Chakrapani (born Aluri Venkata Subbarao; 5 August 1908 – 24 September 1975) was an Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He won two Filmfare Awards for Telugu films. He was also notable for his association with Vijaya Vauhini Studios, one of the largest studios in Asia at that time. Chakrapani was also a partner of Vijaya Productions along with B. Nagi Reddy and founder of Chandamama children magazine.
Early life
Chakrapani was born in Ithanagar village near Tenali, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, in a middle class agricultural family.
He learnt Hindi under the tutelage of the well-known author Vraj Nandan Sharma.[1] Later, he taught himself Tamil, Sanskrit, and English and soon mastered all three languages.[2]
Literary career
Bengali literature
Chakrapani contracted tuberculosis in 1932 and had to stay at Madanapalle sanatorium for medical treatment. He learned Bengali during that time from another inmate recuperating from the illness. Initially, he started translating novels from Bengali to Telugu like Devdas as Devadasu (1933),[3]Bada Didi.[4] His translations of the novels of Sharat Chandra Chatterji became so popular in Telugu, the readers would not believe that the originals were written in Bengali language.[citation needed]
Both Nagireddy and Aluri came up with the idea of a story book for kids and children, and thus Chandamama was born.[5] The first edition of Chandamama was released in July, 1947. They made Chandamama popular not only in Telugu language but in ten other Indian languages.[5] He started in 1934 the monthly publication of Yuva magazine from Chennai which was later shifted to Hyderabad. Well-known writer Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao was a partner in this venture.
Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao, a very close friend of aluri and a literary colossus in Telugu Literature, edited it for 28 years, till his death in August 1980.
