Early career After graduation his ambition was to get into films. As his attempts to meet the director
K. V. Reddy failed, he took up the job of a teacher in
Sullurupeta. In 1972, Srinivasa Rao ventured into film direction with
Neethi Nijayithi, an offbeat Telugu film. The film won critical acclaim but was not commercially successful. He made other successful Telugu films like
Zamindaru gari Ammayi (1975),
America Ammayi (1976),
Panthulamma (1978),
Sommokadidhi Sokokadidhi (1979),
Mayuri (1985),
America Abbayi (1987),
Aditya 369 (1991),
Brundavanam (1992),
Bhairava Dweepam (1994),
Madam (1994).
Mayuri won a record 14
Nandi Awards including the
Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. Srinivasa Rao won the
Nandi Award for Best Screenplay Writer for
Brundavanam and the
Nandi Award for Best Director for
Bhairava Dweepam.
Aditya 369 and
Bhairava Dweepam are considered classic films in
science fiction and
fantasy genres respectively in
Telugu cinema. He made over half of his films in Telugu. He directed nearly 30 Telugu films across genres. His most recent film was
Welcome Obama (2013). The story deals with
commercial surrogacy in India where women are used as surrogates by foreigners and tells the story of one such surrogate mother who bears a foreigner's child.
Kannada cinema Srinivasa Rao was the executive director of the 1970 Kannada movie
Samskara directed by
Pattabhirama Reddy. It won the President's gold medal for
National Film Award for Best Feature Film. However, he subsequently went on to direct
Devatha Manushya (1988) which happened to be Rajkumar's 200th film. His other popular Kannada directorial films include
Anand (1986) and
Chiranjeevi Sudhakara (1988) apart from
Ksheera Sagara (1992),
Tuvvi Tuvvi Tuvvi (1999) and
Makeup (2002) in the latter part of his career. He co-wrote the screenplay for two Kannada movies produced by Rajkumar's banner that were not directed by him -
Shruthi Seridaaga (1987) and
Samyuktha (1988). He was also the script-writer of
Belliyappa Bangarappa (1992). A disciple of legendary composer
S. Rajeswara Rao, he has composed music for two Kannada films -
Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma and
Samyuktha. Most of the films he directed in Kannada were produced by
Parvathamma Rajkumar and all were critically and commercially successful. Of the seven films Srinivasa Rao directed with Rajkumar in lead roles, four movies were remade in Telugu. Singeetam's association with Rajkumar was a rare one where he not only directed cult classics and landmark movies but also co-wrote screenplay and composed music for movies produced by the actor even though they were not directed by him. This stands as a testimony for the faith Rajkumar had in the abilities of Rao and the admiration Srinivasa had for Rajkumar. In 1988, when Rajkumar announced his desire to temporarily retire from acting, Singeetam decided to concentrate on Tamil movies where he mostly had
Kamal Haasan in the lead roles. The
Kannada Film Journalists Association has honoured Srinivasa Rao with a Special Biography. Srinivasa Rao received three Karnataka State Film Awards two for Best Screenplay and one for Best movie. A disciple of legendary composer
S. Rajeswara Rao, he has also composed music for two Kannada movies of matinee idol
Rajkumar's banner -
Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma (which was directed by him) and
Samyuktha - (which was not directed by him).
Innovative cinema 2015 The 1984 Telugu
biographical dance film,
Mayuri, which won the
National Film Award – Special Mention (Feature Film), was premiered at the 1985 International Film Festival of India, has also received several state Awards, including the State Nandi Award for Best Feature Film, and Filmfare Award South for Best Direction. The film was later remade into Hindi as
Naache Mayuri. In 1988, he co-produced, scripted and directed the first Indian dialogue-less film,
Pushpaka Vimana which received special mention at
Shanghai Film Festival. When he was working with Rajkumar, Srinivasa Rao was introduced to Rajkumar's relative, actor
Shringar Nagaraj who decided to co-produce
Pushpaka Vimana. The film was listed among
CNN-IBN's 'Hundred greatest Indian films of all time'. The
comedy-drama blockbuster
Apoorva Sagodharargal (1989) was one of the enduring works on
dwarfism in popular media. The film won the
Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil, and was premiered at the
International Film Festival of India. The Telugu crossover films like
America Ammayi (1976), and
America Abbayi (1987) were box office hits. The 1990
action comedy,
Michael Madana Kama Rajan - a movie about quadruplets - became an instant hit at the box office. The Telugu
science fiction film
Aditya 369 was one of the highest grossing Telugu films of 1991, grossing 9
crore at the box office. A sequel, entitled
Aditya 999, was delayed indefinitely in July 2016. Another science fiction in Tamil,
Chinna Vathiyar was also an instant hit. The 1994, folklore
Bhairava Dweepam garnered the state
Nandi Award for Best Direction. The 2003
animation film,
Son of Aladdin, had 1100 shots and 125 characters. The film won
Special Mention in the Competition section at the 2003 ''International Children's Film Festival Hyderabad
, and subsequently premiered at the 37th International Film Festival of India. The 2008 animation film Ghatothkach received special mention at the Grand Finale - Children's Film Festival 2014'' of the 44th
International Film Festival of India.
Upcoming projects Srinivasa Rao plans to make a sequel to
Aditya 369 in the future. As of mid-2026, a film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, with music composed by Devi Sri Prasad, and written by Gautami Challagulla (story, screenplay, and dialogues), is reported to be in development. == Collaborators ==