How one actor moved an entire film industry from Madras to Hyderabad
In short: In the 1970s, the Telugu film industry was firmly rooted in Madras. One man, actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, single-handedly shifted its gravity to Hyderabad. By founding Annapurna Studios and refusing to work on films produced outside his home state, he transformed a city and built a cinematic powerhouse.
The story of Annapurna Studios began long before its physical construction. In 1951, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and his mentor, Dukkipati Madhusudana Rao, registered Annapurna Pictures. Named after Madhusudana Rao’s stepmother, the company produced its first feature, Donga Ramudu, in 1955. By the time the studio facility was established in 1976, Nageswara Rao was already a dominant force in Telugu cinema, having produced dozens of films under the original banner.
The studio’s creation was a strategic maneuver to decentralize the industry. At the time, the Telugu film business was concentrated in Madras. Nageswara Rao leveraged his influence, insisting that he would only participate in projects filmed within Andhra Pradesh. To facilitate this shift, the state government granted him 22 acres in Banjara Hills for a nominal fee. The studio was officially opened by the President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, and its inaugural production, Secretary, helped cement Hyderabad as a viable new hub for filmmakers.
Over the decades, the facility evolved from a simple production site into a comprehensive ecosystem. By 2011, the studio expanded its post-production capabilities, adding advanced editing, sound mixing, and digital mastering suites. A year later, Akkineni Nagarjuna unveiled a ₹100 crore expansion featuring climate-controlled floors and modern amenities. Today, the site functions as a full-service production house, capable of handling every stage of filmmaking from initial concept to final release, while also housing a non-profit film and media school.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Annapurna Studios
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