K.S. Prakash Rao

Kovelamudi Surya Prakash Rao hails from Andhra Pradesh. Born in Kolavennu in 1914, Prakash Rao began his working in small jobs before stepping into his passion for working in the movie industry. He was born in an agriculture based mediocre family. He is assumed to have worked as an industrial insurance agent and to have been as an assistant in the jewellry shop. Prakash Rao, who was educated in Andhra Pradesh, began his career as an actor at first.

Prakash Rao first acted in Apavadu in 1941 in the Telugu language. Prakash Rao is seen in the central character with Lakshmi Rajyam as his wife in the movie. He continued acting in his movies which included Patni which released the following year where Prakash plays Kovalan, again a lead role. And his last movie as an actor was Drohi which released in 1948 and in the Telugu language which showcases Prakash Rao in one of the lead roles. But none did well at the box office.

Prakash Rao’s stint as producer along with his cousin Bhaskara Rao started in 1946 with the film Grihapravesham movie. He started producing under the banner Swatantra Pictures. He started out in Telugu Film Industry and then branched out in different languages. He produced around seven movies like Drohi which was L. V. Prasad’s second movie with Prakash Rao’s banner, Deeksha and others. But Drohi turned out to be a huge success at the Telugu movie box office collection in tinsel town. His banner was later renamed as Prakash Productions. He was getting back what he invested and was able to produce many movies. He then slowly developed an interest in directing and cinematography.

In 1977, Prakash Rao assumed the role of a cinematographer for the movie Kalpana (Telugu) which has Murali Mohan Murali Mohan is a Telugu cinema actor, producer, p >> Read More... and Jayachitra in the lead which is in Black and White dimension. It was the Hindi movie Himmatwala in 1983, which was a huge success in Bollywood and Prakash Rao earned his respect from the industry and there was no stopping for this legend. Himmatwala proved to be an immense success with Jeetendra and Sridevi in the lead. This flick marked the entry of Prakash Rao who then went on to many projects in the Bollywood and also in languages like Kannada as well.

Famous Bollywood movies of the 90s like Jaani Dost, Justice Chaudhury and others. Some of his movies were also a remake from Telugu language and were remade in Hindi. Maybe, it helped Prakash Rao better doing it in both languages. He had established himself quite well in both the languages and he was also one of the sought after cinematographer and also worked as the Director of Photography.

His Telugu movies were a mixture of family drama, romance and also included thrillers. Movies like Agni Putrudu Click to look into! >> Read More... , Kaliyuga Pandavulu, and Kondaveeti Raja speak volumes about village life, family drama and moral scripts played by big stars like Chiranjeevi, Khushbo, and Venkatesh Daggubati One of the most talented face in Telugu film indus >> Read More... . Prakash Rao captures the scenes so well, and the screenplay was commendable. Movies like Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Haseena Maan Jayegi were also done under Prakash Rao.

On the other hand, Prakash Rao directed more than forty movies in Telugu, Tamil and also Kannada languages. His first directorial project with Narayana Rao Story Soon >> Read More... and Varalakshmi in the main roles was Modati Raatri, which released in 1950. After this, he directed Deeksha (Telugu)/ Anni (Tamil) movie which got him huge financial success to him. He then went on to direct bilinguals for a while and they came out in flying colors. Kanna Thalli, Melukolupu, Tehsildarugaari Ammayi were few of the movies which Prakash Rao directed and he had already become a talented Director, and had worked with Nageswara Rao, N. T. Rama Rao Bio coming soon... >> Read More... and Sivaji Ganesan The Honorable Mr. Ganesan was the second son in hi >> Read More... , some of the big names in Telugu and Tamil movie industry. But it was Prem Nagar movie which released in both Telugu and Hindi Language garnered him many accolades and a high standard as a Director and gained popularity as well. In Tamil the same success repeated for the ace Director when he directed the movie Vasantha Maligai with top billing actors such as A. Nageswara, Rajesh Khanna Born as Jatin Khanna on 29th December 1942, the ch >> Read More... , Sivaji Ganesan, Hema Malini Hema Malini is perhaps the only dream girl of the >> Read More... and Vanisri.

Rama Naidu produced the movie, and it was screened in three languages Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. Rama Naidu has only nice things to say about Prakash Rao. Having produced some of Prakash’s cinema Rama Naidu appreciates his work and lauds Prakash’s work in narrating the story and envisioning the script so effectively. The touch of sensitivity and the emotional quotient is very evident in his movies. Prakash’s screenplay was also highly sought after and the best work is seen in the movie Tahsildar Gaayi Ammayi, so says Desari Naraya Rao upon asking about Prakash Rao.

Prakash Rao also directed children’s movie as he was fond of children. With Mohan Kanda as the lead along with 150 children, Rao directed a film Raja Yogam. To say about his talent and popularity, Balaji used to work as a Production Manager for Prakash’s movies. To work as an Assistant Director under him was a deal of great respect and an honor at the same time. The experience that his sons and nephews got working under him was immeasurable as they went on to become great directors in their lives later on. Among them, Raghavendra Rao is the most notable one.

Rao also exploited his directorial skills in Kannada language and made some very memorable ones too. He got to work with a big star (then) like Vishnu Vardhan as well. Among them, Ganda Hendati, Badukuva Daari is worth mentioning. His last film was Kotha Neeru. He gave importance to creativity and he was known for his maneuvers behind the camera and involved himself in making great movies.

Prakash Rao was honored by the Andhra Pradesh Government with Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 1994 for his Outstanding Contribution to Telugu Cinema.