Jaladi Raja Rao (9 August 1932 – 14 October 2011) was a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

,and lyricist 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 ...

Life

Jaladi was born on 9 August 1932 in

Gudiwada Gudivada is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Gudivada mandal in Gudivada revenue division. It is one of the cities in the state to be a part of Andhra Pradesh Capita ...

in the

Krishna district Krishna district is a district in the Coastal Andhra region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is surrounded on the East by Bay of Bengal, West by Guntur district, Guntur, Bapatla distric ...

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 ...

. He was the fourth son of Amrutamma and the late Jaladi Emmanuel, a member of the Krishna District Board and

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 many methods. This is a li ...

. He passed his S.S.L.C. with Telugu as special course. He started his career as a drawing teacher in District Board Schools. He worked in various districts and learned the slang used in different areas of the State. He resigned his job during his stint at

Veeraghattam Veeraghattam is an Indian town in Srikakulam district, Parvathipuram Manyam district of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Veeraghattam mandal of Palakonda revenue division. Geography Veeraghattam is located near the Vattigedda river and Easter ...

Srikakulam district Srikakulam district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located in the Uttarandhra region of the state, with its headquarters located at Srikakulam. It is one of the six districts, located in the extreme northeastern direction ...

in 1968 and went to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

to try his luck in films. He entered the realm of films as a lyricist for the movie ''Palle Sema'' in 1976. His debut song ''Churattakku Jarutadhi Situkku Situkku'' is tuned by

K V Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician who won the inaugural National Film Award for Best Music Direction in (1967) for '' Kandan Karunai''. ...

. He wrote several social, philosophical, patriotic and folk songs in Telugu movies. His songs consist of only Telugu words of various regions of Andhra Pradesh. Being born in a poor family, he always liked to write about

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

, village life and folk type of songs. He penned nearly 1,500 songs in more than 270 movies and remained popular for his folk-oriented songs, which had an exotic rural touch. He also wrote books like Viswamohini and Kakulamma and plays like Amarajeevi, Tandri, Samadhi and Karumeghalu. He died on 14 October 2011 in

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

Awards and achievements

* Best writer award from the Vijayawada Cultural Association for his play 'Karu Meghalu' in 1957. * Conferred Twin Cities Cultural Award and the Hyderabad Film Fare Award in 1970. * Conferred The Kalasagar Award, Madras in 1987. * Conferred The Cine Herald Award, Hyderabad in 1987. *

Nandi Award The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic s ...

of the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1990 for ''

Erra Mandaram ''Yerra Mandaram'' () is a 1991 Indian Telugu-language revolutionary film directed by Muthyala Subbaiah. Produced by Pokuri Venkateswara Rao on Eetharam Films banner, the film stars Rajendra Prasad and Yamuna with music composed by Chakravarthy ...

''. * Was given the title 'Navarasa Kavi Samrat' by the Prabhu Chitra Arts Association of Eluru in 1991. * Was given the title 'Kalasagar' for the song 'Punya bhoomi naa desam namonamami' in the film Major Chandrakanth. * Served as a member of the AP Film and TV (Nandi) Awards Committee for 1990–91 and 1994–95. * Became member of the Executive Council of Sri Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, in 1997. * Honored with ''Kala Prapoorna'' award from

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

, 2008.

Filmography

These are some of the popular songs penned by him for Telugu films.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Jaladi Raja 1932 births 2011 deaths Telugu poets Telugu-language lyricists Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh Writers from Krishna district Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Indian lyricists 20th-century Indian male writers