Mannava Balayya

Mannava Balayya is the all-rounder of the Telugu cinema. He is an actor, a director, a producer as well as a writer. He was born in Chavupadu, Amaravathi mandalam of the Guntur district in 1930. His parents were Mannava Guravaiah Chowdary and Annapurnamma. He went to the Guindy Engineering College of Chennai, where he studied Mechanical Engineering and received his degree in B.E. His calling for the silver screen came from the drama clubs and societies of which he was a part of and inspired by that, he ventured into the world of cameras. He was mentored by Tapi Chanakya Tapi Chanakya was one of the known Indian Director >> Read More... , who was a film director and writer. Balayya opened his career as an actor with the film Ethuku Pai Ethu, a film based on societal issues. This debut film of his was directed by Thapi Chanakya himself and was made by Sarathi Studios. He strengthened his foothold in the Telugu film industry by starring in films such as Kumkum Rekha, Parvati Kalyanam, and Bhagyadevta, which established him as an actor. Most of the roles that he took or that were allotted to him were of mythological characters, most popularly of Lord Shiva and Yudhishthira. He played Lord Shiva in the movies such as Parvathi Kalyanam, Bhakta Kannappa and Jaganmatha and Yudhishthira in Shri Krishna Pandaviyam and Kurukshetram. Other than these he has played the part of Arjuna, Balarama, Brahma, etc. throughout his career. He has acted in nearly 300 films, most of which were mythological, and in 1970, established Amrutha Films.

He also wrote an award-winning play, Nalupu Telupu, which was later made into a film by the name of Chelleli Kapuram. The Andhra Pradesh Government awarded him with the Gold Nandi award for it. He also received the lifetime achievement award, Raghupathi Venkaiah, in 2010 for contributions to the Telugu film industry. He has also written films such as Neramu Siksha and Wafadaar. In addition to this, he has produced and directed many films such as Chelleli Kapuram (producer), Neramu Siksha (producer) Nijam Chebite Nerama?(director) et al.