Tatineni Prakash Rao (24 November 1924 – 1 July 1992) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked 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 ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, and

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, nati ...

films. In a career spanning nearly four decades, he directed over 40 films. He started his career as an assistant director for films like ''Palnati Yuddham'' (1947), '' Shavukaru'' (1950), '' Pathala Bhairavi'' (1951). He debuted as a director with the Telugu film ''

Palletooru ''Palletooru'' () is a 1952 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by T. Prakash Rao in his directorial debut. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Savitri, with music composed by Ghantasala. It was produced by P. Sivaramayya under People's Art Pro ...

'' (1952) and later directed ''

Pichi Pullayya ''Pichi Pullayya'' () is a 1953 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by T. Prakash Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Sowcar Janaki and Krishna Kumari, with music composed by T. V. Raju. The film was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao on National A ...

'' (1953), ''Parivartana'' (1954), ''

Jayam Manade ''Jayam Manade'' () is a 1956 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler film, produced by Sundarlal Nahatha and directed by T. Prakash Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by Ghantasala. The film was dubbed into Tamil ...

'' (1956), ''

Charana Daasi ''Charana Daasi'' () is a 1956 Indian Telugu-language drama film written by Vempati Sadasivabrahmam and directed by T. Prakash Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi and Savitri, with music composed by S. Rajeswara ...

'' (1956), ''

Illarikam ''Illarikam'' () is a 1959 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film directed by T. Prakash Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Jamuna, with music composed by T. Chalapathi Rao. It was produced by A. V. Subba Rao under the Prasad Art Pict ...

'' (1959) in Telugu. In Hindi, he directed films like '' Sasural'' (1961), ''Suraj'' (1966), '' Izzat'' (1968) and '' Duniya'' (1968). His notable Tamil films include '' Amara Deepam'' (1956), ''Uthama Puthiran'' (1958), ''

Nalla Theerpu ''Nalla Theerpu'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language legal drama film directed by T. Prakash Rao and written by Murasoli Maran. The film stars Gemini Ganesan and Jamuna. It was released on 9 April 1963, and emerged a success. Plot A man who ...

'' (1959), and ''

Padagotti ''Padagotti'' () is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language social problem film directed by T. Prakash Rao and produced by G. N. Velumani. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi, with M. N. Nambiar, S. V. Ramadas, Nagesh, Manorama and Jay ...

'' (1964).

Early life

Tatineni Prakash Rao was born in Kapileswarapuram of Krishna district in present-day

Andhra Pradesh 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 was a member of the

CPI A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statistic ...

before Indian Independence and was associated with ''Praja Natya Mandali'', a radical

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

movement.

Career

Later, Prakash Rao 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 ...

to join the film industry like many others who did not the like the turn of events in the Communist movement. He started his career as an assistant to

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 ...

for films like ''Palnati Yuddham'' (1947), '' Mana Desam'' (1949), '' Shavukaru'' (1950), ''Samsaram'' (1950). He also worked with

K. V. Reddy Kadiri Venkata Reddy (1 July 1912 – 15 September 1972) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest directors in the history of Telugu cinema. He d ...

for some time on '' Pathala Bhairavi'' (1951). He debuted as a director with the Telugu film ''

'' (1952).

Personal life

Prakash Rao's wife Tatineni Annapurna (b. 1930) died on May 10, 2021 in

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

at the age of 91 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. His son

T. L. V. Prasad T. L. V. Prasad is an Indian film director who predominantly worked in Hindi and Telugu cinema.. He is the director of nearly 70 Hindi films and 35 Telugu films. He also directed a few films in Bengali. Career He is the son of noted Telugu d ...

is a film director while his daughter Leela settled in the US. Prakash Rao's grandson

Tatineni Satya Tatineni Satya is an Indian Film director, filmmaker who has worked in the Telugu and Tamil film industry. Career Satya is the grandson of film director T. Prakash Rao, who was active from the 1940s to the 1980s in the Telugu film industry and ...

is also a film director who debuted with ''

Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu ''Bheemili Kabadi Jattu'' () is a 2010 Telugu-language sports drama film written by newcomer Tatineni Satya, starring Nani, and Saranya Mohan along with numerous newcomers. It is a remake of the 2009 Tamil film ''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu''. This fil ...

'' (2010). Noted director Tatineni Rama Rao is also a relative of Prakash Rao. Rama Rao worked as an assistant director to Prakash Rao in the beginning of his career.

Filmography

As a director As an assistant director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Tatineni Prakash 1924 births 1992 deaths Film directors from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian film directors Telugu film directors Hindi-language film directors Tamil film directors