Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma (28 March 1904 – 30 December 1973), popularly known as Chittoor Nagayya, was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works 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 ...

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

, and Telugu theatre. Nagayya was one of the first multilingual filmmakers in India. Indian film journalist Baburao Patel described Nagayya as "The Paul Muni of India". Nagayya was considered the best

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

South Indian cinema Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major Dravidian languages of the region, namely Telugu cinema, Telugu, Tamil Cinema, Tamil, Ma ...

during 1940s and 1950s. In 1965, he became the first South Indian actor to receive the Padma Shri in Arts from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

for his contributions to Indian cinema.Autobiography – Chittor V. Nagaiah, RK Books, Hyderabad, 2004. Brought up in Chittoor, Nagayya was closely connected to Rama Vilasa Sabha, a Telugu theatre association in the city. He made his film debut in '' Gruhalakshmi'' (1938). He worked in several films of Vauhini Pictures such as ''Vande Mataram'' (1939), '' Sumangali'' (1940), ''

Devata ''Devata'' (pl: ''devatas'', meaning 'the gods') are smaller and more focused Devas (Deities) in Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The term "devata" itself can also mean deva. They can be either male or female. Every human ac ...

'' (1941), '' Swarga Seema'' (1945), and ''Beedhalapatlu'' (1947). Nagayya was also the protagonist in '' Viswa Mohini'' (1940), the first film on the Indian motion picture world. Nagayya made significant contributions to

, and starred in about two hundred Telugu films. He was a method actor, and his forte was usually playing intense characters, often immersing himself in the study of the real character's traits and mannerisms. His other prominent film roles include the 14th-century poet '' Pothana'' in '' Bhakta Potana'' (1942), 17th-century saint '' Tyagaraja'' in '' Thyagayya'' (1946), 12th-century saint '' Gora Kumbhar'' in ''Chakradhari'' (1948), and Sivaram in the social problem film '' Naa Illu'' (1953). In 1964, Nagayya essayed the 17th-century saint ''Bhadrachala Ramadasu'' in the film Ramadasu which he had also co-written, directed and produced. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. Nagayya also starred in about one hundred and sixty films in Tamil,

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. In his honour, the Chittoor Nagayya Kalakshetram of Arts was established in Chittoor of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Early life

Nagayya was born on 28 March 1904 in a Telugu family in a tiny hamlet near Repalle,

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

, Andhra Pradesh. His parents were Ramalinga Sarma and Venkata Lakshmamba. His maternal grandmother adopted him and took him to her native village, Gonugur, near Kuppam and later to Chittoor. He took up studies with a scholarship provided by the Tirupati Devasthanam and took his degree in Chittoor. After working as a clerk in a government office, Nagayya became a journalist with ''Andhra Patrika''.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and Nehru influenced him and he participated in the freedom struggle ( Dandi Satyagraha) in 1930, later going on to work for some gramophone companies including Hutchins as well as attending the Gowhati Congress conclave with S. Srinivasa Iyyengar. He was married to Jaya Lakshmi, but she died giving birth to a daughter a year after. He then married Girija, and she too died due to miscarriage in the eighth month. His first daughter died of an undiagnosed illness. He then participated in long stays at

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was b ...

Ashram. He had family in Tirupati who are his brother's (Vuppaladadiyam Subrahmanya Sarma) son, Vuppaladadiyam S. Haragopal and daughters (Late Amruthavalli and Late Kusuma), Lakshmi Narasimha and their children, Vuppaladadiyam Shyam Sundar and Vuppaladadiyam Pavan Kumar.Chittoor V. Nagaiah: A Monograph
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Accolades

;Civilian Awards * Padmashri,

in 1965 ;National honors *Abinava Thyagaraju by the Maharaja of Travancore ;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

* National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu (director) – 1964 for '' Ramadasu'' ;State Awards *Best Actor Award by the Andhra Film Journalists Association *Felicitated by a life size statue in Panagal Park, Chennai at his demise.

Selected filmography

Actor

;Composer and play back singer ;Playback singer *''Ramadasu'' (1964) * ''Tenali Raman'' *''Gumasta'' (1953/II) (playback singer and composer) *'' Naa Illu'' (1953) (playback singer and composer) *'' Yogi Vemana'' (1947) (playback singer and composer) *''Thyagayya'' (1946) (playback singer and composer) *'' Swargaseema'' (1945) (playback singer and composer) *'' Bhakta Potana'' (1942) (playback singer and composer) *'' Devatha'' (1941) (playback singer and composer) * ''Sumangali'' (1940) (playback singer and composer) *'' Viswa Mohini'' (1940) (playback singer) *'' Vande Mataram'' (1939) (playback singer and composer) *'' Gruhalakshmi'' (1938) (playback singer) ;Director (partial filmography) *''Ramadasu'' (Telugu, 1964) *'' En Veedu'' (Tamil, 1953) *'' Naa Illu'' (Telugu, 1953) * ''Thyagayya'' (Telugu, 1946) ;Producer (partial filmography) *'' Naa Illu'' (1953) ;Writer (partial filmography) * ''Thyagayya'' (1946)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagayya, V. 1904 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian singers Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Indian arts administrators Indian male film actors Indian male stage actors Indian theatre directors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors in Kannada cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema Male actors in Telugu cinema Indian male film score composers People from Chittoor district Actors from Guntur district Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Singers from Andhra Pradesh Telugu film directors Telugu film producers Telugu film score composers Telugu male actors Telugu playback singers