R. Nagendra Rao
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Rattihalli Nagendra Rao (23 June 1896 – 9 February 1977) was an Indian theatre actor, film actor and director in
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 ...
. Following his career in theatre, Rao turned to film a where he became an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and occasional composer. He is considered one of the most influential personalities in the history of South Indian cinema. For his performance in ''
Hannele Chiguridaga ''Hannele Chiguridaga'' ( ) is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by Srikanth Enterprises. The film stars Rajkumar, R. Nagendra Rao and Kalpana. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Triven ...
'' (1968), Rao won the
Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada Language films. Superlatives Recipients The first recipient was ...
. Recognized for his contributions to cinema, he was awarded the
Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
by 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 ...
in 1976. Rao had four children, three of whom were involved in film. His second son, R. N. K. Prasad, was a cinematographer, his third son,
R. N. Jayagopal R. N. Jayagopal (1935 – 19 May 2008) was an Indian film director and lyricist in Cinema of Karnataka, Kannada cinema. He had written over 12,000 film songs. Early life and education R. N. Jayagopal, known to friends and fans as RNJ, was ...
, a screenwriter and lyricist and his youngest, R. N. Sudarshan, an actor.


Early life

Nagendra Rao was born on 23 June 1896, in Holalkere, in
Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...
of
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
.


Career

Rao began his career as an actor in
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
, performing in plays written in the
Kannada language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, 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, an ...
at the age of eight. As a child, he portrayed divine female characters such as
Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...
and historical characters such as Chandramathi and Desdemona. He then switched to male roles, his work proving popular in the erstwhile
Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...
and the non-Kannada speaking
Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
. In theatre, he worked with A. V. Varadacharya's Ratnavali Drama Company and Chamundeshwari company, in
Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...
. With the beginning of the talking films era in India in 1931, Rao left for
Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
(now Mumbai). There, he was cast by actor and director
P. K. Raja Sandow Raja Sandow (born P. K. Nagalingam) was an Indian actor, film director and producer. He began his career as an actor in silent films and later became a prominent actor and director in Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films of the 1930s. He is co ...
in the
Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...
films ''Parijata Pushpaharanam'' (1932), ''Narada'' (1932), ''Kovalan'' (1933) and the
Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...
film ''Ramadasu'' (1933). Rao appeared in lead roles in the latter two. Following a stint in film, Rao returned to
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
and founded the Shri Sahitya Samrajya Nataka Mandali (Shri Sahitya Samrajya Drama Company) with
Subbaiah Naidu Mysore Venkatappa Subbaiah Naidu (1896 – 21 July 1962) was an Indian theatre and film actor. He was well known for his work in films like ''Sati Sulochana'' (1934)the first Kannada talkie film, '' Bhookailas'' (1940) in Telugu, and '' Bhakta ...
, an actor and director, who would go on to influence Kannada cinema greatly. To realize his dream of making a film written in Kannada, he approached Shah
Chamanlal Doongaji Chamanlal Doongaji was an Indian businessman, film producer and distributor known for producing the first-ever talking film in Kannada, ''Sati Sulochana''. He founded a film distribution company named ''South India Movietone'' in 1932. He was ...
, a Bangalore businessman, to finance it. With Doongaji choosing
Yaragudipati Varada Rao Yaragudipati Varada Rao (30 May 1903 – 13 February 1979) was an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, and editor known for his works primarily in Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil films. Rao plunged into theatre and did a few stage plays before movin ...
to direct the film, the first talking film in Kannada, ''
Sati Sulochana ''Sati Sulochana'' () is a 1934 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Y. V. Rao. The film was released on 3 March 1934 and is the first talkie film in Kannada language.
,'' was made and finally released on 3 March 1934. Rao played the role of
Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...
in the film, and scored the music. His first film as a director came in the 1943 film '' Satya Harishchandra'', which he also produced and starred in. Rao's play ''Bhukailasa'' was thrice made into films; in 1938 and 1940 by
Sundar Rao Nadkarni Sundar Rao Nadkarni was an Indian film actor, editor, cinematographer, producer and director. He was the director of the first hit film for AVM productions Bhookailas in Telugu in the year 1940, and later the record-creating Tamil film '' Harida ...
, and in 1958 by K. Shankar. It was in this play that Rajkumar, who would go on to become one of Kannada cinema's finest actors, made his breakthrough as a theatre actor, playing the role of
Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...
. In 1951, Rao formed his own film production company, RNR Pictures. The 1957 film ''
Premada Putri ''Premada Putri'' () is a 1957 Indian Kannada-language film, directed, produced and starring R. Nagendra Rao. In addition to Nagendra Rao, the film features Udayakumar, Sandhya and Gummadi. R. N. K. Prasad made his debut in this film. ''Prem ...
'' was produced under this banner and Rao directed it, also playing a supporting role in the film. At the
5th National Film Awards The 5th National Film Awards, formerly the State Awards for Films, were a set of awards presented by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to recognize the best Indian films of 1957. The ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, Ne ...
, the film was awarded the Best Feature Film in Kannada. The production company existed until 1964. Following this, he appeared in the roles of a father in films such as ''Shri Kannika Parameshwari Kathe'' (1966) and '' Karulina Kare'' (1970). For his role in his 1968 film ''
Hannele Chiguridaga ''Hannele Chiguridaga'' ( ) is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by Srikanth Enterprises. The film stars Rajkumar, R. Nagendra Rao and Kalpana. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Triven ...
'', that co-stars Rajkumar, he won the
Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada Language films. Superlatives Recipients The first recipient was ...
. His last appearance came in the 1974 film ''
Professor Huchuraya ''Professor Huchuraya'' () is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language comedy-drama film directed by M. R. Vittal and produced by actor Narasimharaju. The story is written by Narendra Babu. Besides Narasimharaju as the protagonist, the film features Vi ...
''.


Filmography


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Nagendra R. 1896 births 1977 deaths Place of death missing Kannada male actors Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts