Krishnaveni, the first generation heroine and producer in the Telugu film industry, passed away on Sunday morning due to age-related illness. Credit goes to produce the first film of NTR `Mana Desam’, that introduced him to the film world. She made her mark as an actress, singer, producer and studio head among the first generation women.
Krishnaveni was born on December 24, 1924 in Pangidi village of West Godavari district. Director C. Pullaiah, who wanted to make the film ‘Anasuya’ with child stars, saw Krishnaveni’s play ‘Tulabharam’ in Rajahmundry and selected her for the title role. Krishnaveni was 10 years old at that time.About 60 children and girls acted in this film.
In 1937, C.S.R. Anjaneyulu encouraged her and took her to Chennai. At that time, she acted in the film ‘Tukaram’. She excelled as a supporting actress in some films. Her first film as a heroine was ‘Kachadevayani’, which came out in 1938.
After that, she acted in about 20 films. In 1939, while acting in the film ‘Mahananda’, she met the famous director and producer Mirzapuram Raja. It turned into love and they got married in Vijayawada in 1940.
After marriage, Krishnaveni confined acting in her own films. She also supervised the affairs of her Sobhanachala Studios. They produced many films under the same banner. Chadalavada Narayana Rao was introduced as a hero through the first social film ‘Jeevana Jyothi’ released under this banner.
Krishnaveni sang her own songs when she started her career as an actress.She sang playback for Anjali Devi in the film ‘Keelu Gurram’. Although Krishnaveni acted in many films, the films that brought her great recognition were Lakshmamma and Gollabhama.
Krishnaveni is credited with introducing Nataratna NTR to the silver screen. In 1942, Anuradha Devi was born to Krishnaveni and Mirzapuram Raja. She founded a banner named M.R.A. and produced the film ‘Manadesam’ under the direction of L.V. Prasad. It was through this film that NTR was introduced to the film industry. The film was based on the Bengali novel ‘Vipradasu’.
She also introduced Ghantasala and Ramesh Naidu as music directors. SHe brought Leela and Jikki as singers and Erra Apparao as a director to the public! She was also the highest paid actress among the first generation.
At that time, she took a salary of Rs. 45,000. Another actress who took a salary equal to her was Bhanumathi. Krishnaveni’s last film as an actress was ‘Sahasam’. Similarly, her last film as a producer was ‘Dampatyam’ in 1957. Kona Prabhakar Rao played the hero in it.
Her daughter Anuradha Devi followed in her mother’s footsteps and produced many successful films. The Andhra Pradesh state government, recognizing Krishnaveni’s services to the Telugu cinema industry, honored her with the Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award at that time. Krishnaveni also participated in the ‘Manadesam’ Vajrotsavam celebrations held recently in Vijayawada.