Kamalakara Kameswara Rao
Born(1911-10-14)14 October 1911
Machilipatnam, Madras Presidency, British India
Died29 June 1998(1998-06-29) (aged 86)
Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India
OccupationFilm direction
EducationBachelor of Arts
Alma materNoble College, Machilipatnam
Period1940s to 1980s
GenreEpic
Historical
Notable worksMahakavi Kalidasu
Gundamma Katha
Mahamantri Timmarusu
Nartanasala

Kamalakara Kameswara Rao (14 October 1911 – 29 June 1998) was an Indian film director known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, and a few Tamil and Hindi films. Widely known as Pauranika Chitra Brahma (transl. Brahma of mythological films),[1] Kameswara Rao directed fifty feature films in a variety of genres.[2]

In 1960 he directed the biographical film, Mahakavi Kalidasu which won the President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Telugu.[3] In 1962 he directed Gundamma Katha which was commercially successful and received the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Telugu. In the same year, he directed another biographical film, Mahamantri Timmarusu which won the President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Telugu at the 10th National Film Awards.[4]

In 1963, Rao directed the blockbuster, epic mythological film Nartanasala.[5][6] The film is cited among CNN-IBN's list of the hundred greatest Indian films of all time.[7] The film has received wide critical acclaim and has garnered the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film at the 11th National Film Awards, and has secured the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Film.[5]

Life sketch

He was born in 1911 in Machilipatnam. He has completed a Bachelor of Arts from the Noble College, Machilipatnam. He has worked as a Film journalist for Krishna Patrika between 1934 and 1937. His unbiased reviews about the released films are highly appreciated by the audiences.[8]

On invitation from H. M. Reddy, he has reached Madras. He has joined as assistant director and worked with K. V. Reddy and Moola Narayana Swamy for the film Gruhalakshmi in 1938. He has worked as assistant director for the films Vande Mataram, Sumangali, Devatha and Swarga Seema under Bomireddi Narasimha Reddy and for Bhakta Potana and Yogi Vemana under K. V. Reddy.

After observing him closely, Vijaya Productions has given the responsibility of independently direct Chandraharam in 1954 which was not commercially successful.[1] He has left Vijaya Productions in 1955. He has directed about 30 films for National Art Theatres, Rajyam Pictures, Ponnaloori Brothers, Padmalaya Pictures, Mahija pictures and Suresh Productions over the period of three decades. He used to describe the film Nartanasala (1963) as his best directoral work, which won many National and International awards.

Death

Rao died at the age of 88 years on 29 June 1998 due to cardiac arrest.

Filmography

Director

Assistant director

Awards

National Film Awards

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "History of Birth And Growth of Telugu Cinema (Part 13)". CineGoer.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Kameswara Rao, Kamalakara, Luminaries of 20th Century, Part I, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, 2005, pp: 74–5.
  3. 1 2 "8th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  4. 1 2 "10th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  5. 1 2 "11th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Directorate of Film Festival" (PDF). Iffi.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "100 Years of Indian Cinema: The 100 greatest Indian films of all time". IBNLive. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Kamalakara Kameswara Rao Jayanthi Today at Cinegoer.com". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
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