Shift Of Telugu Cinema From Madras To Hyderabad

In the early years of Telugu Cinema, all the major production houses and studios were set-up in Madras rather than in the state of Andhra Pradesh due to infrastructural issues. All of the biggest hits of the golden 50s era like ‘Mayabazar’, ‘Pathala Bhairavi’, ‘Missamma’ and ‘Gundamma Katha’ weren’t filmed in the state in which they won the hearts of the audiences.

But then things changed for the better when the reigning superstar of Telugu Cinema, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, decided to make a move to the true homeland of Tollywood, Hyderabad. All of his productions in the 60s and 70s were shot in the then still developing city of Hyderabad at his movie production studio, ‘Annapurna Studios’. One of the main reasons for this move was that he wanted an upbringing rooted in the local culture of AP for his children.

Except for him, not many accepted this transition and stayed back in Madras to enjoy the already available infrastructural facilities. It was only after Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao had turned towards full-time politics that most of the producers decided to move to Hyderabad.

It was eventually in the 90s that the complete transition had taken place and Tollywood had found the home which was always it’s own.