Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, was an Indian filmmaker, photographer, graphic artist, educationist and entrepreneur considered as the father of Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, Naidu started his career as a commercial photographer in Madras; he was drawn into independent filmmaking, and he traveled to different regions in South east Asia to promote and teach cinematic techniques, filmmaking, and distribute foreign language silent films.

Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hyderabad. As of 2021, Telugu cinema is the largest film industry in India in terms of box-office. Telugu films sold 23.3 crore tickets in 2022, the highest among various film industries in India.