Indukuri Ramakrishnam Raju (31 August 1934 – 14 August 1994), populary known by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Rajasri, was an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, film director, and music composer 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 has worked on nearly 1000 films, a majority of them are dubbed films. He was popularly referred to as ''Anuvaada Brahma'' (). He used to pen Telugu lyrics for most of the films dubbed from Tamil in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Early life

Rajasri was born as 'Indukuri Ramakrishnam Raju' to Indukuri Appalaraju and Narayanamma on 31 August 1934 in Vizianagaram. Right from early childhood he started writing stories and metrical poetry. He completed his B.Sc (Physics) from Maharajah's College in Vizianagaram. He learned typewriting. He worked as a typist-cum-personal-assistant in Srikakulam District Board.

Career

Rajasri resigned his job and moved to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. He started assisting writer Pinisetty Sriramamurthy. The first film he worked for as a lyricist was '' Aada Pettanam'' (1954), produced by Kadaru Nagabhushanam and

Kannamba Pasupuleti Kannamba (''Pasupulēţi Kannāṃba'') (5 October 1911 – 7 May 1968) was an Indian actress, playback singer and film producer of Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ...

. He also worked as an assistant director for Kadaru Nagabhusnam for the films like ''Aada Pettanam'', ''Anna-Thammudu'', ''Paruvu-Pratishta'', ''Santha'', ''Nithya Kalyanam Paccha Thoranam'', ''Veera Bhaskarudu'', and ''Sri Krishna Maaya''. Rajasri worked with

L. V. Prasad Akkineni Laxmi Vara Prasada Rao (17 January 1907 – 22 June 1994), known professionally as L. V. Prasad, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, and businessman. He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema and is the recipient of the Dad ...

in the story department of Prasad Productions for the films like '' Sasural'' (1961), '' Khilona'' (1970), ''Thayilla Pillai'' etc. He wrote lyrics for films like ''Rama Sundari''. He worked with

Chalam Chalam may refer to: * Chalam (actor), an actor in Telugu cinema * Chalam (writer) Gudipati Venkatachalam (1894–1979), popularly known as Chalam, was an Indian Telugu-language writer and philosopher. He was considered to be one of the most inf ...

for some memorable films like '' Sambarala Rambabu'' (1970), ''Bullemma Bullodu'', ''Devudamma'', ''Thulaabhaaram'' (1974), ''Ramude Devudu'', ''Ooriki Upakaari'' etc. He also wrote some memorable songs in these films. Rajasri has worked with director

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

for films like '' Mouna Ragam'' (1986), '' Naayakudu'' (1987), '' Gharshana'' (1988), '' Anjali'' (1990), '' Dalapathi'' (1991), '' Roja'' (1992), and '' Donga Donga'' (1993). Mani Ratnam got the dialogues written by Rajasri for his straight Telugu film '' Geethanjali'' (1989). Rajasri has also composed music for a few films like ''Mama Kodalu'' (1993) and ''Venkanna Babu'' (1992) directed by Dasari Narayana Rao.

Death

He died in his sleep while working for the film '' Premikudu'' on 14 August 1994, in

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 ...

. His son Rajasri Sudhakar is also a dialogue writer and lyricist. Sudhakar has penned dialogues and songs for films like '' Krrish'', ''Jodha Akbar'', '' Krrish 3'', '' Dhoom 2'', '' Dangal'', '' Dabangg 3'' and Vikranth Rona that were dubbed into Telugu.

Discography

As lyricist for straight films

As lyricist for dubbed films

As music director

Filmography

As writer

As director

Awards

* He won Nandi Award for Second Best Story Writer for Bangaru Gaajulu (1968)(in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

)

Notes

References

External links

*
List of songs penned by Rajasri at Chimata Music.com
{{authority control Telugu writers Indian lyricists 1934 births 1994 deaths