Chittor V. Nagaiah birth name Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya (28 March 1904 – 30 December 1973) was an Indian actor, composer, director, producer, writer and playback singer of the Telugu film industry, Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian film journalist and the editor of Film India, Baburao Patel, described Nagiah as ‘The Paul Muni of India’. Nagaiah acted in about 200 Telugu films, and 160 films in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. He was the first South Indian actor to receive the Padma Sri award from the Government of India. He remains one of the most notable actors in Indian Cinema.
Life and Times:-
Nagaiah was born on 28 March 1904 in a pious Telugu family at Repalle in Guntur district. His parents were Ramalinga Sarma and Venkata Lakshmamba. His parents believed that Nagaiah was born to them by the blessings of the Snake God, hence named him Nagaiah.
The family migrated to Kuppam and later to Tirupati, in Chittoor district. He took up studies with a scholarship provided by the Tirupati Devasthanam and took his degree in Chittoor. He worked as a clerk in a government office. Later, he turned into a journalist with “Andhra Patrika”. Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru influenced him and he participated in the freedom struggle (Dandi Satyagraha) in 1930. His liking for the fine arts, found himself working with gramophone companies like Hutchins. He found patronage from the legendary figures in Carnatic music Musiri Subramania Iyer and GN Balasubramanian. MS Subba Lakshmi happens to be his contemporary.
He attended the Gowhati Congress conclave with S. Srinivasa Iyengar. Through his musical renderings, he could impress the young Kamala Nehru at Anand Bhavan in Allahabad.
He held a strong association with ‘Rama Vilasa Sabha’ a cultural association in Chittoor. He performed several stages plays ‘Sarangadhara’, ‘Viswamithra Chitra Nilayam’, ‘Savitri’, ‘Bruhannala’ and ‘Ramadasu’ and took on the roles of saint poets Pothana, Vemana, Rama Dasu and Thyagiah. He bagged a gold medal for his female role as ‘Chitrangi’, in the play ‘Sarangadhara’. During that period he was married to Vijaya Lakshmi, but she demised when she gave birth to a girl child a year later. He had to marry Girija in order to take care of his daughter. Fate was so cruel to Nagaiah that Girija too died due to miscarriage in the eighth month. The daughter also left the world due to a mysterious disease. All these unfortunate developments had turned Nagaiah into a saint. His long stays at Ramana Maharshi Ashram and several places provided him with a deep insight into human nature. He began to love mankind.
He joined the Chennapuri Andhra Maha Sabha (CAMS), a popular cultural Association of Andhras in the erstwhile Madras. Nagaiah developed a lifetime friendship with Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy (BN Reddy- famed filmmakers of India). H. M. Reddy, a legendary figure in the pre-independence era arrived at Madras from Kolhapur and formed the Rohini Pictures with the association of B.N. Reddy. The firm started its first venture in Telugu through the film ‘Gruhalakshmi’ in 1938, in which Nagaiah played a significant role, as the brother of the then-popular heroine Kannambha. Later, the association worked through several hits with Vahini Studios. ‘Vande Matharam’ (1939), ‘Sumangali’ (1940), ‘Devata’ (1941), ‘Bhakta Potana’ (1942), ‘Swarga Seema’ (1945), ‘Thygayya’ (1946), ‘Yogivemana’ (1947) were huge hits. He started getting offers from the Telugu and Tamil film industries equally. Nagiah became the highest-paid actor by the time he was making the film ‘Beedalapatlu’. His performance in the film ‘Yogi Vemana’ influenced a boy who later turned into a saint and became popular as ‘Balayogi’.
The film ‘Thyagiah’ was released in the year 1946 and was a fabulous classic film of South Indian film history. Nagaiah was the producer, director, music director and actor for the film ‘Thyagiah’. a reverberant hit. After that he made films ‘Naa Illu’ in 1953 and ‘Bhakta Ramadas’ in 1964 which turned out to be failures and Nagaiah lost his wealth. Another musical hit of Nagaiah was ‘Chakradhari’, in 1948 based on the story of the Maharashtrian potter-saint Gora Kumbhar.
Awards :
- He was the first South Indian actor to be awarded the Padma Shri award by the Government of India in 1965.
- Abinava Thyagaraju by Thiruvankur Maharaja.
- Best Actor Award by the Andhra Film Journalists Association
Trivia :
• He was the highest-paid actor during his time and used to charge 100,000 Indian rupees for each movie.
Composer :
1. Ramadasu (1964)
2. En Veedu (1953)
3. Gumasta (1953/II)
4. Naa Illu (1953)
5. Yogi Vemana (1947)
6. Thyagayya (1946) (as V. Nagiah)
7. Swargaseema (1945)
8. Bhakta Potana (1942)
9. Devatha (1941)
10. Sumangali (1940)
11. Vande Mataram (1939)
Director :
1. Ramadasu (1964)
2. En Veedu (1953)
3. Naa Illu (1953)
4. Thyagayya (1946)
Producer :
1. Naa Illu (1953)
Writer :
1. Thyagayya (1946)
Movies of Chittor V Nagaiah :
1) Ennai Pol Oruvan (1976)
2) Inti Kodalu (1974)
3) Ganga Gauri (1973)
4) Pattikatu Ponnaiah (1973)
5) Vishali (1973)
6) Beedala Patlu (1972) … aka The Plight of the Poor (India: English title)
7) Goodu Putani (1972)
8) Iddaru Ammayilu (1972) …. Laxman Rao
9) Neethi (1972)
10) Pedda Koduku (1972) … aka The Eldest Son (India: English title)
11) Shakti Leela (1972)
12) Iru Thuruvam (1971)
13) Kulagaurava (1971)
14) Sampoorna Ramayanam (1971) …. Vashistha Mahamuni … aka The Complete Ramayana
15) Shri Krishna Satya (1971) … aka The Truth of Lord Krishna (India: English title)
16) Shrimanthudu (1971)
17) Tapalkaran Thanga (1970)
18) Thalli Thandrulu (1970) …. Raobahadur Perumallu
19) Aadarsa Kutumbam (1969)
20) Mooga Nomu (1969)
21) Brahmachari (1968/II)
22) Nindu Samsaram (1968) … aka Happy Family (India: English title)
23) Thillana Mohanambal (1968) …. Shanmugasundaram’s guru
24) Bhama Vijayam (1967) … aka Bhama’s Victory (India: English title)
25) Iru Malargal (1967)
26) Poola Rangadu (1967) …. Veeraiah
27) Rahasyam (1967) … aka Mystery (India: English title)
28) Shri Krishnavataram (1967/I)
29) Veera Pooja (1967) (as Nagiah) … aka Hero Worship (India: English title)
30) Aastiparulu (1966)
31) Bhakta Potana (1966) …. Vyasa Maharshi
32) Navarathri (1966)
33) Parakkum Pavai (1966)
34) Paramanandayya Shishyula Katha (1966) …. Paramanandaiah
35) Ramu (1966)
36) Shri Krishna Pandaviyam (1966)
37) Preminchi Choodu (1965)
38) Satya Harishchandra (1965/II) … aka Truthful Harischandra (India: English title)
39) Shanti (1965)
40) Aatma Balam (1964)
41) Amarshilpi Jakanna (1964) … aka Amarashilpi Jakanachari (India: Kannada title)
42) Bobbili Yudham (1964)
43) Devatha (1964)
44) Pachai Vilakku (1964) … aka Green Light
46) Ramadasu (1964) …. Ramadasu
47) Lava Kusa (1963/I) …. Valmiki Maharshi … aka Lava and Kusha (India: English title)
48) Sri Krishnarjuna Yudham (1963) …. Akroora … aka The War Between Lord Krishna and Arjuna (India: English title)
49) Anuragham (1963)
50) Naan Vanangum Daivam (1963)
51) Swarnamanjari (1962)
52) Dakshayagnam (1962/I) …. Dadheechi Maharshi
53) Alayamani (1962)
54) Siri Sampadalu (1962) …. Nayudu
55) Valar Pirai (1962)
56) Intiki Deepam Illalu (1961)
57) Sri Seetha Rama Kalyanam (1961) …. Dasarathudu
58) Ellam Unnakkaga (1961)
59) Nagarjuna (1961/I)
60) Pavamanippu (1961) … aka Forgiveness of Sins … aka Pava Mannippu (India: Tamil title: alternative transliteration) … aka The Confessional Pardon
61) Sabash Raja (1961)
62) Vagdanam (1961) …. Vishwanatham (Vijaya’s father)
63) Abhimanam (1960)
64) Shantinivasam (1960)
65) Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam (1960) …. Bavaji … aka Bhagwan Balaji (India: Tamil title) … aka Lord Balaji (India: English title)
66) Jayabheri (1959) …. Viswambhara Sastri
67) Bandaramudu (1959)
68) Kalaivanan (1959)
69) Nalla Theerpu (1959)
70) Bommalapelli (1958)
71) Parvati Kalyanam (1958)
72) Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958)
73) Panduranga Mahatyam (1957) …. Jahnavi
74) Sati Savitri (1957/I)
75) Tenali Ramakrishna (1956/I) …. Mahamantri Thimmarusu
76) Asai (1956)
77) Muddu Bidda (1956)
78) Naga Panchami (1956/I)
79) Tenali Raman (1956) …. Mahamantri Thimmarusu
80) Anarkali (1955)
81) Kanavane Kan Kanda Daivam (1955)
82) Ethirparadathu (1954) …. Dayaparar … aka Unexpected (India: English title)
83) Maa Gopi (1954)
84) Thuli Visham (1954)
85) Viduthalai (1954) …. Periaswamy
86) En Veedu (1953) …. Shivram
87) Gumasta (1953/I)
88) Gumasta (1953/II) …. Ranganatham
89) Ladki (1953) (as V. Nagiah)
90) Naa Illu (1953) …. Sivaram
91) Panakkari (1953)
92) Penn (1953) … aka Girl (India: English title)
93) Prapancham (1953)
94) Ulagam (1953)
95) Thayi Ullam (1952)
96) Sarvadhikari (1951) … aka Dictator (India: English title)
97) Beedala Patlu (1950)
98) Ezhai Padum Padu (1950) …. Kandan
99) Mana Desam (1949)
100) Navajeevanam (1949) …. Mahadevan
101) Chakradhari (1948)
102) Yogi Vemana (1947) …. Vemana
103) Thyagayya (1946) …. Tyagayya
104) Meera (1945) …. King of Mewar
105) Swargaseema (1945) …. Murthy
106) Bhagyalaxmi (1943) …. Srinivasa Rao
107) Chenchulakshmi (1943) …. Chenchu’s Father
108) Bhakta Potana (1942) …. Pothana
109) Ashok Kumar (1941) …. King Ashoka
110) Devatha (1941) …. Venu … aka Divinity
111) Sumangali (1940) …. Panthulu
112) Vishwamohini (1940) …. A Film Director
113) Vande Mataram (1939) …. Raghu
114) Grihalakshmi (1938) …. Gopineth