Adurthi Subba Rao (16 December 1912 – 1 October 1975) was an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, editor and producer known for his works predominantly 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, ...

. Rao is widely regarded as the intellectual fountain head of Indian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

s.Master movie maker – The Hindu
/ref> He has garnered seven National Film Awards. Rao made his foray into cinema as Associate to Uday Shankar in the 1948 dance film Kalpana, which was showcased in the "Treasures from National Film Archive of India" at the 39th International Film Festival of India. The 1960 film Nammina Bantu was a work of drama in the broader sense achieved by means of

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

s who represented mimesis throughout the narrative. The film was simultaneously shot in Tamil as ''

Pattaliyin Vetri ''Nammina Bantu'' () is a 1960 Indian Telugu-language drama film produced by Yarlagadda Venkanna Chowdary under Sambhu Films and directed by Adurthi Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, S. V. Ranga Rao, and Savitri, with music jointly c ...

''. Upon release both versions received critical acclaim. The Telugu work was screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The film also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year. The 1964 film Doctor Chakravarthy was adapted by Rao based on Koduri Kousalya Devi's Novel ''Chakrabhramanam''. The box office success was awarded the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

, and the state Nandi Awards for that year. Rao's next work was Mooga Manasulu based on the concept of

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is ...

, the first of its kind in Indian cinema in the genre of semi- fiction intended to be more serious in tone with elements that encourage a broader range of

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throughout the narrative. The film was remade in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

as ''

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

'' (1967) directed by Rao himself, while the Tamil '' Praptham'' (1971) was adapted from Rao's work. The Telugu version received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, and the Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) in 1964 and was screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In 1968, Rao experimented with courtroom drama and

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as spec ...

in his work Sudigundalu, the film received special mention at the Tashkent and Moscow Film Festivals for its inherent " film with a key" narrative. The film has garnered the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, The

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film This is the list of winners of the Nandi Award for Best Feature Films since 1964. Best Feature Film - Gold Second Best Feature Film - Silver Third Best Feature Film - Bronze References See also * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh {{DEFAULTSORT:N ...

, and the Filmfare Award for Best Film - Telugu for that year and was featured at the International Film Festival of India.

Early life and career

He was born to Sathanna Panthulu and Rajalakshmamma on 16 December 1912. His father was the Tehsildar of

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Raj ...

. Adurthi Subbarao completed school final ( Matriculation) at the age of 14. He joined Kakinada PR College to do his Pre-University Course. He joined the St. Xavier's College, Mumbai in a three-year course of

Photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

, and completed two years. He then worked in the processing and printing department of Bombay Film Lab. Then he joined film editor Dina Narvekar as his assistant. He started his film career as a cinematographer, editor and screenwriter. His directorial journey started as an assistant director in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, under Uday Shankar for his Hindi film Kalpana. He has also worked as an editor and assistant director for the film. His debut film as an editor was Tamil film ''Parijatapaharanam''.

Mainstream

In 1957 Rao adapted Sharat Chandra Chatterjee's Bengali novel ''Nishkruti'', which was simultaneously shot in Telugu as '' Thodi Kodallu'', and Tamil as '' Engal Veettu Mahalakshmi'' (1957); both movies were made simultaneously by the same banner and director, and some of the scenes and artists are the same in both versions. The film won the Certificate of merit for Best Feature Film in Telugu. In 1959 Rao directed romantic drama Mangalya Balam, Rao adapted Mangalya Balam to the Telugu screen from the Bengali work '' Agni Pariksha'', The Telugu version was simultaneously shot in Tamil as '' Manjal Mahimai''; both versions became box office successes. The former winning the

, and the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu in 1960. In 1961, Rao directed K. S. Gopalakrishnan's

Kumudham ''Kumudham'' is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by Adurthi Subba Rao and written by K. S. Gopalakrishnan. The film stars S. S. Rajendran, Vijayakumari and Sowcar Janaki. It was released on 29 July 1961 and became a commercial succe ...

; remade in Telugu as ''

Manchi Manasulu ''Manchi Manasulu'' () is a 1962 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Adurthi Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Savitri, with music composed by K. V. Mahadevan. The film was produced by C. Sundaram under the Babu Movies ...

'' (1962). Kumudham was released on 29 July 1961 with final reel length of and became a commercial success at box office. The film received Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature Film at 9th National Film Awards. Rao scripted and directed the 1976 biographical film; '' Mahakavi Kshetrayya'' based on the life of Kshetrayya, Rao had expired in the middle of the making of the film; and director '' C. S. Rao'' completed the rest of the shoot.

Mentor to K. Viswanath and Krishna

Rao's Biography has been published by veteran actor

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

, who made his Telugu film debut under the direction of Subba Rao. Veteran director K. Viswanath has worked as an associate director of Subba Rao for many years. The Telugu film chamber of commerce has instituted the ''Adurthi Subba Rao Award'' in his honor.Events – Adurthi Subbarao Awards Presented gallery clips actors actress stills images
/ref>

Filmography

Awards

National Film Awards

;

*'' Sudigundalu'' - 1967 *'' Doctor Chakravarthy'' - 1964 *'' Mooga Manasulu'' - 1963 *'' Nammina Bantu'' - 1960 *'' Mangalya Balam'' - 1959 *'' Thodi Kodallu'' (1957) ; National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil *''

'' (1961) ;

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are the awards that recognise the excellence in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre and Telugu television, and Lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. Presented annually by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the award is named af ...

*1964 -

- '' Doctor Chakravarthy'' *1967 - Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - '' Sudigundalu'' *1976 - Nandi Award for Best Feature Film - '' Mahakavi Kshetrayya'' ; Filmfare Awards South * Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu - '' Sudigundalu''

References

External links

* *
Adurthi Subba Rao
at
Adurthi Subba Rao
at Kinopoisk {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Adurthi Subba Telugu film directors Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Cinematographers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu film cinematographers St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni Telugu film producers Filmfare Awards South winners Nandi Award winners 1912 births 1975 deaths Writers from Rajahmundry Film directors from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian film directors Hindi-language film directors Tamil film directors Telugu screenwriters Hindi screenwriters 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian screenwriters