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

Early life

Suddala Hanmanthu was born in Paladugu village, Mothkur mandal. Later, he moved to suddala village of Gundala Mandal in

Yadadri bhuvanagiri district Yadadri Bhuvanagiri District, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The administrative headquarters is located at Bhuvanagiri Town. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Nalgonda, Jangaon, Siddipet, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Ranga ...

, Telangana State in India.

Career

Suddala Hanmanthu's poetry inspired the people of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

to participate in the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

-led peasant struggle against the oppressive rule of feudal lords and the Nizam. Along with his contemporary leader

Gurram Yadagiri Reddy Gurram Yadagiri Reddy (5 February 1931 – 22 November 2019) was a freedom fighter of Telangana rebellion and a veteran politician at Communist Party of India. He was elected as a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly three times. ...

, 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 popularly known as Telangana Sayuda Poratam (Telugu : తెలంగాణ సాయుధ పోరాటం) of 1946–51 was a communist-led insurrection of peasants against the princely state of Hyderabad in the r ...

. His themes were freedom from the bonded labour known as ''Vetti Chakiri'', democracy, liberation, equality and communism. His

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 ...

folk song, ''Palletoori Pillagada'', mobilised the people of his region. It was included in the movie, '' Maa Bhoomi'' (1980). The movie ''

Rajanna ''Rajanna'' is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language period action film written and directed by V. Vijayendra Prasad. The film is produced by Nagarjuna, and starred him, Sneha and child artist Baby Annie. The film is partially inspired by Razakar movem ...

'', starring

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

is inspired by Sri Suddala Hanumanthu's life.

Personal life

Suddala Hanmanthu was married to Janakamma and his son Suddala Ashok Teja is a contemporary

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter 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 ...

. He earned fame for his

songs and was awarded the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in the year 2003. They also had another two sons and a daughter. Famous 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