Inturi Venkateswara Rao ( te, ఇంటూరి వెంకటేశ్వరరావు), known as Inturi (1 July 1909 – 2002) was an

Indian freedom fighter The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

Trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist, writer and film journalist.

Brief lifesketch

Inturi was born at Chandrarajupalem near Sattenapalli in Guntur district in 1909. His parents are Narasimham Pantulu and Laxmikantamma. After primary education at

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra ...

, he was attracted by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and participated in the Non-cooperation movement in 1921. He was sentenced to three and half years jail term in 1930 for his participation in Salt Satyagraha. He joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

and was associated with

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...

. Inturi was also a correspondent with ''

The Bombay Chronicle ''The Bombay Chronicle'' was an English-language newspaper, published from Mumbai (then Bombay), started in 1910 by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845-1915), a prominent lawyer, who later became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1890, an ...

''. He has joined the film industry in 1936 and worked with

Gudavalli Ramabrahmam Gudavalli Ramabrahmam was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Telugu cinema. He is known for directing critically acclaimed social problem films like ''Mala Pilla'' (1938) and ''Raithu Bidda'' (1939). At a time w ...

Tripuraneni Gopichand Tripuraneni Gopichand (8 September 1910 – 2 November 1962) was a Telugu short story writer, novelist, editor, essayist, playwright, film director, and a radical humanist. Gopichand was the son of renowned social reformer and play writer Tripu ...

and

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

as an associate director. He has founded "Cinema" a fortnightly film magazine and ran it for 19 years. He has founded the Madras Cine Workers Union and the Andhra Film Journalists Association in 1945. It was the first such associations in the

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. He had written the life story of

Atukuri Molla Atukuri Molla (1440–1530) was a Telugu poet who authored the Telugu-language Ramayana. Identified by her caste, she was popularly known as Kummara (potter) Molla. Mollamamba or Molla was the daughter of Kesana Setti who was a potter by prof ...

under the title Kummara Molla and published in 1969. Another writer Sunkara Satyanarayana wrote a ballad based on this novel, which became very popular and has been sung all over Andhra Pradesh. The story has been made into a movie in 1971 by

B. Padmanabham Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao (20 August 1931 – 20 February 2010), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Padmanabham, was an Indian actor, comedian, producer, and director who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. H ...

under the title ''

Kathanayika Molla ''Kathanayika Molla'' is a 1970 Indian Telugu-language film directed by comedian Padmanabham. It is based on the life of the poet Molla, played by Vanisree. It features the songs ''Jagame Ramamayam'' and ''Manishini Brahmayya Mattito Chesenaya' ...

''. He has also published a book on Tarikonda Venkamamba.

Screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...

magazine published his biography and described him as "A Man of Million Ideas". He died in 2002. Dr. Inturi Memorial Trust was established in his memory and gives Dr. Inturi Venkateswara Rao Visishta Puraskarams annually to the noted film journalists. The recipients of this Award include Rentala Jayadeva, Randor Guy,

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

and Inampudi Arjuna Rao.Honouring the singing sensation, M. L. Narasimham in The Hindu.
/ref>

Awards

Andhra University Andhra University ( IAST: ''Āndhra Vișvakalāpariṣhat'') is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Maharaja of Jeypore was one of the biggest d ...

awarded him the Kalaprapoorna in 1985. * The Prestigious Ramnoth award of the Cine Technicians Association of

in 1985. * The Siromani award by the American Telugu Association in 1992 * He was awarded the

Raghupathi Venkaiah Award The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award is an award issued by the Indian state government of Andhra Pradesh, to recognise lifetime achievements in Telugu cinema. The award was introduced in 1981 in honour of Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, a pioneer of t ...

for his lifetime achievement by Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1996.

References

{{Raghupathi Venkaiah Award Recipients 1909 births 2002 deaths Journalists from Andhra Pradesh Indian independence activists from Andhra Pradesh People from Guntur district Trade unionists from Andhra Pradesh