Yaragudipati Varada Rao (30 May 1903 – 13 February 1979[1]) was an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, and editor known for his works primarily in Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil films.

[3][4] Rao started his career as a lead actor in many silent films such as Gajendra Moksham (1923),[5] Garuda Garvabhangam (1929),[6] and Rose of Rajasthan (1931).

[5][7][8] Regarded as one of the greatest filmmaking pioneers of the Cinema of South India,[3][7] he made motion-pictures across Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Konkani, and Hindi languages, apart from silent films.

[3][7] In 1937, he directed the hagiographical classic Chintamani, the Tamil sleeper hit ran for a year with highest estimated footfall at a single screen in India, and British Ceylon.

[3] Yaragudipati Varada Rao was born in Telugu Brahmin family[3][1] of Nellore in the then Madras Presidency of British India in May 1903.