Telugu cinema

Telugu cinema, also known by its sobriquet Tollywood, is a part of Indian cinema producing films in the Telugu language, centered around the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, based in the Hyderabad neighbourhood of Film Nagar. Since 1909, filmmaker Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu was involved in many aspects of Indian cinema's history, like producing short films and travelling to different regions in Asia to promote film work. In 1921, he produced the first Telugu silent film, Bhishma Pratigna. He is cited as the father of Telugu cinema.

In 1933, East India Film Company produced its first Indian film, Savitri, in Telugu. Shot in Calcutta on a budget of ₹ 75 thousand, and based on a popular stage play by Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam, the film was directed by father of the "Telugu Theater Movement" Chittajallu Pullaiah and cast stage actors Vemuri Gaggaiah and Dasari Ramathilakam as "Yama" and "Savithri" respectively. The blockbuster film has received an honorary diploma at Venice Film Festival. Multilingual actor Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya was known as the Paul Muni of India, and one of the influential actors of Telugu cinema.

Mahesh Babu

Mahesh Babu (born Mahesh Ghattamaneni, 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality and philanthropist known for his work in Telugu cinema. He owns the production house G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. The younger son of actor Krishna, Mahesh holds a bachelor's degree in commerce. At the age of four, he made his debut as a child artist in Needa (1979) and acted in eight other films as a child artist. He made his debut as a lead actor with Rajakumarudu (1999) and won the Nandi Award for Best Male Debut.

Mahesh received breakthrough with the films Murari (2001) and Okkadu (2003); the former fetched him his first Nandi Special Jury Award and the latter fetched him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. The commercial successes of the films Athadu (2005) and Pokiri (2006) established him in the Telugu film industry. He later went on to act in other commercially successful films such as Dookudu (2011), Businessman (2012), Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013) and Srimanthudu (2015). To date, he has won seven Nandi Awards, four Filmfare Awards, three CineMAA Awards, two South Indian International Movie Awards and one International Indian Film Academy Awards.

Allari Naresh

Allari Naresh (born Edara Naresh) is an Indian film actor who stars in Tollywood films. He is the son of Telugu veteran director and producer E V V Satyanarayana.

Born and brought up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, he moved to Hyderabad after completing his schooling at Sri M. Venkatasubbha Rao Matriculation Higher Secondary School at T. Nagar, Chennai. He is fluent in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English. He got the moniker "Allari" after the success of his first film in Tollywood. His debut film in Tamil, Kurumbu, was a remake of Allari. He received Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor and Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 2008 for his performance as "Gali Seenu" in the movie Gamyam.

He produces films along with his elder brother Aryan Rajesh under their production company, E. V .V. Cinema. He married Virupa Kantamaneni on May 29, 2015 in Madhapur, Hyderabad.

Film career

2002–2007 : Debut and breakthrough

Naresh made his foray into films under the direction of Ravi Babu in the film Allari, an adult comedy in which he played a role of an 18-year-old who is infatuated with a beautiful girl. His performance was well praised by the critics. idlebrain.com wrote, "Naresh is a natural actor and he suited the role perfectly. His dialogue delivery is perfect and has very good timing in doing comedy. He has a bright future ahead, if he chooses his future projects carefully." The film did exceptionally well at the Box office, giving him recognition as "Allari Naresh". However, his next film Dhana Laxmi I Love You, a remake of Hera Pheri, received negative reviews, ultimately faltering at the Box office. His third release Thotti Gang, co-starring Prabhu Deva and Sunil, was successful at the Box office, which was followed by two flops Juniors, the remake of Thulluvadho Ilamai and Praanam, which featured him in a Dual role.