T. Chalapathi Rao

For the Indian film actor, see Chalapathi Rao.

T. Chalapathi Rao
Background information
Birth name	Tatineni Chalapathi Rao
Born	22 December 1920 Vuyyuru, Krishna, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	22 February 1994(1994-02-22) (aged 73) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation(s)	Composer, music director
Years active	1953-1984

Tatineni Chalapathi Rao (22 December 1920 – 22 February 1994) was an Indian music composer who worked in Telugu cinema. His career spanned more than three decades from early 1950s, till 1980s. He was the cousin of T. Prakash Rao.

Early life

Born to Dronavilli Manikyamma and Rattayya in the village of Vuyyuru in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on 22 December 1920, but he was adopted by Tatineni Koteswara Rao and his wife Kotamma. He was the cousin of T. Prakash Rao.

Career

His first film as music director was the Telugu film Puttillu in 1953 jointly with another music director, Mohan Das. His first independent work was for the Tamil film Amara Deepam (1956). Thereafter until 1984 he scored music for around 125 films mostly in Telugu and some in Tamil.

He created many popular songs for films starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Chalapathi Rao and Nageswara Rao gave innumerable hits. Notable among them are Illarikam (1959), Punarjanma (1963), Manushulu Mamatalu (1965), Navaratri (1966), Dharma Daata (1970) and Srimanthudu (1971); together with some real chartbusters in 1972 which include Datta Putrudu, Manchi Rojulu Vachhayi and Raithu Kutumbam. To the end the pair continued to create music for films including Kanna Koduku (1973), Palletoori Baava (1973), Aalu Magalu (1977) and Sri Rama Raksha (1978).

T. Chalapathi Rao's hit scores with other Telugu heroes including Manchi Rojulu Vachchayi, Amma Nanna, Manchi Manasu and Kamalamma Kamatam with Krishnam Raju, Lakshadhikari, Ramuni Minchina Ramudu, Kalavaari Kodalu with N. T. Rama Rao and films such as Goodhachari 116, Asadhyudu with Krishna.

The last film he scored music for was Janam Manam in 1984.

Personal life

He was married to Annapurna with whom he did not have children and later married Dr Jamuna with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Filmography

Year	Film	Language	Director	Banner	Notes
1953	Puttilu	Telugu	Dr. Raja Rao	Raja Productions	with C. Mohandas
1954	Parivartana	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Janata Pictures	with C. Mohandas
1956	Amara Deepam	Tamil	T. Prakash Rao	Venus Pictures	G. Ramanathan & G. N. Balasubramaniam
1956	Amara Jeevi	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Venus Pictures	G. Ramanathan
1958	Pathi Bakthi	Telugu	A. Bhimsingh	Buddha Pictures
1958	Veera Pratap	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Venus Pictures	G. Ramanathan
1959	Illarikam	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Prasad Art Pictures
1959	Koodi Vazhnthal Kodi Nanmai	Tamil	D. S. Rajagopal	Narasu Studios
1959	Uthami Petra Rathinam	Tamil	M. A. Thirumugam	Amara Productions
1960	Maa Babu	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Pragathi Art Productions
1960	Meenda Sorgam	Tamil	C. V. Sridhar	Madhuram Pictures
1961	Anbu Magan	Tamil	T. Prakash Rao	Pragathi Art Productions
1961	Punar Jenmam	Tamil	R. S. Mani	Vijaya Films
1961	Thandrulu Kodukulu	Telugu	K. Hemabharadara Rao	Raghuramayya Creations
1962	Sri Valli Kalyanam	Telugu	T. R. Ramanna	Narasu Studios
1963	Lakshadhikari	Telugu	V. Madhusudhana Rao	Ravindra Art Pictures
1963	Punarjanma	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Prasad Art Pictures
1963	Chandra Kumara	Kannada	N. S. Varma	H M Baba Productions	M. Venkataraju is the co-music director.
1964	Kalavari Kodalu	Telugu	K. Hemambaradhara Rao	Raghuram Pictures
1964	Manchi Manishi	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Chaya Chitra
1964	Mane Aliya	Kannada	S. K. A. Chari	Prasad Art Pictures
1964	Nalvaravu	Tamil	Charlie–Maniam	S. V. Movies
1965	Manushulu Mamathalu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Navayuga Films
1965	Mavana Magalu	Kannada	S. K. A. Chari	Prasad Art Pictures
1966	Badukuva Daari	Kannada	K. S. Prakash Rao	Balaram Pictures
1966	Gudachari 116	Telugu	M. Mallikarjuna Rao	Vauhini Studios
1966	Mangalasutram	Telugu	A. K. Velan	Arunachalam Studios
1966	Navaratri	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Prasad Art Pictures
1966	Zamindar	Telugu	V. Madhusudhana Rao	Ravindra Art Pictures
1967	Aada Paduchu	Telugu	K. Hemambharadhara Rao	Subhashini Art Pictures
1967	Maadi Veettu Mappilai	Tamil	S. K. A. Chari	Prasad Art Pictures
1967	Marapurani Katha	Telugu	V. Ramachandra Rao	Sri Productions
1967	Pattukunte Padivelu	Telugu	M. Mallikarjuna Rao	Navajyoti Films
1967	Shiva Leelalu	Telugu	A. P. Nagarajan	Sri Vijayalakshmi Pictures	with K. V. Mahadevan
1968	Asadhyudu	Telugu	V. Ramachandra Rao	Tiger Productions
1968	Bangaru Gaajulu	Telugu	C. S. Rao	Ravindra Art Pictures
1968	Brahmachari	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Prasad Art Pictures
1968	Chelleli Kosam	Telugu	M. Mallikarjuna Rao	Jayasri Lakshmi Pictures
1968	Nadamanthrapu Siri	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Navajyoti Pictures
1968	Prema Katha	Telugu	Muktha Srinivasan	Muktha Films
1968	Srimanthulu	Telugu	T. R. Ramanna	R. R. Pictures
1969	Chiranjeevi	Telugu	Savitri	Arunachalam Studios
1969	Madhura Milana	Kannada
1969	Madras To Hyderabad	Telugu	Thirumalai–Mahalingam	Sri Venkateswara Cinetone
1969	Prema Kanuka	Telugu	V. Sobhanadri Rao	Digvijaya Films
1970	Akhandudu	Telugu	V. Ramachandra Rao	Tiger Productions
1970	Dharma Daata	Telugu	A. Sanjeevi	Ravindra Art Pictures
1971	Adrusta Jathakudu	Telugu	K. Hemambaradhara Rao	Subhashini Art Pictures
1971	Pavitra Hrudayalu	Telugu	A. C. Tirulokchandar	Sri Vijaya Venkateswara Films
1971	Sisindri Chittibabu	Telugu	Akkineni Sanjeevi Rao	Ravindra Art Pictures
1971	Srimanthudu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Viswa Bharathi Productions
1972	Datta Putrudu	Telugu	Tammareddy Lenin Babu	Ravindra Art Pictures
1972	Kiladi Bullodu	Telugu	Nandamuri Ramesh	Chitrakaka Films
1972	Manchi Rojulu Vachchayi	Telugu	V. Madhusudhana Rao	Gemini Studios
1972	Raitu Kutumbam	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Nava Bharath Movie
1973	Doctor Babu	Telugu	Tammareddy Lenin Babu	Ravindra Art Pictures
1973	Kanna Koduku	Telugu	V. Madhusudhana Rao	Vishwa Bharti Production
1973	Mainaru Babu	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Saradhi and TPR Combines
1973	Palletoori Bava	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Prasad Art Pictures
1974	Adapillala Tandri	Telugu	K. Vasu	Satya Enterprises
1974	Gali Patalu	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Anil Arts
1974	Mugguru Ammayilu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Navabharat Art Films
1974	Vani Dongala Rani	Telugu	Aamancharla Seshagiri Rao	Navodaya Art Movies
1975	Chinninati Kalalu	Telugu	K. Viswanath	Ravindra Art Pictures
1975	Devudu Chesina Pelli	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Sri Lakshmi Productions
1975	Parivartana	Telugu	K. Hemambaradhara Rao
1975	Ramuni Minchina Ramudu	Telugu	M. S. Gopinath	Rajeswari Fine Arts
1975	Samsaram	Telugu	T. Prakash Rao	Anil Productions
1975	Vayasochina Pilla	Telugu	Lakshmi Deepak	Krishiwala Pictures
1976	Alludochchaadu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Prasad Art Pictures
1976	Amma Nanna	Telugu	Tammareddy Lenin Babu	Ravindra Art Pictures
1976	Mahatmudu	Telugu	M. S. Gopinath	Rajeswari Chitra
1976	Vanaja Girija	Telugu	Gautham	Sri Vanaja Movies
1977	Aalu Magalu	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Prasad Art Pictures
1977	Ardhangi	Telugu	A. Mohan Gandhi	Prasad Art Pictures
1977	Athavarillu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Prasad Art Pictures
1977	Gadusu Ammayi	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Dwarka Art Productions
1977	Mahanubhavudu	Telugu	K. Hemambharadhara Rao	Subhasini Combines
1977	Mohini Vijayamu	Telugu	N. S. Varma	Sri Venkatalakshmi Pictures	with M. Poornachandra Rao
1978	Manchi Manasu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	A. A. Combines
1978	Sri Rama Raksha	Telugu	T. Rama Rao	Ajay Art Pictures
1978	Thalle Challani Daivam	Telugu	M. S. Gopinath	Rajeshwari Chitra Combines
1979	Kamalamma Kamatam	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Prasad Art Pictures
1979	Love Marriage	Telugu	Tammareddy Lenin Babu	Ravindra Art Pictures
1980	Janthu Prapancham	Telugu		Sri Lakshminarayana Films
1980	Nayakudu Vinayakudu	Telugu	K. Pratyagatma	Prasad Art Pictures
1980	Thandava Krishna Tarangam	Telugu	Rajkumar		with Sanjay Manikya
1980	Yuvatharam Kadilindi	Telugu	Dhavala Satyam	Navataram Pictures
1981	Harischandrudu	Telugu	U. Visweswar Rao	Vishwashanthi Movies
1981	Maro Kurukshetram	Telugu	Tammareddy Lenin Babu	Charita Film Combines
1982	Circus Prapancham	Telugu	U. Visweswar Rao
1983	Keerthy Kantha Kanakam	Telugu	U. Visweswar Rao	Vishwashanthi Movies
1984	Janam Manam	Telugu	Mohan Das	Navaratnam Films
1985	Thayi Thande	Kannada	V. Sathyanarayana	U S R Pictures