Suddala Hanmanthu was a noted Indian poet of the mid 1900s. He wrote songs like "Palleturi pillagada... pasulagaase monagaada..." (featured in the film '' Maa Bhoomi'').

Early life

Suddala Hanmanthu was born in Paladugu village,

Mothkur Mothkur is a Municipality and also a mandal headquarter situated in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district in the Indian state of Telangana.It is also a Taluka ertswhile. Mothkur is located 90 kilometers away from the Telangana's capital city, Hyderabad ...

mandal. Later, he moved to Suddala village in the Gundala mandal, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district,

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Career

Suddala Hanmanthu's poetry inspired the people of

to participate in the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

-led peasant struggle against the oppressive rule of feudal lords and the

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

. Along with his contemporary leader Gurram Yadagiri Reddy, a famous communist leader, he fought against Doras and Gadi's rule. This struggle was known in Indian history as the

Telangana Rebellion The Telangana Rebellion of 1946–1951 was a communist-led insurrection of peasants against the princely state of Hyderabad in the region of Telangana that escalated out of agitations in 1944–1946. Hyderabad was a feudal monarchy where mo ...

. The themes of his writing included freedom from the bonded labour known as '' Vetti Chakiri'', democracy, liberation, equality and communism. His Telugu folk song, "Palletoori Pillagada", mobilised the people of his region. It was included in the movie '' Maa Bhoomi'' (1980). The movie '' Rajanna'', starring

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

, is inspired by Suddala Hanumanthu's life.

Personal life

Suddala Hanmanthu was married to Janakamma and his son

Suddala Ashok Teja Suddala Ashok Teja (born Gurram Ashok Teja; 4 April 1954) is an Indian poet and lyricist known for his work in Telugu cinema and Telugu literature. He has written lyrics for over 2200 songs. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics for th ...

is a contemporary

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

. He earned fame for his Telugu songs and was awarded the

National Film Award for Best Lyrics The National Film Award for Best Lyrics is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) to a lyricist who has composed the best song for films produced within the Indian c ...

in 2003. They also had another two sons and a daughter. The Telugu actor Uttej is his grandson, son of his daughter.

References

Telugu poets Indian male poets Telangana Rebellion Poets from Telangana Living people People from Nalgonda district 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian male writers Year of birth missing (living people) {{India-poet-stub