P. Pullaiah

P. Pullaiah Biography

P. Pullaiah was a filmmaker associated with early talkies of south Indian cinema. He produced and directed movies under his banner, PadmaSree Pictures. The production house was started along with his wife Santha Kumari, a singing actress of south Indian films who was active in the early talkies and black and white films. The couple started a film banner PadmaSree Pictures in the name of their daughter. Santha worked in films - Shavukaru, Ardhangi, Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam, Shanti Nivasam and Ramudu Bheemudu made by her husband. In fact she mostly worked in films released under their home banner. Pullaiah received Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his contributions to Telugu cinema.

P. Pullaiah was born on 2 May 1911 in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. He had one sister. He started his career in 1935 as a director of the movie Harish Chandra. He met his future wife Santha Kumari in the film sets, where they worked together. Her second film Sarangadhara in 1937 was directed by Pullaiah. They married in the same year and a daughter was born to them. They worked together for many movies in the black-white era. In 1945, he directed the movie, Maya Machhindra, which was a combination of six different movies of various languages of India. It is made in many languages including Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Hindi.

Pulliaah also made movies with other actors. Jayabheri was one of his major hits starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi in lead roles, and the movie was released in 1959. The movie received Filmfare award for best Telugu film. By that time Santha started accepting character roles in the 1950s. Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam released the following year was yet another masterpiece work of the director, and this Hindu mythological movie was a major hit. It starred N. T. Rama Rao in a lead role.

Andaru Bagundali was his last film as a film director, released in 1975. His movies – Ardhangi and Jayabheri have won National award for best regional film in the years – 1955 and 1959 respectively. Siri Sampadalu in 1962 won Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film in Telugu. The director passed away in 1985.

Published: February 27, 2019

Updated: February 27, 2019