100 Years Of NTR The First Super Star Of Telugu Cinema
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao is the first superstar of the Telugu film industry, and today is the 100th Birthday of the legend actor, filmmaker and ex-chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.
He starred in over 300 films, predominantly in Telugu cinema, and was referred to as Viswa Vikhyatha Nata Sarwa Bhouma (transl. World’s famous emperor of acting).
Rao received three National Film Awards for co-producing Thodu Dongalu (1954) and Seetharama Kalyanam (1960) under National Art Theater, Madras, and for directing Varakatnam (1970).
He has received the erstwhile Rashtrapati Awards for his performance in the Raju Peda (1954) and the Lava Kusa (1963).
He garnered the Nandi Award for Best Actor for Kodalu Diddina Kapuram in 1970 and the Inaugural Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu in 1972 for Badi Panthulu.
After his career in films, Rao entered politics. He founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982 and served three tumultuous terms as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 1983 and 1995.
He was known as an advocate of Andhra Pradesh’s distinct cultural identity, distinguishing it from the erstwhile Madras State it was often associated with.Â
100 Years Of NTR The First Super Star Of Telugu Cinema
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao was born on 28 May 1923 in Nimmakuru, a small village in Gudivada taluk of Krishna district, a part of the erstwhile Madras Presidency of British India.
He was given in adoption to his paternal uncle because his uncle and aunt were childless.
 He attended school at first in his village and later in Vijayawada.Â
After his matriculation in 1940, he studied at SRR & CVR College in Vijayawada and the Andhra Christian College in Guntur.
In 1947, he joined the Madras Service Commission as a sub-registrar at Prathipadu of Guntur district, a much-coveted job that he nevertheless quit within three weeks to devote himself to acting.
He developed a baritone singing voice as a young man.
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