Influence of Kannada Theatre on Telugu Theatre

Influence of Kannada Theatre on Telugu Theatre has been very significant. In the later part of twentieth century, Sri T. Raghavachari, the eminent stage artist of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh observed that in the Telugu language speaking states there were no theatre in the sense in which people understand the term in present day. There were only a few groups of players called Bhagavataluvaru (synonymous with the Bhagavata of Yakshagana in Karnataka) who visited important centres and exhibited in actions and dialogues a few incidents from Lord Krishna`s life as described in Sri Bhagavatam the actors were not more than four or five, the dialogue was long and burdened with innumerable verses and songs which were explained in prose.

The description, at once, reminds us of Yakshagana which is now accepted to belong essentially to the Karnataka folk stage. The credit of writing the first Telugu theatre must go to Sri D. Krishnamacharlu of Bellary who later came to be hailed as Andhra Nataka Pitamaha. It is interesting to note that he wrote his first play Swapna Aniruddha in Kannada stating in the preface of the play, that though he was not proficient in the Kannada language or literature, he was obliged to write out his first drama in Kannada as his friends expressed the opinion that Kannada was the only language suitable for the stage. This indicates the influence of an already flourishing Kannada theatre. It is a fact, however, that the "Ranga-charlu Natak Company" and the "Shakuntala Karnataka Natak Sabha", both of Mysore, had paid a number of visits to Bellary early in 1880. Sri Krishnamacharlu might have seen their performances at Bellary. The description indicates again that the literary merit of the Kannada theatre was highly impressive as early as 1880. Dr. Narayana Rao, while tracing the relation between the theatres of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, observed that an enthusiastic troupe of Dharwar went out to stage plays in Andhra Pradesh in the year 1884 and "captured the country with their specialised technique of production and thus inspired the theatre of Andhra Pradesh." This troupe was obviously the Tantupurastha Nataka Mandali of Dharwar, referred to by Mudavidu Krishnarao as having toured Maharashtra, Gujarat, Vidarbha, Madhya Bharat and Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Bhimacharya Eri and Gopinath Joshi