Telugu cinema is now affectionately termed ‘Tollywood’. However, many of us are probably not aware that Tollywood was once referred to the Bengali film industry, originating from ‘Tollygunge’, once a locality on the outskirts of Southern Kolkata, where many film studios operated from. However, did you know that the term ‘Tollywood’ came into existence nearly 40 years before the word ‘Bollywood,’ which was coined only in the 1970s to pejoratively refer to Bombay film industry?
This is one of the many nuggets of film history captured with great detail in Mana Cinema… First Reel, a monumental book about Indian — especially South Indian — film history and its formative years, written by veteran journalist Rentala Jayadeva, which won the Telangana State Government's Gaddar Film Award for Best Book on Cinema. The senior journalist-author, who has a Doctorate in Telugu literature, says, “Tollywood was widely covered then in many western magazines, including American Cinematographer. But now we are using it for Telugu cinema without knowing the history — it’s a sad state of affairs.”
However, the origins of Tollywood, as fascinating as it may be, are not the only focal point of Jayadeva’s book. What cements Mana Cinema... First Reel as a significant work in recent South Indian film history is its in-depth investigation about 1930s films like Kalidas and Bhakta Prahlada, lending them a renewed status in Telugu cinema.
For the longest time, the first South-Indian language talkie Kalidas, which was released on October 31, 1931, was presumed to be the first Tamil talkie by most of the Tamil film historians and film history books — until Jayadeva dug deeper, making new findings about its distinct Telugu roots. He expresses his sadness, as to date, our Telugu film histories ignored Kalidas though it is the first ever film to have Telugu dialogues and few Telugu Thyagaraya keerthanas. Both hero (Jayadeva confirmed in his research that the Kalidas role was played by one VR Gangadhar, but not as mentioned by many in the history till now) and director (HM Reddy) are Telugus. Jayadeva recalls how he stumbled upon it, along with the original release date for Bhakta Prahlada — which was believed to be the first Telugu film — by sheer accident. He elaborates, “All records about Bhakta Prahlada stated September 15, 1931 as its release date. However, during my research, I found that the film was in fact released in 1932. Coincidentally, the Telugu industry was celebrating 80 years of Telugu cinema around that time, but its very foundation was wrong.”
Besides the censor certificate (issued on January 22, 1932) and the film’s release date in Madras (April 2, 1932), however, Jayadeva didn’t have any proof to substantiate his claims. And controversy ensued. Jayadeva recalls with a tinge of good humour and sadness, “Many people, including leading publications, wrote editorials about me, questioning my credentials. I was in tears. However, during the last leg of one of my research trips to various cities, at last I found newspaper advertisements and a film review which revealed that Bhakta Prahlada was first released on February 6, 1932, in Bombay at Krishna Theatre.” Recognising his painstaking, noteworthy research that changed the course of Telugu film history, the then combined Andhra Pradesh State Govt awarded Jayadeva with the prestigious Nandi Award for 2011 as Best Film Critic.
The same research process led Jayadeva to other sources, including an old interview with TP Rajalakshmi, the lead actress of Kalidas. Jayadeva tells me, “In fact, this first South Indian talkie is a “programme” of three short length films. In which Kalidas is a 4-reel short length main feature film which conveys the story of how a shepherd became Mahakavi Kalidas. The other two short films — Kurathi dance and ‘Love songs and National songs’ (enacted and sung by TP Rajalakshmi) were also shown along with the main feature film Kalidas in theatres to satisfy the audience.”
Actor Rajalakshmi, in her interview back then, clearly mentioned about the separate production of three short length films. She also says that the main Kalidas feature film was made with Telugu dialogues. She states that, before shooting, she wrote down all the Telugu dialogues in Tamil script. Legendary writer Kalki also categorically mentions about the total dialogues of the film being in Telugu, in his Kalidas film review published in 1931 in the popular Tamil magazine.
In support of his argument, in this book, he gives all the proofs and even unearths the news and advertisements from the media of those times, which clearly recognise and describe the much later film Harischandra (April 9, 1932 released) as the “First Tamil talkie”, not Kalidas.
The findings about Kalidas and Bhakta Prahlada weren’t the only major discoveries during Jayadeva’s research. The author also found that the picture widely used to denote Sati Sulochana, the first Kannada talkie that was released in 1934, was inaccurate. The actress in the poster is not the actor Tripuramba, but KLV Vasantha, who acted in a 1947 Tamil film titled, Sulochana. Jayadeva addresses these lapses in film history to the lack of inter-linguistic research. “These research books are not available in other languages. For greater transparency and more authentic history, books should be written or translated in English and should be widely publicised,” he notes.
Jayadeva has no qualms asserting that the lack of strong film history probably comes from a lack of respect for culture. He explains, “I never understood why Telugu people would disassociate with the first South Indian talkie Kalidas. Tamil people always express great pride in their language. Telugu people don’t bother about their history and culture. Maybe it’s in our genes. (laughs) We always had this material, but nobody verified it. But if we don’t document our history, who will?”
Jayadeva states that the quantity and quality of Telugu film history could be much better. He adds, “I don’t mean to boast, but not many have written about Telugu cinema from a broader historical perspective. There have been a few good books. However, merely enlisting anecdotes or gossip — like the one about how Akkineni Nageswara Rao didn’t sleep for many days to get that inebriated look on his face for Devadasu (1953) — cannot comprise history.”
Jayadeva further reflects on the importance of preserving film history, and why it goes beyond a sense of ego-inflating exercise.
At the same time, Jayadeva acknowledges that film historians must find newer and interesting ways to communicate with the younger generation and common readers. Giving an elaborate example, he states, “If I have to tell the story of LV Prasad to someone in Hyderabad, I will start with the LV Prasad Marg that’s named after him. I will then take the story to Krishna Cinema theatre in Bombay, where he worked as a watchman, which screened our Telugu talkie Bhakta Prahlada. I will then talk about how the same theatre played his film Khilona (1970) there nearly 40 years later. History should be told in an interesting way with anecdotes, not academic.”
Jayadeva recalls how his entire foray in film research was an attempt to pay tribute to the legacy of his father and noted author Rentala Gopalakrishna, who passed away in 1995. Jayadeva fondly remembers his father as he enlists his accomplishments, “He had written nearly 200 books of poems, stories, and novels. He translated right from Valmiki Ramayana, Vyasa Bharatham, Telugu Prabhandhas, Kavyas to modern classics like Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Maxime Gorky’s Foma Gordeyev, Kuprin’s Yama: The Pit, etc. In fact, War and Peace Telugu version by Rentala, in association with his friend Bellamkonda Ramdas, was the only Telugu translation available for the longest time. I saw the respect for my father when he walked on the streets.”
As a true son to his father’s literary legacy, Jayadeva’s in-depth writings on films, literature, art and culture are hugely popular and duly recognised by AP State Government in 2025 with Ugadi Puraskar. And Telugu Association of North America (TANA) specially invited and honoured him recently as a speaker at its 24th conference in Detroit, USA.
Mana Cinema… First Reel, a rich coffee table film history book with nearly 2000 rare, old photographs, is a result of 50 years of cinephilia and over 25 years of the initial seeds of research that laid the foundation for it. When I ask him what’s the secret of such persistence for a project, Jayadeva tells me, “If you don’t have that childlike innocence or inquisitiveness, you can’t keep at it. Somebody has to have the passion and madness, to bell the cat. Otherwise, things won’t get done. If that doesn’t drive you after more than 35 years of journalism, what else could?” he concludes.