Chittoor Nagayya
Born	Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma (1904-03-28)28 March 1904 Repalle,Madras Presidency,British India (present-dayAndhra Pradesh, India)
Died	30 December 1973(1973-12-30) (aged 69)
Occupation(s)	Actor, composer, director, producer, writer and playback singer
Years active	1938–1973
Awards	Padma Shri (1965)

Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma (28 March 1904 – 30 December 1973), popularly known asChittoor Nagayya, was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works inTelugu cinema,Tamil cinema, andTelugu theatre. Nagayya was one of the first multilingual filmmakers in India.^[1] Indian film journalistBaburao Patel described Nagayya as "ThePaul Muni of India".^[2][3] Nagayya was considered the bestcharacter actor inSouth Indian cinema during 1940s and 1950s.^[2] In 1965, he became the firstSouth Indian actor to receive thePadma Shri in Arts from theGovernment of India for his contributions to Indian cinema.^[2][4][5]

Brought up in Chittoor, Nagayya was closely connected to Rama Vilasa Sabha, aTelugu theatre association in the city. He made his film debut inGruhalakshmi (1938). He worked in several films ofVauhini Pictures such asVande Mataram (1939),Sumangali (1940),Devata (1941),Swarga Seema (1945), andBeedhalapatlu (1947).^[6] Nagayya was also the protagonist inViswa Mohini (1940), the first film on the Indianmotion picture world.^[7]

Nagayya made significant contributions toTelugu cinema, and starred in about two hundred Telugu films.^[8] He was amethod actor, and his forte was usually playing intense characters, often immersing himself in the study of the real character's traits and mannerisms.^[8] His other prominent film roles include the 14th-century poetPothana inBhakta Potana (1942), 17th-century saintTyagaraja inThyagayya (1946), 12th-century saintGora Kumbhar inChakradhari (1948), and Sivaram in the social problem filmNaa Illu (1953).

In 1964, Nagayya essayed the 17th-century saintBhadrachala Ramadasu in the filmRamadasu which he had also co-written, directed and produced. The film won theNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu.^[9] Nagayya also starred in about one hundred and sixty films inTamil,Kannada,Malayalam, andHindi.^[5] In his honour, the Chittoor Nagayya Kalakshetram of Arts was established inChittoor ofAndhra Pradesh.^[10]

Nagayya was born on 28 March 1904 in aTelugu family in a tiny hamlet nearRepalle,Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. His parents were Ramalinga Sarma and Venkata Lakshmamba. His maternal grandmother adopted him and took him to her native village, Gonugur, nearKuppam and later toChittoor. He took up studies with a scholarship provided by the Tirupati Devasthanam and took his degree in Chittoor.^[11]

After working as a clerk in a government office, Nagayya became a journalist withAndhra Patrika.Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru influenced him and he participated in the freedom struggle (Dandi Satyagraha) in 1930, later going on to work for some gramophone companies including Hutchins as well as attending the Gowhati Congress conclave with S. Srinivasa Iyyengar.^[12] He was married to Jaya Lakshmi, but she died giving birth to a daughter a year after. He then married Girija, and she too died due to miscarriage in the eighth month. His first daughter died of an undiagnosed illness. He then participated in long stays atRamana Maharshi Ashram. He had family inTirupati who are his brother's (Vuppaladadiyam Subrahmanya Sarma) son, Vuppaladadiyam S. Haragopal and daughters (Late Amruthavalli and Late Kusuma), Lakshmi Narasimha and their children, Vuppaladadiyam Shyam Sundar and Vuppaladadiyam Pavan Kumar.^[13]

Civilian Awards

• Padmashri,Government of India in 1965

National honors

• Abinava Thyagaraju by theMaharaja of Travancore

National Film Awards

• National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu (director) – 1964 forRamadasu

State Awards

• Best Actor Award by the Andhra Film Journalists Association
• Felicitated by a life size statue in Panagal Park, Chennai at his demise.

Composer and play back singer

Playback singer

• Ramadasu (1964)
• Tenali Raman
• Gumasta (1953/II) (playback singer and composer)
• Naa Illu (1953) (playback singer and composer)
• Yogi Vemana (1947) (playback singer and composer)
• Thyagayya (1946) (playback singer and composer)
• Swargaseema (1945) (playback singer and composer)
• Bhakta Potana (1942) (playback singer and composer)
• Devatha (1941) (playback singer and composer)
• Sumangali (1940) (playback singer and composer)
• Viswa Mohini (1940) (playback singer)
• Vande Mataram (1939) (playback singer and composer)
• Gruhalakshmi (1938) (playback singer)

Director (partial filmography)

• Ramadasu (Telugu, 1964)
• En Veedu (Tamil, 1953)
• Naa Illu (Telugu, 1953)
• Thyagayya (Telugu, 1946)

Producer (partial filmography)

• Naa Illu (1953)

Writer (partial filmography)

• Thyagayya (1946)

• V. Nagayya atIMDb

• 1904 births
• 1973 deaths
• 20th-century Indian composers
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 20th-century Indian male singers
• 20th-century Indian screenwriters
• 20th-century Indian singers
• Film directors from Andhra Pradesh
• Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh
• Film producers from Andhra Pradesh
• Indian arts administrators
• Indian male film actors
• Indian male stage actors
• Indian theatre directors
• Male actors in Hindi cinema
• Male actors in Kannada cinema
• Male actors in Tamil cinema
• Male actors in Telugu cinema
• Indian male film score composers
• People from Chittoor district
• Actors from Guntur district
• Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
• Screenwriters from Andhra Pradesh
• Singers from Andhra Pradesh
• Telugu film directors
• Telugu film producers
• Telugu film score composers
• Telugu male actors
• Telugu playback singers

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