Mannava Balayya (9 April 1930 – 9 April 2022) was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer 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, ...

. He acted in 300 films.

Early life and career

Mannava Balayya, was born at Chavupadu,

Amaravathi Amaravati () is the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the river Krishna in Guntur district. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone at a ceremonial event in Uddanda ...

mandalam,

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the ...

district to

Mannava Mannava is a surname for some families in Andhra Pradesh, southern India. It is an Indian family name and also the name of a small place Guntur. Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation, place of origin, cl ...

Annapurnamma, Guravayya Chowdary. He studied Engineering

B.E. A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

(mechanical) in Guindy Engineering College,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

. Inspired by the drama during his college days, Balayya ventured into movies with guidance from

Tapi Chanakya Tapi Chanakya (1925–1973), professionally known as Chanakya, was an Indian film director and writer. He is son of the famous writer Tapi Dharma Rao Naidu. He has worked as Radio Telegraphist for the Indian Army. Filmography # Palletoori Pilla ...

. He made his debut as an actor with ''Ethuku Pai Ethu'', a social film directed by