishna Kumari. The film won the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - Silver for that year. Later he acted in the mythological film Shri Krishnavataram, which also stars N. T. Rama Rao. He acted in many films with the established actors N. T. Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He also acted in many films with the established actresses Krishna Kumari, Rajasulochana, Jamuna and Kanchana.
Erra Bus is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language film directed and produced by veteran actor and director Dasari Narayana Rao under his banner Tharaka Prabhu Films, it was his final film as director. The film stars Vishnu Manchu and Catherine Tresa. Dasari Narayana Rao plays a crucial role in the movie. Chakri has composed the music for the movie while Anji has taken care of the cinematography. The movie is a remake of N. Ragavan's Tamil film, Manjapai. The principal photography of Erra Bus started on 28 July 2014 in Hyderabad. The audio launch of the movie was held on 31 October 2014.
Punya Bhoomi Naa Desam is a 1994 Telugu film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy and produced by Mohan Babu under the banner of his production company Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures. It stars Mohan Babu and Meena in lead roles, while Dasari Narayana Rao, Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Annapoorna, Brahmanandam and Babu Mohan played other pivotal roles. The film is a remake of the Hindi film Krantiveer.
Dandakaranyam is a 2016 Indian Telugu action drama film directed and produced by R. Narayana Murthy under Sneha Chitra Pictures banner. The film features R. Narayana Murthy and Gaddar in the lead roles. The film was released on 18 March 2016.
Mada Venkateswara Rao was an Indian actor from Andhra Pradesh. He acted in more than 600 films. He played notable roles in the films Mutyala Muggu, Lambadolla Ramdasu, and Mayadari Malligadu. He was known for his comedy roles.
Davala Satyam is an Indian film director, producer and screenplay writer. He has worked predominantly in Telugu cinema since the early 1980s.
Orey Rikshaw is a 1995 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao, and produced by Dasari Film University. It stars R. Narayana Murthy, Ravali and Raghunatha Reddy. It features music composed by Vandemataram Srinivas.
Kondaveeti Simhasanam is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by Dasari Narayana Rao and starring himself, Mohan Babu and Soundarya with Harshavardhan, Deepti Bhatnagar, Laya and Udaya Bhanu in supporting roles. The film is modern retelling of the relationship between Lord Rama, the village head, and Anjaneya, his servant. The film was released to highly negative reviews.
Erra Mallelu is a 1981 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Dhavala Satyam from a story written by Madala Ranga Rao. The film stars Ranga Rao, Murali Mohan, Giri Babu and Ranganath. It revolves around two men starting a revolution against their village chiefs and the owner of a factory in the neighbouring village.
Erra Sainyam is a 1994 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by R. Narayana Murthy and starring himself and Narra Venkateswara Rao. The film was screened in the mainstream section of the 26th International Film Festival of India. The film was a "runaway hit".
Vooru Manadiraa is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language revolutionary film directed by R. Narayana Murthy starring himself, Siddappa Naidu and Telangana Sakunthala. The film's title is based on a song from Erra Sainyam (1994).
