Tatineni Prakash Rao

Tatineni Prakash Rao Biography

Tatineni Prakash Rao was a famous filmmaker associated with Bollywood in the 1960s. He also directed a few south Indian movies in Telugu, Tamil languages. As a Bollywood filmmaker, he is best known for the movies – Suraj, Bahurani, Duniya, Sasural, College Girl, Izzat, Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani etc. He frequently worked with Rajendra Kumar , Dev Anand and Vyjayanthimala in the 1960s and his movies are known for some of memorable songs, mostly composed by Shankar Jaikishen and sung by Rafi and Lata. His son TLV Prasad and grandson Tatineni Satya are also filmmakers.

Tatineni Prakash Rao was born on 24 November 1924 in Krishna district, present day Andhra Pradesh to Telugu speaking couple. He got associated with cine world as early as 1950s, and marked his debut as a film director through Telugu film, Palletooru shortly after Indian independence. The movie released in 1952 was a trendsetter and marked silver jubilee too. The movie, initiated a trend of films with rural settings and social themes, and the patriotic song, Cheyetti Jai Kottu Telugoda became indeed popular among the masses. The movie starred N.T. Rama Rao, Savitri and Nagabhushanam in the lead roles. He continued directing films for N.T. Rama Rao and Akkineni Nageswara Rao which include Charana Dasi and Parivartana.

Before joining films, he was associated with social service and a member of Communist party. He was also associated with Praja Natya Mandali. Later he moved to Chennai to pursue a career in film making and started his career as an assistant to L. V. Prasad. He also worked as assistant of K. V. Reddy before he became a full-fledged film director. He was an assistant director for the iconic movies like Padhala Bairavi in the late 1940s.

Amara Deepam in 1956 marked his Tamil debut and he made the same movie in Hindi two years later to mark his Bollywood debut. The movie titled Amar Deep starred Dev Anand and Vyjayanthimala. He was active in Bollywood throughout 1960s and directed his last time, Kab Tak Chup Rahungi in 1988. He passed away in Chennai on 1 July 1992.

Published: N/A

Updated: February 17, 2018