Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu

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Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu (15 October 1869 – 15 March 1941) was an Indian filmmaker and entrepreneur widely regarded as the father of Telugu cinema. A pioneer of Indian cinema, Naidu established the first Indian-owned movie theatres in South India and founded Star of the East Films, the first film production company established by a Telugu person. He is credited with producing Bhishma Pratigna (1921), considered the first Telugu feature film, thus laying the foundation for the Telugu film industry. Born in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Naidu was the second son of an Indian Army official and the younger brother of the noted social reformer Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu. He moved to Madras (now Chennai) at the age of 18, where he began his career as a commercial photographer. Venturing into filmmaking, he established "The Glass Studio," a cinematograph company named for its glass roof, which allowed sunlight to penetrate in the days before electric lighting. Naidu's entrepreneurial spirit...

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