Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian filmmaker known primarily for his work 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 ...

, besides a few

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and " Hollywood". The industry, producing films in t ...

and

Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

s. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has directed over a hundred films across various genres, including romantic comedies, fantasies, melodramas, action thrillers, biographical dramas, and romances. He has received numerous accolades, including four

Nandi Awards 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 ...

and five

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

.CINEmaa Lifetime Achievement Award for Raghavendra Rao – The Hindu
/ref> Raghavendra Rao received the state Nandi Award for Best Director for his works such as '' Bobbili Brahmanna'' (1984), and ''

Pelli Sandadi ''Pelli Sandadi'' () is a 1996 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language musical romance film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. Produced by C. Aswini Dutt, C. Aswani Dutt and Allu Aravind on Sri Raghavendra Movie Corporation banner, the film stars ...

'' (1996). He received the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu for the drama film ''Prema Lekhalu'' (1977), the

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

'' Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (1990), and the

romance film Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...

'' Allari Priyudu'' (1993). Raghavendra Rao is known for his works in hagiographical films such as '' Annamayya'' (1997), which won two

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 ...

, and was featured at the 29th IFFI in the mainstream section. Raghavendra Rao also received the Nandi Award for Best Direction, the Filmfare Award for Best Direction for his work in the film. His other hagiographic works such as ''

Sri Manjunatha Manjunath or Manjunatha is another name for the Hindu deity Shiva. It may also refer to: People * B. C. Manjunath, Indian classical musician/percussionist * Master Manjunath (Manjunath Nayaker) (born 1976), an Indian actor and public relations pr ...

'' (2001), '' Sri Ramadasu'' (2006), '' Shirdi Sai'' (2012) and '' Om Namo Venkatesaya'' (2017), received several state honours. His mainstream works such as the 1987

social problem film A social problem film is a narrative film that integrates a larger social conflict into the individual conflict between its characters. In the context of the United States and of Hollywood, the genre is defined by fictionalized depictions of s ...

'' Agni Putrudu'', and the 1988 romantic action '' Aakhari Poratam'', were featured at the 11th and 12th IFFI respectively in the mainstream section. In 1992, he directed the

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

'' Gharana Mogudu'' featured at the 24th IFFI in the mainstream section. It became the first

Telugu film 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. Based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, Telug ...

to gross over at the box office. Next, he directed the instant hit '' Allari Priyudu'' (1993), featured at the 25th IFFI in the mainstream section.

Personal life

Raghavendra Rao was born on 23 May 1942 to veteran director K. S. Prakash Rao and Koteswaramma. He is also the father of actor turned filmmaker Prakash Kovelamudi. Raghavendra Rao was an executive member in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board from 2015 to 2019.

Awards and honors

;

* NTR National Award - 2015 *B. N. Reddy National Award for lifetime contribution to Telugu cinema (2009) * Best Director – '' Annamayya'' (1997) * Best Choreographer – ''

'' (1996) * Best Director – ''

'' (1996) * Best Director – '' Allari Priyudu'' (1993) * Best Director – '' Bobbili Brahmanna'' (1984) ;Filmfare Awards South * Best Director – ''Prema Lekhalu'' (1977) *Best Director – '' Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari'' (1990) *Best Director – ''Allari Priyudu'' (1993) *Best Director – ''Annamayya'' (1997) *

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

(2002) ; IIFA Awards *Outstanding contribution to Indian cinema (2017) ; SIIMA Awards *

(2014) ;

CineMAA Awards The CineMAA Awards are presented annually by the Maa TV Group to honour artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Telugu cinema. The awards were introduced in 2004. The CineMAA Awards are voted for by both the public and a committee ...

*Lifetime Contribution Award – (2012) *Best Film (Jury) – '' Shirdi Sai'' – (2013) ;Other Awards *Allu Rama Lingaiah Award (2016)

Filmography

Director

Actor

Supervisor of direction

Associate director

Producer

Presenter

Choreographer

Television

*2002: ''Santhi Nivasam'' (

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television application specification Africa * e.tv, South Africa * ETV (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation * ETV G ...

) *2010: ''Arundathi'' ( ETV Kannada) *2013: ''Mangammagari Manavaralu'' (

Zee telugu Zee Telugu is an Indian Telugu-language general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 12 September 2004 as '' Alpha TV Telugu''. and was rebranded as ''Zee Telugu'' on 18 May 2005. The channel is owned by Zee Entert ...

) *2014: ''Soundrya Lahari'' (

) *2016: ''Koyilamma'' (

MAA TV Star Maa is an Indian Telugu-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programmes such as serials, reality shows and Telugu films. History ...

) *2017: ''Sye Sye Sayyare'' (

) *2017: ''Agnisakshi'' (

Star MAA Star Maa is an Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecasts programmes such as serials, reality shows and Telugu ...

) *2018: ''Siri Siri Muvvalu '' (

) *2020: ''C/o Anasuya'' (

) *2021: ''Krishna Tulasi'' (

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, K. Raghavendra Living people Telugu film directors Kannada film directors 21st-century Indian people Filmfare Awards South winners Nandi Award winners Hindi-language film directors Telugu film producers Hindi film producers Indian film choreographers Film people from Krishna district Film people from Andhra Pradesh Dancers from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian people Film producers from Andhra Pradesh Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh 1941 births South Indian International Movie Awards winners IIFA Utsavam winners