Chittajallu Pullayya (01January1898 – 6 October 1967) was an

Indian film The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on pr ...

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

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

being associated with the industry right from the

silent era A silent film is a film without 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 Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, and at Kohinoor in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He was also the

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

for

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

-based Young Men’s Happy Club. After gaining experience in filmmaking, he purchased a second-hand

movie camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either onto film stock or an image sensor, in order to produce a moving image to display on a screen. In c ...

in 1924 in Bombay and returned to his native place

with an intention to make films in Andhra. He made a silent three-

reel A reel is a tool used to store elongated and flexible objects (e.g. yarns/ cords, ribbons, cables, hoses, etc.) by wrapping the material around a cylindrical core known as a '' spool''. Many reels also have flanges (known as the ''rims'') arou ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Markandeya'' (1926 or 1931) in Kakinada. 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) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

movement in

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (ISO: , , AP) is a state on the east coast of southern India. It is the seventh-largest state and the tenth-most populous in the country. Telugu is the most widely spoken language in the state, as well as its official lang ...

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

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

'' Sati Savitri'' in

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

''.'' It was the first Telugu film produced by

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 ...

and received an honorary diploma at the 2nd Venice Film Festival. He then directed ''Lava Kusa'' (1934) and ''Sati Anasuya'' (1936), the first Telugu

children's film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that generally relates to children 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 f ...

made with sixty

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

. ''Lava Kusa'' was the first major commercial success in Telugu cinema. The film attracted unprecedented numbers of viewers to theatres and thrust the young industry into mainstream culture. He continued to direct films like '' Vara Vikrayam'' (1939), ''Maalati Madhavam'' (1940), '' Pakka Inti Ammayi'' (1953) under the

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

. He is well remembered for '' Lava Kusa'' (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 Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

and Kusa in Hindu epic ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'', which won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Telugu Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kam ...

. Pullayya introduced

Bhanumathi Bhānumati or Bhanumathi is an Indian name. It may refer to: * Bhanumati (Yadava princess), a Yadava princess in the scripture, Harivamsha * Bhanumati (wife of Duryodhana), wife of Duryodhana, the antagonist of the Indian epic Mahabharata * P. Bh ...

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 title roles in movies like Chenchu ...

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

Filmography

# ''Ramadasu'' (1933) # '' Sati Savitri'' (1933) # '' Lava Kusa'' (1934) # ''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) # '' Vara Vikrayam'' (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) # '' Pakka Inti Ammayi'' (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 was ...

'' (1960) # '' Lava Kusa'' (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 Prod ...

'' (1966) # ''Bhuvana Sundari Katha'' (1967) # '' Bhama Vijayam'' (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 People from Kakinada Film people from East Godavari district Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Telugu screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian screenwriters