Ravu Venkata Anandakumara Krishna Ranga Rao, better known as V.A.K Ranga Rao, is an Indian music scholar,

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

, film historian, book reviewer,

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, and orator. He was born to Ravu Janardana Krishna Ranga Rao, the younger brother of

Raja of Bobbili Raja Sri Ravu Svetachalapati Sir Ramakrishna Ranga Rao KCIE (20 February 1901 – 10 March 1978) was an Indian politician and ''zamindar'' who served as the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from 5 November 1932 to 4 April 1936 and 24 ...

and Saraswathi Devi, the younger sister of Rani of Bobbili and is a descendant of the royal family of

Bobbili Bobbili is a town in Vizianagaram district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Geography Bobbili is located at . It has an average elevation of 103 metres (337 feet). History The town of Bobbili was founded during the 17th ce ...

, near

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. His father was titled the Zamindar of Chikkavaram. He is known for having the largest collection of 78 rpm records in the world. The ''

Limca Book of World Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...

'' claims the number of records to be 53,000. He possesses first recordings of more than 50 Indian singers; among them are Ghantasala, Hemant Kumar, M.S Subbalakshmi, and

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

. It was V A K Ranga Rao who had admired Ghantasala as the most majestic voice. His collection has music in more than 15 foreign languages some of which are

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, Greek and Russian and more than 40 Indian languages including

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People *Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Kar ...

and Toda. His collection also includes plays, speeches, and recitations of eminent personalities such as

Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter ...

References

External links

Thehindu.comInterview with VAK Ranga RaoAuthority on arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, V. A. K. Ranga People from Visakhapatnam district Indian musicologists Indian art critics People from Uttarandhra 1938 births Living people