Cinemaazi remembers Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu on his death anniversary

Regarded as the pioneer of Telugu cinema, Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu passed away on 15 March, 1941. A film exhibitor, studio owner, director and producer, he had a foundational role to play in almost every aspect of Telugu cinema. 
Inclined towards art from a young age, he rented a house at Mount Road in Madras at the age of 18 to form an art center. Interested in the new medium of photography, he became adept at it and set up a photo studio. Having heard of the Chrono Megaphone, he ordered it from John Dickinson & Company. He started making short films and exhibited them at the Victoria Hall. He also started travelling to places like Bangalore, Vijayawada and even Sri Lanka and Rangoon with his films. 1910 was a landmark year, when he established the Esplanade Tent House in Madras. In 1912, he built the first film theatre in Madras - the Gaiety Talkies. He also built the Crown Theater and Globe Theater. The first few films shown in these theatres were American and British imports. 
The first step towards indigenous production of films was taken in 1919 with the formation of Star of East Films and the studio Glass Studio. After his son Raghupathi Surya Prakash Naidu returned from London trained in cinematography, they set about making their first film. Meenakshi Kalyanam was their first film, but the feature was ruined due to a faulty camera. The next attempt Bhishma Pratigya (1921) was successful. The film also included luminaries like A Narayanan and C Pullaiah working on it. It had intertitles in various languages and was distributed throughout the subcontinent. Other films produced by him were Gajendra Moksham (1923), and Mathsyavatharam. But heavy debt led him to sell all his properties.

The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award (now known as Raghupathi Venkaiah Award), constituted in his honour, is considered the highest award in the Telugu film industry.