R. Nagendra Rao

Rattihalli Nagendra Rao (23 June 1896 – 9 February 1977) was an Indian theatre actor, film actor and director in South Indian cinema. After a career in theatre, Rao's career in films was those of an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and an occasional composer. He is considered one of the most influential personalities in the history of South Indian cinema.
For his performance in Hannele Chiguridaga (1968), Rao won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor. Recognizing his contribution to cinema, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 1976. He had four children, three of who were involved in films. His second son was R. N. Krishna Prasad, a cinematographer, third son, R. N. Jayagopal, a screenwriter and lyricist and the youngest, R. N. Sudarshan, an actor.

Early life

Nagendra Rao was born on June 23, 1896, in Holalkere, in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore of British India.

Career

Rao began his career as an actor in theatre, acting in plays in the Kannada language, at the age of eight. As a kid, he portrayed the roles of mythological female characters such as Sita, Chandramathi and Desdemona. He then switched to playing male roles, with the plays proving popular in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore and the non-Kannada speaking Madras Presidency. In theatre, he worked with A. V. Varadacharya's Ratnavali Drama Company and Chamundeshwari company, in Mysore.

With the beginning of the talking films era in India in 1931, Rao left to Bombay (now Mumbai). Once there, Rao was cast by actor and film director, P. K. Raja Sandow, in his Tamil language films such as Parijata Pushpaharanam (1932), Narada (1932), Kovalan (1933) and the Telugu language film Ramadasu (1933). He appeared in lead roles in the latter two. Following a stint at films, Rao returned to Bangalore and started the Shri Sahitya Samrajya Nataka Mandali (Shri Sahitya Samrajya Drama Company) with Subbaiah Naidu, an actor and director, who like Rao would go on to influence Kannada cinema largely. To make his dream of making a film in Kannada language come true, he approached Shah Chamanlal Doongaji, a businessman in Bangalore, to finance it. With Doongaji choosing Yaragudipati Varada Rao to direct the film, the first talking film in Kannada, Sati Sulochana was made and was released on March 3, 1934. Rao played the role of Ravana in the film, and score the music. His first film as a director came in the 1943 film, Satya Harishchandra, a film that he also produced and starred in.

Rao's play Bhukailasa was thrice made into films; in 1938 and 1940 by Sundar Rao Nadkarni, and in 1958 by K. Shankar. It was in Rao's play of Bhukailasa in theatre, that Rajkumar, who would go on to become one of Kannada cinema's finest actors, made his breakthrough as a theatre actor, playing the role of Narada. In 1951, Rao formed his own film production company, RNR Pictures. The 1957 film Premada Putri was produced under this banner and Rao directed it, also playing a supporting role in the film. At the 5th National Film Awards, the film was awarded the Best Feature Film in Kannada. The production company existed till 1964. Following this, he appeared in roles of a father in films such as Shri Kannika Parameshwari Kathe (1966) and Karulina Kare (1970). For his role in his 1968 film, Hannele Chiguridaga, that co-stars Rajkumar, he won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor. His last appearance came in the 1974 film, Professor Huchuraya.

Filmography