Indukuri Ramakrishnam Raju (31 August 1934 – 14 August 1994), populary known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Rajasri, was an Indian

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

, screenwriter, film director, and music composer 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 ...

. He has worked on nearly 1000 films, a majority of them are dubbed films. He was popularly referred to as ''Anuvaada Brahma'' (). He used to pen Telugu lyrics for most of the films dubbed from

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Early life

Rajasri was born as 'Indukuri Ramakrishnam Raju' to Indukuri Appalaraju and Narayanamma on 31 August 1934 in

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram is a city and the headquarters of Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is central Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. The city has a population of 228,02 ...

. Right from early childhood he started writing stories and metrical poetry. He completed his B.Sc (Physics) from

Maharajah's College Maharajah's College, or M. R. College, established in 1879, it is an autonomous institution located in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh. History The institution was founded by Sri Pusapati Vijayarama Gajapathi Raju, the Maharajah of Vizianagram. I ...

. He learned typewriting. He worked as a typist-cum-personal-assistant in Srikakulam District Board.

Career

Rajasri resigned his job and moved 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 started assisting writer Pinisetty Sriramamurthy. The first film he worked for as a lyricist was '' Aada Pettanam'' (1954), produced by

Kadaru Nagabhushanam Kadaru Nagabhushanam or K. B. Nagabhushanam (1902 – 18 October 1976) was an Indian film director and producer in the 1940s to 1960s, working in Telugu and Tamil cinema. He was the husband of P. Kannamba. They established Rajarajeshwari F ...

and

Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu cinema, of Andhra Pradesh, India. She acted in more than 170 films and produced about 25 films ...

. He also worked as an assistant director for Kadaru Nagabhusnam for the films like ''Aada Pettanam'', ''Anna-Thammudu'', ''Paruvu-Pratishta'', ''Santha'', ''Nithya Kalyanam Paccha Thoranam'', ''Veera Bhaskarudu'', and ''Sri Krishna Maaya''. Rajasri worked with

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

in the story department of Prasad Productions for the films like '' Sasural'' (1961), '' Khilona'' (1970), ''Thayilla Pillai'' etc. He wrote lyrics for films like ''Rama Sundari''. He worked with Chalam for some memorable films like ''

Sambarala Rambabu ''Sambarala Rambabu'' is a 1970 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by G. V. R. Seshagiri Rao and produced by T. Mohan Rao. It is a remake of K. Balachander's 1968 Tamil film '' Ethir Neechal'', itself based on his stage play of t ...

'' (1970), ''Bullemma Bullodu'', ''Devudamma'', ''Thulaabhaaram'' (1974), ''Ramude Devudu'', ''Ooriki Upakaari'' etc. He also wrote some memorable songs in these films. Rajasri has worked with director

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...

for films like ''

Mouna Ragam ''Mouna Ragam'' (; ) is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Mohan and Revathi, with Karthik (guest appearance), V. K. Ramasamy, Ra. Sankaran ...

'' (1986), '' Naayakudu'' (1987), ''

Gharshana ''Gharshana'' () is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film produced by G. Sivaraju, C. Venkatraju, and Kalaipuli S. Thanu. It is directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, in his Telugu debut. It is the remake of the 2003 Tamil blockbuste ...

'' (1988), '' Anjali'' (1990), '' Dalapathi'' (1991), ''

Roja Roja may refer to: * ''Roja'' (film), a 1992 Tamil-language film by director Mani Ratnam * ''Roja'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film * Roja Selvamani Roja Selvamani (born Sri Latha Reddy; 17 November 1972), also known as R. K. ...

'' (1992), and ''

Donga Donga ''Thiruda Thiruda'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language black comedy caper film directed by Mani Ratnam written along with Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Prashanth, Anand, Anu Aggarwal and Heera Rajagopal while S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Salim ...

'' (1993). Mani Ratnam got the dialogues written by Rajasri for his straight Telugu film '' Geethanjali'' (1989). Rajasri has also composed music for a few films like ''Mama Kodalu'' (1993) and ''Venkanna Babu'' (1992) directed by

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) 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 ...

Death

He died in his sleep while working for the film '' Premikudu'' on 14 August 1994, in

Chennai 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 ...

. His son Rajasri Sudhakar is also a dialogue writer and lyricist. Sudhakar has penned dialogues and songs for films like ''

Krrish ''Krrish'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. It stars Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra while Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Manini Mishra, Archana Puran Singh and Sharat Saxena feature in ...

'', ''Jodha Akbar'', ''

Krrish 3 ''Krrish 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language superhero film written, produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan, who wrote the screenplay with Honey Irani and Robin Bhatt. It is the third film in the ''Krrish'' series, following '' Koi... Mil G ...

'', ''

Dhoom 2 ''Dhoom 2'' (trans. Blast 2) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and written by Vijay Krishna Acharya, based on a story by producer Aditya Chopra, who backed the film at an estimated budget of unde ...

'', '' Dangal'', ''

Dabangg 3 ''Dabangg 3'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Salman Khan under Salman Khan Films and Saffron Broadcast & Media Limited, as an Arbaaz Khan Production. A circumquel to ''Dabangg'' (2010 ...

'' and Vikranth Rona that were dubbed into Telugu.

Discography

As lyricist for straight films

As lyricist for dubbed films

As music director

Filmography

As writer

As director

Awards

* He won Nandi Award for Second Best Story Writer for

Bangaru Gaajulu ''Bangaru Gaajulu'' () is a 1968 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by C. S. Rao from a story written by Rajasri. Produced by Tammareddy Krishna Murthy, it stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Bharathi, and Vijaya Nirmala with the music co ...

(1968)(in

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 ...

)

Notes

References

External links

*
List of songs penned by Rajasri at Chimata Music.com
{{authority control Telugu writers Indian lyricists 1934 births 1994 deaths