Raghupathi Surya Prakash

Raghupathi Surya Prakash Rao Naidu (1901–1956), popularly known as R. S. Prakash, was an Indian film director, producer, and cinematographer.[1] He was one of the pioneers of Indian cinema. He was the first director of Telugu cinema. He shot, developed and edited all his early films.[2]

R. S. Prakash
Born
Raghupathi Surya Prakash Rao Naidu

1901
Madras, Madras Presidency, British India
(now Chennai, India)
Died28 May 1956 (aged 55)
Madras, India (now Chennai)
Occupations

Along with his father, Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, he produced Bhishma Pratigya in 1921 — generally considered to be the first Telugu feature film.[3][4] Prakash directed the film and also played the title role of Bhishma.[4] Later, he directed several silent and sound films till the 1950s.

Early life

Raghupathi Surya Prakasa Rao Naidu was born in 1901 in Madras in a Telugu-speaking Kapu family.[5] His father was Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, a wealthy Andhra businessman and photographer.[6][2] Venkaiah Naidu started film exhibition in South India around 1910 and built the first movie theatre in Madras in 1914.[2] Surya Prakash was educated by Christian missionaries in Vepery.[2]

Career

Venkaiah sent Surya Prakash overseas to learn filmmaking. Prakash went to London and joined Barker Motion Photography in Ealing in 1918, then went to Paris (Pathé), Germany (where he saw F. W. Murnau at work) and to Hollywood.[7][8][2] He travelled to various European countries, bringing a 35mm camera home to Madras in 1920. The faulty camera ruined his first feature film, Meenakshi Kalyanam.[2]

In 1921, Venkaiah and Surya Prakash set up the Star of the East Studio, also known as the Glass Studio, in Purasawalkam, Madras.[2] They produced Bhishma Pratigya (1921), generally considered to be the first Telugu feature film.[3][9][10][4] Prakash directed the film and also played the title role of Bhishma. An Englishwoman named Peggy Castello played the role of Ganga.[11] The film was released all over India, Burma and Sri Lanka and was a big success.[12] The film was made on a budget of ₹12,000 (worth ₹2.2 crore in 2021 prices) and made ₹60,000 in returns.[13]

C. Pullayya, A. Narayanan (also credited as A. Narayan) and other pioneers of South Indian cinema worked with him there. The films were distributed throughout the subcontinent with intertitles in various languages. Surya Prakash reportedly directed the Catholic propaganda film, The Catechist of Kil-Arni (1923), produced and written by the Irish priest Thomas Gavan-Duffy together with Bruce Gordon as a fund-raiser for the Paris Foreign Mission Society in Pondicherry.[14][15]

Surya Prakash also became a distributor and founded Guarantee Pics (1926) with backing from the merchant Moti Narayana Rao, but it went bankrupt.[2] He helped Narayanan to set up the General Pictures Corporation (General Pics) in 1929 and later, Srinivasa Cinetone Studio.[16] He later separated from Narayanan in the mid-30s and joined Sundaram Sound Studio. He also worked with Govardhan Film Distributors, owning three movie theatres in Madras.[2] He directed Leila the Star of Mingrelia (1931) in 20 reels for General Pics, declaring that people were not fed up of silent films.[17][18] It was reportedly the most expensive film made in India at the time.[19]

Surya Prakash was known as a brilliant technician. In Draupadi Vastrapaharanam (1934) he managed to make one actor appear in five places within one image, apparently without resorting to optical effects.[2] He was a freelance director from mid-30s. Surya Prakash influenced Y. V. Rao who acted in his Gajendra Moksham (1930). Most of his mythological films were shot at the Gingee Fort near Madras. He also directed the Tamil reformist social film, Anaadhai Penn (1938).[2]

There is contradictory evidence about some of Prakash's early Tamil sound films like Draupadi Vastrapaharanam, Krishna Arjuna, Indrasabha and Rajasekharan, which some sources ascribe to Prakash and others to his collaborator Narayanan. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema credited them to both filmmakers.[2]

Filmography
  • Bhishma Pratigna (1921)
  • The Catechist of Kil-Arni (1923) (uncredited)[2][14]
  • Gajendra Moksham (1923)
  • Bhakta Nandan (1923)
  • Samudra Madanam (1923)[20]
  • Usha Swapna (1924)[21]
  • Mahatma Kabirdas (1925)[22]
  • Mohini Avatar (1926)
  • Dashavtar (1929)
  • Stage Girl (1929)
  • Gajendra Moksham (1930)
  • Sree Kanyaka Parmeswari (1930)[23]
  • Lanka Dabana (1930)
  • Gandhariyin Pulambal (1930)
  • Pavalakkodi (1931)
  • Leila the Star of Mingrelia (1931)[18]
  • Rose of Rajasthan (1931)
  • Vishnu Leela (1932)
  • Draupadi Vastrapaharanam (1934)
  • Lanka Dahanam (1935)
  • Thooku Thooki (1935)
  • Krishna Arjuna (1935)
  • Krishna Naradi (1936)
  • Nalayini (1936)
  • Indrasabba (1936)
  • Andal Thirukalyanam (1937)
  • Soldier's Wife (1937)
  • Rajasekharan (1937)
  • Anaadhai Penn (1938)
  • Porveeran Manaivi (1938)
  • Sirikathe (1939)
  • Chandika (1940)[24]
  • Tara Sasank (1941)[25]
  • Babruvahana (1942)
  • Mayapilla (1951)
  • Moondru Penngal (1956)

References
  1. Vinnels, David; Skelly, Brent (2002). Bollywood Showplaces: Cinema Theatres in India. E & E Plumridge. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-9516563-5-8.
  2. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. British Film Institute. pp. 1994–1995. ISBN 978-0-85170-455-5.
  3. Thoraval, Yves (2000). The Cinemas of India. Macmillan India. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-333-93410-4.
  4. Rao, Akkina Mareswara (1997). "Celluloid and its past: Cultural and ideological mediation of Telugu cinema in colonial Andhra's Past" (PDF). University of Hyderabad. p. 93. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  5. M. L. Kantha Rao (July 1999), A Study of the Socio-Political Mobility of the Kapu Caste in Modern Andhra. University of Hyderabad. Chapter 6. p. 275–280. hdl:10603/25437
  6. Chabria, Suresh; Usai, Paolo Cherchi (1994). Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema, 1912-1934. Wiley Eastern. p. 14. ISBN 978-81-224-0680-1. Soon he was followed by R. Venkiah, the wealthy exhibitor and cinema owner. Venkiah sent his son Raghupati S. Prakash to Europe ....
  7. Thoraval, Yves (2000). The Cinemas of India. Macmillan India. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-333-93410-4. Raghupathi Surya Prakash (or Prakasa) was sent to study the cinema industries of London, Paris (Pathe), Germany, and Hollywood. He started the 'Star of the East Film Company' and went on to direct films in Telugu and Tamil.
  8. Jayasiṃha (2015). Indian Cinema Through the Century. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 104. ISBN 978-81-230-1991-8. Raghupathi Venkaiah had sent his son Raghupathi Surya Prakash Rao to learn about filmmaking in England. He was attached to Barker Studio in London. He made many silent movies on return from there.
  9. Hindi Cinema Year Book. Screen World Publication. 2002. p. 21.
  10. Asian Film Directory and Who's who. 1952. p. 33.
  11. Garga, Bhagwan Das (1996). So Many Cinemas: The Motion Picture in India. Eminence Designs. p. 51. ISBN 978-81-900602-1-9.
  12. Chabria, Suresh; Usai, Paolo Cherchi (1994). Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema, 1912-1934. Wiley Eastern. p. 15. ISBN 978-81-224-0680-1.
  13. Baskaran, Sundararaj Theodore (1981). The Message Bearers: The Nationalist Politics and the Entertainment Media in South India, 1880-1945. Cre-A.
  14. Foley, Tadhg; O'Connor, Maureen (2006). Ireland and India: Colonies, Culture and Empire. Irish Academic Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7165-2838-8. In making The Catechist of Kil-Arni, Gavan Duffy was assisted by his friend Bruce Gordon, as well as some film professionals from Madras, including, it was rumored, the distinguished director Raghupati Surya Prakash.
  15. Barbash, Ilisa; Taylor, Lucien (2007). The Cinema of Robert Gardner. Berg Publishers. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-84520-774-8.
  16. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. p. 1994. ISBN 978-1-135-94325-7.
  17. Gulazar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. p. 40. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5.
  18. "Leila alias The Star of Mingrelia (1931)". Cinemaazi.
  19. Basdeo, Stephen; Driver, Mya (17 November 2022). Victorian England's Bestselling Author: The Revolutionary Life of G. W. M. Reynolds. Pen and Sword Books. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-3990-1575-2.
  20. "Samudra Madanam (Samundra Manthan) (1923)". Cinemaazi.
  21. "Usha Swapna (1924)". Cinemaazi.
  22. "Mahatma Kabirdas (1925)". Cinemaazi.
  23. "Sree Kanyaka Parmeswari (1930)". Cinemaazi.
  24. "Chandika (1940)". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  25. "Thara Sasank (1941)". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
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