Samarla Venkata Ranga Rao, popularly known as SVR, was an Indian actor and filmmaker known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil films. He is regarded as one of the finest actors in the history of Indian cinema. He is known by the epithet "Viswa Nata Chakravarthi". He was the earliest known character actor to have enjoyed a star status in South Indian cinema. In a career spanning nearly three decades, Ranga Rao garnered various national and international honours.

Pathala Bhairavi is a 1951 Indian fantasy film directed by K. V. Reddy who co-wrote the film with Pingali and Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages, the film was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under the banner Vijaya Productions. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, S. V. Ranga Rao and K. Malathi. The film focuses on a gardener's son who has to amass wealth equal to that of the king of Ujjain to marry his daughter and a sorcerer who has to sacrifice an intelligent and brave young man to Goddess Pathala Bhairavi to gain access to a statuette which can grant any wish.