Chittajallu Pullayya (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

: చిత్తజల్లు పుల్లయ్య; 1898 – 6 October 1967) was an

Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

director and screenwriter. He is one of the earliest film personalities in

Telugu cinema 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, Hy ...

being associated with the industry right from the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. Pullayya started his film career in 1921 as a camera apprentice to the father of Telugu cinema, Raghupati Venkaiah Naidu’s 'Star of the East' in Madras, and at 'Kohinoor' in Bombay. He was also the

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

for

Kakinada Kakinada (List of renamed places in India, formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population, sixth largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra P ...

-based Young Men’s Happy Club. He made a silent three-

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the en ...

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''Bhakta'' ''Markandeya'' (1926 or 1931) and to exhibit it he started a tent theatre named 'City Electric Cinema' and took the projector and chairs to various towns and exhibited the film, thus pioneering a

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

movement in

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. He later ran the permanent Minerva theatre. In 1933, he made his

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directorial debut with

East India Film Company The East India Film Company was an Indian film production company, based in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India. It was the first Indian film company to screen a movie at an international film festival. Started in 1932 in Calcutta, by R. L ...

's first Telugu film '' Sati Savitri'' in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

which received an honorary diploma at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. He then directed ''

Lava Kusa ''Lava Kusa'' (also spelled as ''Lava Kusha'') is a 1963 Indian Hindu mythological film directed by C. S. Rao and his father C. Pullayya. The film was scripted by Sadasivabrahmam, Samudrala Sr. along with C. S. Rao and C. Pullayya. The fil ...

'' (1934) and ''Sati Anasuya'' (1936), the first Telugu

children's film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

made with sixty

child actors The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

. He continued to direct films like ''

Vara Vikrayam ''Vara Vikrayam'' ( te, వర విక్రయం) is a famous novel and play with same name by Kallakoori Narayana Rao. It is based on a reformist social theme about the Dowry system prevalent in India. Main characters * Purushotham Rao, Re ...

'' (1939), ''Maalati Madhavam'' (1940), ''

Pakka Inti Ammayi ''Pakka Inti Ammayi'' is a 1953 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by C. Pullayya. The film featured Anjali Devi as the beautiful neighbour girl. Famous comedian Relangi acted as her lover Subbarayudu and veteran South Indi ...

'' (1953) under the

. He directed '' Bala Nagamma'' (1942) and ''Apoorva Sahodarulu'' (1950) under Gemini Pictures after shifting base to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. He is well remembered for ''

'' (1963), the story of

Lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

and

Kusa Kusa or KUSA may refer to: * Kusa, Russia, a town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia * Kusa, Latvia, a village in Madona District, Latvia * Kusa, Oklahoma, United States * Kusa, indigenous name of Beles River (in Gumuz language) * Kusa, Afghanistan * ...

in Hindu epic ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'', which won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

. Pullayya introduced Bhanumathi and

Anjali Devi Anjali Devi (; 24 August 1927 – 13 January 2014) 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 titular roles in movies like Chenchu ...

to the film industry through ''Vara Vikrayam'' (1939) and ''Gollabhama'' (1947) respectively.

Filmography

# ''Ramadasu'' (1933) # '' Sati Savitri'' (1933) # ''

'' (1934) # ''Sri Krishna Tulabharam'' (1935) # ''Anasuya'' (1936) # ''Dhruva'' ''Vijayam'' (1936); Event occurs at 6:08 # ''Chal Mohana Ranga'' (1937) # ''Dasavataramulu'' (1937) # ''Kasula Peru'' (1937) # ''Mohini Bhasmasura'' (1938) # ''Satyanarayana Vratam'' (1938) # ''

'' (1939) # '' Malathi Madhavam'' (1940) # '' Bala Nagamma'' (1942) # ''Narada Naradi'' (1946) # '' Gollabhama'' (1947) # ''

Vindhyarani ''Vindhyarani'' () is a 1948 Indian Telugu-language film directed by C. Pullayya. It is a film based on a drama written by Pingali Nagendra Rao. Pushpavalli played the title role of Vindhyarani. Plot Durjaya kills his elder brother Maharaja Jay ...

'' (1948) # ''Apoorva Sahodaralu'' (1950) # ''Sankranti'' (1952) # ''

'' (1953) # '' Devanthakudu'' (1960) # ''

Naan Kanda Sorgam ''Naan Kanda Sorgam'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language fantasy comedy film directed and produced by C. Pullayya. The film stars K. A. Thangavelu and Sowcar Janaki. It is a remake of the 1958 Bengali film '' Jamalaye Jibanta Manush'', and wa ...

'' (1960) # ''

'' (1963) # ''

Paramanandayya Sishyula Katha ''Paramanandayya Sishyula Katha'' () is a 1966 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler film directed by C. Pullayya. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, K. R. Vijaya with music composed by Ghantasala. It is produced by Thota Subba Rao under the Sridevi Produc ...

'' (1966) # ''Bhuvana Sundari Katha'' (1967) # ''

Bhama Vijayam ''Bhama Vijayam'' () is a 1967 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler film, produced by Somasekhar and Radha Krishna, and directed by C.Pulliah. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Devika, with music composed by T. V. Raju. The film is based on ''Gollabh ...

'' (1967)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pullaiah, C. Telugu film directors Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian theatre directors Indian arts administrators 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 1898 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Indian film directors People from Kakinada Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Telugu screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian screenwriters