VEL Pictures First Studio of Telugu Films

The first studio for Telugu talkies was
Vel Pictures, constructed in 1934 by P.V. Das, located at Madras. The
first film made here was Sita Kalyanam. The first film made by a
Telugu person, R.S. Prakash, was Bhishma Pratigna (The Pledge of
Bhishma, 1922). Another important Telugu personality of this era was
Y.V. Rao (1903-1973), an actor and director, whose silent film
(directing) credits include Pandava Nirvana (1930), Pandava
Agnathavaas (1930) and Hari Maya (1932). The first big movies in
Telugu were made by the Surabhi Theatres troupes.They produced
the first Telugu talkie, Bhakta Prahlada, directed by Hanumappa
Munioappa Reddy in 1931. In the first few years of Telugu talkies,
films were all mythological stories, taken from the stage. In 1936,
Krittiventi Nageswara Rao made the first Telugu film not based on
mythology, Premavijayam. The film influenced other Telugu film-makers
into making such films. Some popular themes of these films (often
called 'social' films) were the feudal zamindari system (Raitu Bidda,
1939), untouchability (Maala pilla, 1938), and widow remarriage.
Since then, there have been both social contemporary and
mythological or folk stories in Telugu cinema.